World Origami Day: Learn Origami tricks to deck up home this Diwali

Make several origami flowers and leaves; stick them together and string them to form a toran

This writer firmly believes that the slogging that goes into Diwali cleaning is truly rewarded by the joy of decor shopping. And the sweets, of course. From elaborate torans to shining kandeels, the markets usually teem with festive decorations around this time. However, since self-reliance is the buzzword of the year, we decided to look at World Origami Day for some inspiration to deck up the house.

Padmaja Pradhan

Padmaja Pradhan, a Dadar-based architect and an origami enthusiast, shares that the craft is used for decoration in many parts of the world, in the form of paper lanterns, origami balloons, etc. The Japanese art of paper-folding can be a great way to unwind with the family, adds the member of Origami Mitra society. "You can make torans, inflatable origami balloons, or even rangoli. We can always buy decorations, but making something yourself, with the whole family coming together, gives immense joy and pleasure," she says, sharing two tricks for the festive season.

Flower and leaf toran and rangoli

• Take a square piece of paper, about four inch in size, of any colour. Fold and unfold both the diagonals. Now, bring all four corners to the centre.
• Fold the four new corners of the model to the centre once again. Turn the model over.
• Fold the four corners half-way to the centre, forming an octagon. Turn the model over once more. There will be four flaps flooded to the centre.
• Now, fold each flap as much as it can go and keep all the flaps vertical. There will be four more flaps inside. Fold them up in the same manner. Your flower is ready.
• For the leaf, take a square piece of green paper. It can be four inch in size or
• slightly larger.
• Fold along one diagonal, and unfold. There will be a crease from one corner of the paper to the other. Fold the two adjoining sides of the paper to this crease, forming a kite-like shape.
• Fold both flaps out so that the edge of the paper forms a right angle to itself. The leaf is ready. Stick the flower on the leaf (inset).
• Make several such flowers and leaves, and arrange them to form a rangoli. The leaves can be folded at the narrow ends and you can string them together to make a toran for the door, too. String some lights along to add sparkle.

Lantern with origami boats

Stick origami paper boats together to form a lantern

• Make 30 paper boats of the same size.
• Take five boats and stick them to each other so that all the pointed ends
• come together.
• Now, stick one boat each between the two boats, sideways. Go on following this pattern till all the 30 boats are stuck together. It will form a ball-like shape that can be used as a lantern.
• Insert a bulb inside before attaching the last boat.

Did you know?

Origami is believed to have originated in Japan. Ori means to fold, and kami means paper, shares Pradhan. World Origami Days are celebrated all over the world from October 24, the birthday of Lillian Oppenheimer, the founder of Origami USA, to November 11, which is celebrated in Japan as Origami Day, she adds.

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