"Hi folks, it's Tobias here from HomeadeGiftsMadeEasy dot com."
And so began another year of Christmas production at the Streicher elf workshop.
As always, around Thanksgiving, my fourth daughter and I perused our options for the design of our latest batch of homemade Christmas ornaments. I've been making them for my extended family since I got married, and in recent years, my youngest has enthusiastically joined my team.
We wanted simple and fast, charming and cute, not too expensive, and if you don't mind, something that would use up supplies already on hand.
Hmm. Origami, we mused. The Japanese art of paperfolding Always a favorite with us.
Hmm. Stars. Paper stars. We've enjoyed making big ones like this.
But for an ornament, those bad boys are way too big.
Hmm.
And that's when we hopped on YouTube and quickly came across Tobias. His paper stars were neat and tidy, and could be adapted to just the right size. We transitioned promptly into production mode.
Now, not to brag, but when it comes to origami, I am no slouch. I have learned to patiently strive for the crisp corners, knife-sharp folds and careful attention to detail that make these babies truly shine.
My daughter, however, is a black-belt origami Sensei. Not only does she fold with molecular precision, but she is fast. Lightning fast. In the time it took me to fold one of these stars, she could whip out four or five perfect specimens, and I bow to her superior skills.
By comparison, I have to say, Tobias's folding chops came in at a distant third. But he taught us the proper sequence of folds and for that we were most grateful.
So our first task was to fold about a hundred paper stars. We used tracing paper, which has an excellent foldability, and were thrilled with their soft feel and sharp points.
But you know, a plain white star is not quite fanciful enough for us, so embellishments were in order.
Tapping into our ample supply of Christmas-themed beads, we hit upon a winning strategy:
Punch two tiny holes in the center of the star.
Push an eight inch piece of gold wire from back to front in one of the holes.
String a few beads onto the wire.Three seemed to be the perfect number.
Loop the wire through to the back side.
Meet up the two wires, twist them gently together.
Slide them up through the paper to the top; fashion a hoop.
Trim away the ends.
And so another set of holiday trinkets was slipped into padded envelopes and mailed out across the country - the world!
Tobias, my origami friend and teacher, I should have sent one to you.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please comment...I'd love to hear from you!