Wednesday, March 11, 2015

An Origami Treasure Trove Giveaway


Talk about bringing imagination to life—we’re giving away a stack of six amazing origami books and kits that can help you turn simple pieces of paper into everything from flowers to animals to airplanes that really fly!

The books are a gift from Tuttle Publishing, and represent part of their range of papercrafting instruction. Here are the titles we’re giving away via raffle:

Origami Ikebana, by Benjamin John Coleman. Ikebana is the Japanese art of floral arrangement, and the wonderworking hands of Benjamin John Coleman take it to new heights by merging it with origami. Learning paperfolding from a book can be daunting, but Coleman’s step-by-step photo instructions help me visualize the projects to the point I feel I can create anything using paper and paint (two of my favorite mediums). This book even comes complete with an instructional DVD with videos to follow.

Another book-and-DVD set, John Szinger’s Origami: Animal Sculpture is delightful for its variety, from foxes to lizards to ten-tentacled giant squid. I’ve got a soft spot for the paper narwhal, and the inchworm looks right at home among the paper flowers at Castle in the Air. To turn this into a true nature-lover’s dream, Szinger prefaces his “Adirondack Animals” chapter with instructions for folding your own campsite with a lean-to, canoe, and Adirondack chair. Make a wilderness escape without even leaving the room!

Japanese Paper Crafting, by Michael G. LaFosse with Richard L. Alexander and Greg Mudarri, expands the art of paperfolding to show how it can be used to add beauty to unexpected parts of our lives. The 17 projects in this book stem from washi papercraft techniques, and guide you in the creation of such wonders as a paper clutch purse, a gorgeous vase cover, a whimsical sailboat envelope, and a sewn washi book printed with your own poems or whatever you’d like. The introductory chapter on papermaking is just one of the examples of the book’s reverence for the history and practice of this exquisite art.

LaFosse and Alexander team up again to present Origami Flowers, a kit that includes 180 colorful sheets of folding paper, 18 designs, a book, and an instructional DVD. These two origami geniuses use the book to teach their original blossom designs—ranging in complexity from easy to advanced—and then direct you to the video so you can learn how to add leaves and stems for making bouquets. The bright colors and friendly instructions make this a terrific introduction to the art of paper flowermaking.

If you’re like me, you often return home from a trip with many extra pieces of paper, such as brochures, currency, and yes even the occasional shopping bag. Cindy Ng’s lighthearted Travel Origami lets you repurpose this ephemera into simple gifts of one-of-a-kind mementos of your journey. Even the lowliest of objects is elevated under Ng’s care. Who knew that gum wrappers could make an adorable picture frame, or that drinking straws could be wound together to make miniature rosebuds?

And for paperfolders who are really on the go, it’s hard to top One Minute Paper Airplanes, by Andrew Dewar. This kit contains a dozen paper airplanes you pop out from perforated pages, a set of full-color instructions, and a specialized rubber-band powered catapult launcher to set them soaring. Even though the “craft” is all prepackaged in this kit, I’ve got to admit that the variety of flyers—from the prehistoric archaeopteryx to modern jets—makes it a lot of fun.

Would you like to win these incredible papercrafting books and kits? Just enter below and we’ll pull names from a paper hat on April 1st and announce the winner here. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

33 comments:

Unknown said...

Very cool! I've had fun making origami earrings before. The paper gets so tiny though, I ended up using my jewelry pliers to finish some of the folds! ;)

Unknown said...

Today is friday, the 13th so I am hoping that gives me luck to be the winner!! Love books <3 and origami!

Unknown said...

I've always folded paper cranes, but I would love to try flowers!

casey said...

I love that you are giving away some of the orgigami books that can be found at Tuttle Publishing, I like to fold all different kinds of origami but I especially love the geometrically shaped ones.

tricia stirling said...

Hi Castle in the Air! I just received a blue castle badge from you in the mail! Thank you! I want to tell you that I have written a book called When My Heart Was Wicked which was published by Scholastic last month. Here is a quote from it: "I pack the silver calligraphy ink Anna bought me at a store in Berkeley that displays fairy houses with intricate gardens and tree houses and gnomes and friendly mice." Can you guess which store I was referring to???

Castle in the Air said...

Wonderful Tricia! Incredible. I'll have to take a look. And thank you! Best, K

HeatherJ. said...

This looks like so much fun!

Unknown said...

I would love to fold some elephants

The Artist Librarian said...

Boxes and utilitarian items --when I was younger it was interactive things like paper airplanes!

[Zekkaina on rafflecopter]

Unknown said...

Paper Cranes

Jennifer said...

Paper boxes are my favorite... so useful & simple. A close second is paper toys for my son & his cousins. In a world of fast paced screen time they are always happy to watch me fold some lovely little bauble. Paper balloons & hopping frogs are perennial favorites & they always ask for pockets full of tiny lucky stars <3

Unknown said...

I love to fold ant animals and flowers.

Unknown said...

Origami flowers looks like fun.

Unknown said...

This week the children and I are folding frogs to play tic-tac-toe!

Unknown said...

I like to fold little frogs.

Caro said...

Love Origami and started to share the love with my two young children!

J-Mei said...

I want to fold butterfly.

dd said...

I am partial to folding animals, especially beautiful things like butterflies. Great fun to make for friends too. ~Deb

dd said...

I like to fold little insects, especially butterflies and dragonflies. Beautiful and fun to make.

Stacey said...

I loved the hearts I folded one Valentine's day - would love to try some other shapes and share them with friends. Thanks!

Carrie Freitas said...

I have loved origami since I was a kid, and I would love to learn some new and more advanced techniques!

Mitch said...

I am teaching an after school enrichment class and we are going to fold a paper crane after reading Sadako and the Thousand Cranes. ... I have also previously folded hearts out of money for Valentine's and some paper balls.

It would be just great to have some more origami resources. Paper folding has so much to offer for the understanding of geometry and spacial reasoning.
Cheers, and warm kudos to you for all of your creative endeavors!

Robin said...

I love folfing paper into so much!! 3d shapes are great, boxes, animals, my kids love them all.
thanks-

Anonymous said...

Definitely dinosaurs--like AMNH in NYC!

Arline said...

I love to fold paper money for gifts.

Anonymous said...

My grandson would be the one to have the advantage of this Treasure Trove.

hauksdottir said...

I've been folding miniature origami dragons and unicorns for decades.

There are reasonably attractive patterns for the beasties (escapees from a bestiary) at full size, but I have to modify or invent when working inch high. Tweezers and toothpicks become extensions of the fingers. I might have to follow Irene's suggestion of jewelry pliers. ;)

Amara Grace said...

I like to fold the boxes, bags, envelopes for handmade gifts I give using unusual and beautiful paper. I also love to fold a sheet of paper into a little booklet. I still have the origami my children & I folded in their homeschool art experiences... many years ago. My favorite thing to fold changes as I learn new things to fold.

Thank you so much for my Castle in the Air Badge... I'm very proud to be a commendable recipient. Also thank you for this giveaway opportunity :-D

Dan said...

When I was little my parents bought me an origami book that I still use to this day and I am much older. I think my favorite things to fold are the birds and at this time of year the "blow up bunny." We then stick jelly beans in the hole. Very fun and cute for young children. Thanks for such a lovely assortment of books.

Nat-Wu said...

I'm a fan of the classic animals. Frogs and horses and whatnot.

Eileen Pardini said...

I love Origami! I love to make boxes, flowers, and of course paper cranes.

Unknown said...

These would be a great addition to my class library. My students are always asking for more origami books.

Jessie B. said...

I love the idea of folding travel momentos into origami. A 3D scrapbook!