She's Crafty | Geometric Origami

Geometry is pretty!

My crafting of late is leaning more towards the mega-nerdy side than usual. Perhaps it has to do with all the math review I'm doing in preparation to return to college. Or, most likely, it has to do with the fact that I am a bit of a nerd at all times and I'm really embracing this fact with every facet of my being. Either way, I'm currently obsessed with crafts that let my inner nerd out to play.

That's why when I was at the craft store searching for supplies to embroider constellations and geometric patterns, and I came across a Geometric Origami craft kit, I was like, embroider Aquarius?!? What is this gibberish? I'm going to make a zonohedron!!!

This is not my first journey into the world of mathematics and origami. At my local branch a while back I came across the book, Amazing Origami by Kunihiko Kasahara, which explores not only the art of origami, but the underlying mathematical principles found between the folds. This exploration includes folding paper models of the Platonic Solids, as well as an explanation of what a Platonic solid actually is, which is perfect when you consider an icosahedron. You can tell me that a regular icosahedron consists of 20 triangular faces but actually making one and holding it in my hands helps me understand more about the solid.

The kit I purchased does not use the standard square sheets most origami enthusiasts are accustomed to. Instead, you are given colorful sheets of perforated strips. For all of the models in the book, construction consists of scaffolding shapes connected together with hinges. This is known as modular origami: making simple folded units and combining them into a larger shape.

Getting the strips ready.

The paper folding portion of this origami is extremely simple, but pretty tedious. For the 90-sided zonohedron I made, I had to first separate 154 strips, and then make paper ladders of each strip--folding two strips over each other so they are divided into twelve squares. Then, depending on which strip is used for what piece, hinge or scaffolding, the strips are cut into a certain number of squares. For example, the hinges on my zonohedron are four-square strips. The scaffolding is an eight-square strips curled around itself to create a square. Then you connect the scaffolds together with hinge strips into larger shapes and that's where it gets tricky, until you recognize the pattern.

It's starting to take shape!

Let me tell you, it really took my spatial skills to task! I had to make sure I was connecting the right combination units to the right vertices, not to mention putting the right colors in the right places. Surprisingly, the paper zonohedron I made not only looked like the one in the book, but it stays together perfectly well without tape or glue. I wouldn't throw it against the wall or play a serious game of catch with it, but I might hang it in a branch somewhere with other geometric models, you know, near the mathematics books. Wink, wink.

Up close to a few of the 90 sides.

This zonohedron is ready for whatever zonohedrons do.

Don't worry, you don't have to purchase a kit to make geometric origami or modular origami. Plenty of books exist to take your origami game to the next level.

Here are just a few that I can't wait to get my hands on:

• Origami Polyhedra: How to Make Three-dimensional Geometric Models

• Ornamental origami : Exploring 3D Geometric Designs

• 3-D Geometric Origami: Modular Polyhedra

• Origami: Identifying Right Angles in Geometric Figures This book uses origami projects to help kids understand right angles and geometric figures.

If you just gotta try it now...

• Check out all the awesome patterns Origami-Instructions.com has under Modular Origami.

• Surf on over to Go Origami for the beautifully diagrammed Origami Star and other modular patterns. 

If you want more information about origami and mathematics you have to check out the pile of links kept at The Geometry Junkyard. Absolutely ahhhmazing! According to one of the listings, there was even a college course on modular origami. How cool is that?!

For today, I am done gushing about geometric models on the library blog. So I bid you farewell and happy folding!

Malia & Kaye

She's Crafty | Little Boxes

My coworker doesn't know it yet, but she inspired me to further explore the making of little boxes. Origami boxes. Useful boxes. Pretty little boxes of different sizes to keep small office supplies close to hand and tidy. Little boxes like the ones my coworker was wanting (I hope!) when she sent out a call for empty paperclip boxes recently (library folks are a frugal lot.)

I started by looking at some of the many origami books our library has. I learned how to make sturdy little square boxes of various sizes by varying the size of the paper squares I started with. I also learned to make lids for my boxes by using paper just slightly smaller for the bottoms than for the tops. I'm still working out the slightly part because it's actually kind of tricky to get a lid that fits just right. It depends a lot on the thickness of the paper you use so you have to fiddle with it a bit. 

Making lots of boxes has allowed me to learn a few more things by doing. I've used origami paper, which is thin, but very pretty. It makes a fragile box and is fairly expensive, as paper goes. Then, there's standard copy paper, which is not as pretty, but is sturdier and much less expensive, even in colors. My favorite is scrapbook paper, which makes a box both sturdy and pretty. It is somewhat inexpensive, especially when it's on sale. Finally there's printed card stock, which is even sturdier and just as pretty, but also more expensive than scrapbook paper. Another thing I learned is the thicker your paper is, the harder it is to crease, so while card stock makes the sturdiest little boxes, scrapbook paper is easier to work with and makes a box almost as strong as card stock.

I also wanted to learn to make rectangular boxes, so I went online to find a couple of ways to do that. My favorite was a box with sturdy sides and sharp corners. This technique turned out to have an easily adjustable length I found out how to do by experimenting. That is, if your box is too long, you unfold one end, cut off the amount needed and fold the end of the box again. Works like a charm for a box just the right length. Making this box also helped me learn to reinforce the top edges of all my boxes with clear tape. The tape held multiple thicknesses of paper together while making the edge quite strong. Nice little box.  Here is a link to some step-by-step instructions at www.origami-fun.com. I also recommend watching this little video before trying the printed instructions so you can really see where those little flaps go toward the end. You'll also see why you want tape at the top edge! This same website also has some good instructions for the little square box I mentioned above if you can't get to the library right away.

Now that you've seen how to make both boxes, I'll tell you about a neat little discovery I made while playing with the paper sizes: If you make three little square boxes from 6-inch square paper, they will fit exactly into or next to a rectangular box made from 8 1/2 X 11-inch paper! This goes a long way toward organizing a drawer or shelf with very little left over space, which was exactly why I started this exploration into little boxes in the first place. I hope my coworker likes the set of little boxes I'll be sending her soon...

Before

After!

If you have learned something fun and/or useful by making something, leave us a comment and tell us about it.

Kaye and Malia