Aalto Origami

Ok, not Alvar Aalto origami as such, but rather a beautiful Iittala Aalto vase filled with box origamis.



My husband received this vase as a present for 10 years' service to his company and we wanted to have it on display. However, a clear glass vase gets rather lost with nothing in it and since it's a long time before anything grows here in Finland, flowers are out of the question.

We both looked at the vase together, chorused "origami!" and so the idea was born. I've just spent a couple of hours maniacally folding the boxes. Note: very few of my attempts reached the vase when I threw them, so I shall not be giving up my day job to start a career in a basketball anytime soon. (My husband points out that the vase's shape means it is harder to slam dunk than a hoop, but he has to be nice, he's my husband...)

Mini Christmas Tree with Origami Cranes

A bit late, but here it is - our origami Christmas tree. I started out with grand ideas of a proper sized tree with hundreds of traditional origami cranes, but scaled down to this cute tree in a pot in the end. And that had a lot to do with mis-ordering of origami paper (always pay attention to the sizes!).

I'm pretty pleased with it and my fingers now know how to make cranes without my brain being involved. Quite a long way off before I hit the magical 1,000 mark (the maker of 1,000 cranes is bestowed with good luck, apparently).

Funny thing - left it so long the tree itself is totally dead. One touch and it crumbles to dust. I suppose Christmas truly is over...