Fabulous Origami Boxes

This book created a unit origami monster... ME! There is something absolutely addictive about learning to make these boxes, as witnessed by my coffee table, which is heaped with the efforts of the past two days of folding paper. I've actually inserted a picture of the coffee table full of boxes in the picture row above as proof. Thank goodness Easter is tomorrow, and I'm going to my son's house for a big family dinner. Everyone there is going to get a nifty origami box with grass and some little goodies inside! They are sure to be a hit. (Added note: They WERE a big hit. Even the guys were fascinated by them.) Okay, now the details: 1. Practice folding each box with paper that is a different color on the back to make following the directions easier. Otherwise, be prepared for some pretty funny-looking results, and a corner of the room full of crumpled paper frustrations, or CPF. CPF rating 0=none (boring), to 5=steam coming out of the ears, but giving a huge sense of accomplishment if you live through it. Origami Paper Bright 6" 49 Sheets , Origami Hanging Paper Bright 5" 48 Sheets (Origami Paper Packs) 2. To make the lily box, the author recommends "larger" paper, but does not say how large is large. I found that heavy 8.25 in. paper worked well, Origami Paper Kimono Patterns Large 8 1/4 but heavy 7 in. paper made quite a bit harder to fold the layers of the lily. I can't even imagine making it even as small as 6 in. unless one has very thin paper, or a teeny-tiny vise or itsy-bitsy pliers to press in the folds. ...I suggest curling the petals around something smooth, such as the end of a crochet hook. A stick pen's barrel was just a little too large, but it did work. Curl the petals before doing any other "primping" and the lily will look crisp and nice, otherwise, it may turn into paper mache. Lily Box CPF 4, but worth it. 3. Box bottoms, named "body" by the author: My favorite is Body 3 on page 43, as it goes together very quickly and is very firmly locked together when completed. Size 2 (page 47) worked the best, as size 1 was too tight a fit. Learning to put Body 3 together earns it a CPF 4, but now that I know how to do it, I can hardly remember how difficult it was to do the first couple of times. Body 2 on page 72 is good because it can be made deeper than the other bodies, but it is really diabolical to assemble. Figuring it out added the most to the pile in the corner of the room. CPF 5. It is easier to make with heavier paper that is not too slippery, or by using paper clips to hold it together before collapsing the spiral folds that form the bottom. Paper clips might leave marks that you won't like, though. 4. Some CPF ratings: Iris-2 (if you've ever made a crane), Bovardia-4, Hydrangea-3, Box with a Tab-4, Party plates-0, Rabbit and Butterfly-3 (don't skip step 4 of Rabbit or he has one large ear and turns his back to you!) 5. If anyone figures out why we do Step 6 on page 64, please leave a comment to tell me why. I skipped it a couple of times, and it didn't seem to make any difference in the final product. Now I do it because, as a good girl, I follow instructions. Still wonder why, though. 6. I thought the Octagon Boxes were interesting, and the Hexagon Box was sort of boring. The Lamp-Shaped Bowl doesn't stay together very well, as when breathing on it. Triangle Box is interesting, too, because of the unique shape. But once I learned how to do them, I didn't go back to them. I've made most of the items in the book. Some I can hardly imagine I would ever do more than once, for example the Party Plates. Others, such as the Lily Box and Vortex, are good friends, giving a sense of accomplishment and pride. One certainly can't ask anything more from a how-to book than that, eh?

I had this book as a kid - not going to say how many decades ago. I was looking for an origami book for my kids and came across this one. I can’t believe it’s the same one I had. I spent countless hours making every single one of these boxes. Now I get to do them with my children! The instructions are easy to follow. There are lots of different designs. Looking for an origami box books? This is the one!

I love Tomoko Fuse's designs; I see several here I'll be making very soon (I haven't actually made any out of this book yet, though I have from other books by her). Note however that the "Kindle" edition of this book is a poorly-scanned (fuzzy, badly cropped) set of images of the paper book. It's readable...pretty well, if you have a big screen (laptop or bigger). I wouldn't want to even look at it on a phone or small tablet. There is no text aside from what's on the images, so it doesn't reflow at all. I somehow doubt that this edition actually came from the rights-holder of the book - it looks like something someone who has a paper copy whipped up without spending much time on it. I'm still pleased to have an electronic copy...but I'm going to be spending some considerable time trying to improve the book to readability.

I got this for my son and will never regret it. He is constantly working to expand his knowledge of origami and this was a book he specifically asked for. He recently had his first girlfriend and made her a rose and then made a box to put it in. I can tell you as a parent I was very proud of him. If you are looking to expand your skill set or encourage your kids to and they are at the high end of basic or at the intermediate level, great pick up.

This is definitely NOT a book for beginners. It was a gift for my 13 year old sister in law. She loved the idea, but the directions were a bit confusing, I think this is more of an intermediate book. She is tackling it though. And her frustration on Christmas day was pretty amusing.

it looks like someone bound together a color photocopy of the original book, definitely poor resolution when you try to zoom in to read the hard to see stuff that are a result of this.

I’ve been a student of Tomoko Fuse for many years — well, her books at least. I was delighted to see this book available and add it to my collection. What sets this book apart in particular are the nice little finishing touches on the lids of the boxes. I hadn’t seen those before. While intricate and often challenging to fold, they are always rewarding to see, to gift, and to display.

A wonderful collection of boxes to try and gain ideas from. It contains a nice gallery of images to gain ideas from. The directions for folding are fairly easy to follow, but then I'm a novice to origami anyway.

Con la classica precisione che la contraddistingue, Tomoko spiega con accuratezza la realizzazione di queste splendide scatole di origami. Vi assicuro che presentare un dono, per quanto semplice, dentro una di queste scatole lascerà di stucco il fortunato che lo riceverà!

Book pages were yellow and old

Les petits présents prennent tout de suite de la valeur lorsqu'on les offre dans une jolie boite! Et dans ce livre il y 39 modèles différents. Ce sont des modèles travaillés, avec des pliages sur le pliage des couvercles. Les explications sont faites avec des dessins ou schémas plus quelques lignes d'anglais assez simple à suivre et à traduire pour qui connait quelques bases en anglais et en origami. Les photos donnent envie de plier... allez hop, on y va!

Uma obra prima da Tomoko Fuse. As caixas são belíssimas e os diagramas, muito fáceis de entender! Disponibilidade rápida após pagamento por PIX.

Endlich ist Schluss mit meinen "Zetteln" und alle Faltvorlagen für die tollen Schachteln von Tomoko Fuse gibt es in diesem Buch. Schöne Modelle mit klar verständlichen Faltanleitungen