Halloween origami

I will go back to wedding origami (specifically origami flowers) tomorrow, but I thought for Hallowe'en you might like to see some decorations you can make with basic origami models. There are some easy-to-follow illustrated directions here.

The cube-shaped jack o'lanterns are made using the waterbomb base. If you don't know how to make that model, there is a video here. Once the flat model is folded, you inflate it to a squared-off ball by blowing into the open pointed end.

With any of the models, you can apply the jack o'lantern faces with markers or paper cutouts. Make a bunch of them and string them together as a cute holiday garland!

wedding origami

My mother was Japanese, and so I have been doing origami since I was about 4 years old. I would love to have lots of paper decorations, including origami, at my upcoming wedding. The pictures on this page are inspiring: http://origamist.net/wedding.html

about Kogata

I started Kogata in 2007 as a line of handmade jewelry featuring mini kokeshi dolls.

It was sold exclusively at Kobo Gallery in Seattle, Washington.

I don't make the kokeshi jewelry any more, but I do like to search the Internet for Japanese-language sites that feature crafts -- cute, stylish, clever, traditional -- especially sites that have how-to directions and lots of pictures. I hope you will enjoy what I share with you.

EDIT (November 5, 2009): I just found out that some of my jewelry was displayed as part of the "Seattle Collects: 1,000 Kokeshi!" display for the 4th Annual Bunka no Hi ( 文化の日, Culture Day) at the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Washington in Seattle!