Orgami Ornaments

The other day, my sister in law, Shannon, asked me how I made a particular ornament I gave to each of her family members.

Eleven years ago!

She wanted to use some old greeting cards to make new ones.

First, I had to remember what the ornament even looked like! Then I had to figure out where I found the pattern/instructions.

After Shannon described it to me, it all clicked & I remembered them {I even have some I made for my girls!}. Now I just had to remember how the heck to make them & if I even still had the instructions!

I dug through my stacks of binders full of projects I've collected from magazines & from the internet, but with no luck in finding the ornament instructions.

So, I bit the bullet & carefully took apart one that I had so I could figure out how to put it back together! Thankfully it was much easier than I thought. So, here's what I figured I'd do, I will post, right here on this crappy little ol' Blog of mine, how to make these ornaments so if you so desire to make them as well, you can.

What you will need:

*3 pieces of stiff paper ~ card stock, old greeting cards or origami paper

*ruler & scissors

*ribbon

*beads

1. Cut each piece of paper into squares. I cut mine into 6"X6" squares.

2. Fold square into a triangle by bringing the lower corner to the upper corner. If using a printed paper or greeting card, make sure print is on the outside.

3. Fold triangle in half to form a smaller triangle. Crease, then open so you now have the large triangle with a crease in the center.

4. Now you're going to make into a square again. Take a corner from the bottom of the triangle & fold up along the center crease. Do this to both sides of the triangle forming the square.

5. Repeat steps 2-5 with the other 2 pieces of paper.

6. Now to assemble. Take two of the folded papers and slide them together by sliding the two small triangles between the folded paper at the top of the large triangle. This means that the two smaller triangles will slide under the triangle point in the main body of the paper.

7. Add the third piece of paper by repeating the process. You will need to close the box by sliding the small triangles under the third paper. Crease the paper whenever needed as you make the paper fit together.

8. Leave a small opening to add a hanger. To make a hanger, thread some beads into a ribbon or braided rope long enough to fit the length of the ornament plus additional to make a loop & hang below an inch or so.

9. Thread ribbon through opening, then carefully slide all 3 pieces of paper together to close, leaving the loop hanging out the top & a tail at the bottom.

And there you have a unique handmade origami ornament!