Candy Wrapper Origami

 Origami windmill made from a Tootsie Roll Pop wrapper.

Do you still have candy leftover from Halloween?  If so, you might want to save a few of those wrappers to make some fun origami pieces.  Over at Origami Resource Center they've created  a round up of different things to fold with various candy wrappers.  My personal favorite is the heart ring folded from a Starburst wrapper.  Click here to see more ideas from Origami Resource Center.

Origami Tea Packet Favors

Looking for party favor ideas?  This simple origami tea packet folds up quick and is inexpensive to make.   And if you're not into tea, you could place a candy or photo inside them instead. What's also nice about this project is you can change the style and feel of the favor depending on what paper you use.

Even though this project is quick and easy to make, I do recommend some knowledge or origami before getting started.

Supplies:
Origami Paper 6 x 6 - I purchased the flower print paper at Daiso.
Tea Packets -  no more than 3" in height.  I did have to bend back part of the package to make the tea bags fit.  I used Good Earth teabags for this project.

Click on above image for a larger view.

Starting with the blank side up, fold paper for directions 1 - 7.  For step 8 I've created some photos to make it a little easier to see how I got to step 9.

Grab paper at the center crease and fold towards center.

 Continue to fold each side towards the center.  The paper should naturally form into its shape from the previous folds you made.

Your finished piece should look something like the picture above.  Now all you have to do is tuck a tea packet under the four corners and it will stay in place with no glue.

On the back, add a printed sticker label with the details of your event.  

DIY Card Keepsake

I'm one of those people who have trouble getting rid of cards.  I swear I'm not a pack rat, just sentimental.  I feel like if someone took the time to write something thoughtful in a card or make the card, it's worth saving.  The obvious downside to this is keeping all the cards nice and orderly.  Currently I have them stashed away in a hope chest along with a couple other places.  But soon they will all be neatly organized thanks to a simple card keepsake tutorial I found on Kayla Danelle's blog.  I've already started organizing the cards.  Pictured above are some birthday cards I put together.

As suggested by Kayla, I decorated some chip board for the cover of the cards. I tried to keep the cover relatively simple. I made a little origami cupcake to decorate the front.  I purchased the metal rings at Staples.  I couldn't find them at any of the craft stores.

Here's a cover I made for all the cards my husband gives me.  For the cover I used some paper from the wagashi packaging.  The tan paper is mulberry paper and the gold loop/knot is made out of mizuihiki cord.  As you can guess, that's a wedding picture of my husband and I.

DIY Mini Postage Stamp Flags

Once in awhile a craft project will come about from something I thought I saw.  Let me explain better, a couple weeks ago I was browsing on Pinterest when I thought I saw a flag made out of stamps.  I clicked on the image to get a better look and it turned out just to be a regular flag but the idea stuck with me.  I decided to test it out with some  stamps I was collecting and that's how these cupcake mini postage stamp flags came about.

 Stamps I cut off envelopes form Hong Kong China

Supplies:

Stamps - Any kind will work.  If you're going to use these for a large amount of cupcakes, try choosing ones within a similar color palette. 

Toothpicks

White Paper

Glue Stick

Scissors

Scissors with stamp edge (optional)

 1. If you cut off the stamps from envelopes, you lose the stamp edge.  Go back and cut around the stamp to give it that decorative edge again.  *Optional

2.  Wrap a piece of white paper around toothpick and glue shut.  The paper should be a little smaller than your stamp when adhered to a toothpick.  If it's not, just trim off as much as needed.

3.  Glue stamp on paper.

DIY Tissue Paper Garland

The other day my daughter asked me how to make paper chain people.  It brought me back to when I was a child, curious how paper chains were made.  As a kid, the whole process seemed very mysterious.  Keeping that in mind, I decided to create a paper chain garland that would be simple for a child to make.  Since it's close to Christmas, we made gingerbread tissue paper garland. We used tissue paper instead of regular paper for a couple reasons.  One, it's easier to cut through than standard paper.  And two, since tissue paper is longer, you can make longer chains.

Supplies:
Tissue Paper
Cookie Cutters - Choose your shape
Pencil
Scissors

First thing you will need to do is fold your tissue paper.  Start with a strip of paper slightly taller than the height of your cookie cutter.  Fold tissue paper in half (refer to fig. 1).  Continue to do this until you get the desired width.  The more times you fold, the more images you will get.

Place your cookie cutter over the tissue and trace the outside with a pencil.  It's important that the cookie cutter overlaps on both sides of the tissue paper.  The two white lines drawn on the folds is where the trees will connect.

Cut out the tree making sure not to cut on the folds highlighted with white lines in the step above.

Unfold carefully and admire your pretty garland.

*Tip - You can iron tissue paper.  Just make sure that the iron is on a low setting and you keep it moving.  I ironed the tissue paper so it was nice and crisp before I made these.

Origami + Ribbon = Oribbon

Photo credit: Kamigu

Sometimes a craft product comes along that's so unique, so inspiring, it stops me in my tracks. Today that craft is Oribbon.  Oribbon is a strip of sticker ribbon that's scored so you can easily fold it into geometric shaped ribbons.  The ribbons can then be applied to gifts and such.  Below is video so you can see the craft in action.  Tell me what you think.