Practical Origami

Don't just finish folding and put your masterpiece aside. With the easy-to-follow patterns in this new book by one of Japan's leading fashion and crafts publishers, anyone from beginner to expert can make a wide variety of items that are as useful as they are stylish.

In Practical Origami, the authors offer instructions in the fundamentals, teaching you the three very simple steps of the technique. Even if you're a novice folder, you can create gorgeous accessories that make great gifts or indispensable personal and household furnishings. For each project, there are clear, step-by-step drawings, crease-pattern diagrams, and advice on paper selection and preparation.

The 75 projects range from Containers (Cookie Box, Deli Box, Cutlery Case, and Bag with Handles), Tabletop Decorations (Chopsticks Envelopes and Rests, Cherry Blossom Dish), and Desktop Accessories (CD Case, Pen Tray, and Folding Card Case), to traditional Japanese Wrappings (Pouches and Celebratory Envelopes) and Seasonal Decorations (Paper Crane, Dolls, Snow Bunny, and Dragonfly). Beautiful, full-color photographs showcase the finished projects and will inspire you in choosing paper.

Armed with the solid information in Practical Origami, and your own unlimited imagination, you will enjoy hours of folding fun—and bring your lifestyle fashion-forward.

Since the launch of the seminal magazine Shufunotomo (A Wife's Friend) in March 1917, leading magazine and book publisher Shufunotomo has set the design standard for generations of Japanese women ages 20 to 35. The company currently publishes around fifteen magazines and dozens of books each year, making it one of the most recognizable sources of information on crafts, cooking, and women's fashion in Japan today.