Origami Ball Recipe!

Yay! Isn't it wonderful that it is finally spring? :) It's this time of year that I do so love to make cheery decorations around the house. I made this strand of origami balls sometime ago, but I thought I'd share the recipe today. As far as origami goes, the origami ball is fairly easy and a good deal of fun to make (though, it does take some practice!). I've used them for Christmas ornaments, too, which can be accomplished with a bent paper clip inserted in to the hole (as shown in the end of this post).

First things first, turn your origami piece color side down.

Fold over diagonally and in half, both ways.

...so that you have your square folded into eighths, and open it up, like so.

This part is rather tricky. You will need to flip it over and using both hands, tuck in the corners of the paper, so that it makes a triangle when pushed together.

The inside should look like this.

Now, place your triangle flat and fold up one side...

...like so. It should look like two triangles on one side. You'll need to do the same on the other side of the triangle as well.

Just like this! Now, both flaps on this side have been folded up to make a square at the top of the triangle.

Flip your triangle over and do the exact same thing on the other side.

The inside of the paper should like this, and you should have this open side facing you, like so.

Time to make some pockets! Take a corner and fold into the center line.

Do this on all four sides of the origami ball, so it looks like this.

This part might be the trickiest. At the bottom of your paper, there will be four flaps of paper. You will need to tuck these into the "pockets" you made on the previous step.

Make sure you get each flap tucked in!

On this side, both have been tucked in. Turn the piece over and repeat on the other side.

Hold your origami ball upright. Do you see a tiny hole in the top of the ball? Hold the ball between two fingers (you might need to use both hands) and blow into the hole. This is also rather tricky at first. You have to blow pretty hard.

Tada!!!! It's a ball! Well, a rather square ball, but a ball all the same!

If you want to make ornaments, use a paper clip.

You can do quite a bit with origami balls. I've placed a bunch of them in a bowl on a table, hung them up with string, and even placed them in cards for kids once with instructions on how to make them pop! 

Happy weekend! ^_^ Let me know if you have any questions about how to make these. There are a lot of other tutorials online about how to make these, too.

Thrifty finds and greetings

Why, hello!

I had to get rid of my blog for a brief while and change its name, due to some seedy individuals apparently visiting my site in abundance. Hopefully, that was the end of it!

Anyway, I hope to be rejuvenating this blog over the summer with cheery things. Stay tuned for antiques, books, old houses, stone walls, baked goods, and more. Funs!

A bit on thrifting...I must say, for all of you who are in search of great finds, Goodwill is a great place to start. Generally, things are less than $6 and you never know quite what you might discover--I've encountered designer jeans, vintage furs, and classy shoes (and snatched them up properly!).

The best time to go (and I know this from experience and having a former employee in the family) is EARLY Saturday morning. The store is fully stocked for a busy weekend and it's usually a great time to discover treasures.

Here's some lovely Goodwill thrift finds from last weekend.

Adorable vintage leather slip-ons with a bit of a heel and tassels on the front. Cost: $6.99. Cons: Slightly too small, but I am used to trying to make it work! :P

 James found this teapot lamp in the housewares section. I am not sure if it is homemade or not, actually. We are super excited about it, because we were in dire need of something cheery to go on top of our speakers and to be a companion for our antique teapot...and our wooden turtle... Huzzah! Cost: $4.99. Cons: We had to buy a lampshade.

Awww, we didn't buy this at Goodwill, but such a cute picture of our kitty sitting next to me! :) 

More to come!! Have a lovely spring afternoon.