Kirigami

Kirigami is similar to origami in that it is a form of paper art. The major difference is that in origami, you fold paper whereas in kirigami, you fold and cut paper.

In the United States, the term "kirigami" was coined by Florence Temko. She used the word kirigami in the title of her book,Kirigami, the Creative Art of Papercutting, 1962. The book was so successful that the word kirigami was accepted as the name for the art of paper cutting.

In Japan, the word kirigami had been in use for a long time because "kiru” means to cut, and “gami” means paper. So, kirigami meant to cut paper.

Paper Snowflakes

Most people will remember kirigami as a way to make paper snowflakes. Unfolding the paper snowflake is a delightful surprise because it's almost impossible to make the exact pattern twice. Paper snowflakes have six sections because the paper is folded in half and then thirds.

Real snowflakes have six-fold symmetry too. This is because water molecules crystalize into a hexagonal lattice. No two snowflakes are alike because the condition in a cloud is always changing when water vapour crystallizes into snowflakes. Because of these ever changing atmospheric conditions, each snowflake grows in a different way. Click here for snowflake FAQs. [Photo by KG Libbrecht]

• how to make a paper snowflake

Problem: it’s spring and it just doesn’t feel right to make snowflakes in the glorious growing season. Not a problem! Cut kirigami flowers, sun bursts, stars, hearts, and other cool designs. Look here for some different ideas:

• make a kirigami flower
• unique kirigami patterns

Cutting paper snowflakes is fun, but if you don’t want to use scissors, you don't have to. Computer software experts have now made it possible to make e-snowflakes. It’s not the same as good old "arts & crafts", but it’s worth a try nevertheless.

• e-snowflakes by lookandfeel.com
• cut virtual paper applet by K Whitley

Kirigami

Making a chain of paper dolls is a classic paper craft that every child should do. It's fun, easy, and may become a tradition in your family. This project require scissors so adult supervision is recommended. Instructions Take a piece of paper (8.5" x 11") and cut it lenghtwise. Fold it into quarters accordian (pleated) style. Draw a figure of a person on the top layer. Be sure that the arms extend beyond the edge of the folded sheet. You can draw your own figure or use the templates below. Cut the figure out and unfold. You will get a chain of dolls holding hands. To have more dolls in your chain, use a larger sheet of paper and fold more pleats before cutting. Alternatively, use more than one sheet of paper and connect the figures with tape. You can decorate the figures with eyes, nose, mouth, hair, and clothes. You can make variations such as paper figures that wear dresses (women), look like teddy bears, or like ginger breadmen. Templates To use the templates below: 1. Hover your mouse over the figures. 2. Right click your mouse and "copy". 3. Paste the figures into a text editor like Microsoft Word. 4. Print and cut out the figure you like and use as a template for making your own dolls.

Other Kid Friendly Kirigami Projects

• make a kirigami Christmas tree
• cut a five-pointed-star
• cut a star outline
• cut a 6-pointed star
• cut a Star of David
• make a paper chain of dolls
• make a variation paper chain of dolls
• make circular paper dolls

Origami

Origami is a paper that can fold in many way.We can make a paper firework,paper hello kitty,and even 3D origami!The history of origami is under debate. Unlike other art forms, paper degrades quickly leaving no artifacts to suggest where origami originated and who first invented it. The information listed here provides a good overview of origami but is not an authoritative analysis of the subject. For detailed information regarding the history of paper folding, consult the works of David Lister: The History of Origami in paperfolding.com and the Lister list from British Origami Society.

Textbooks will say that paper was first invented in China by Cai Lun (also written Ts'ai Lun) in 105 A.D. (Image from wikipedia.com). However, archeological evidencesuggest that paper was invented even early than this. One can imagine that if there's paper, then the paper may have been folded as well. There is no evidence of this but, if it was true, then paper folding would have started here.

During the 6th century, paper was introduced into Japan by Buddhist monks (sometimes attributed to one monk in particular, named Dokyo). It is here that paper folding became an art form and evolved into what we know today as origami.



Initially, paper was expensive and therefore not available to the general public. Paper folding, was not a hobby: it was for formal functions. For example:

"Origami Tsuki" was a folded piece of paper that accompanied a valuable gift and it served as a certificate of authenticity.

"Noshi" was folded-paper that accompanied gifts and functioned as tokens of good fortune. [Photo: noshi collection from the National Diet Library.

"Tsutsumi" was formal gift wrappers. These ceremonial folds were simple and symbolized sincerity and purity.

During these early years, paper butterflies were used to adorn sake (Japanese wine) bottles in wedding ceremonies - yet another very formal function. These butterflies, called “Mecho” and “Ocho”, are probably the earliest form of representational origami.

Paper folding also developed in Spain sometime between the 8th and 12th century. Historians believe that paper and paper-making was introduced into Europe from Asia via the Silk Route. It is not clear whether paper-folding was invented in Europe independently or if it was also introduced from Asia. Photo: "pajarita" (little bird) is almost certainly of Spanish origin.

Paper folding was documented for the first time in 1797 in the book called “Folding of 1000 Cranes“ (Senbazuru Orikata). Next, was a series of books called “Window on Midwinter“ (Kayaragusa). These books were about Japanese customs and there is two sections on paper folding. [Note: due to an error in translation, these books are sometimes mistakenly called Kan No Mado.]

By 1890's, the word origami was more or less officially used to refer to what we call as origami. Previous to this time, it was called "orikata", "orisue", "orimono", or "tatamigami".

In the 1950, Akira Yoshizana and Sam Randlett developed a standard set of origami symbols to describe how to fold paper into models. These symbols remained essentially the same and is used in origami diagrams today. [Note:David Lister suggests that it was Sam Randlett and Robert Harbin who formalized the use of the origami symbols.]

Currently, there are thousands of published origami books. The art form continues to evolve and is beyond the traditional origami that we think of. Origami styles and techniques include: complex origami, mathematical origami, modular origami, wet folding origami, origami tessellations, andmore.

To see a timeline, or different perspectives on the history of origami, please visit these sites:

• Joseph Wu: Origami: A Brief History
• David Mitchell: Origami Design History
• K’s Origami: History of Origami
• John Smith: Notes on the History of Origami
• Japan Origami Academic Society's History of Origami in Japan
• David Lister: History of Paperfolding: a German Perspective
• David Lister: History of Paperfolding - Errors & Misconceptions

How to make Hello Kitty Cat Face Origami ハローキティちゃんの顔折り紙 Cara Del Gato

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Origami Magic Rose Cube (Valerie Vann)

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Origami Fireworks (Yami Yamauchi)

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Origami Instructions - Swan in hundreds of pieces

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