Top products from r/origami

Okay, it only comes in 50cm rolls, and you have to cut it yourself to square it out because it comes in a roll, but 'Miltons Fancy Foil' is exactly what you are looking for. I folded an Ancient Dragon with a square piece of paper around 15 cm and it wasn't thick at all. Here's a link for what you want.

https://www.amazon.com/Wilton-804-167-Silver-Fanci-Foil-Wrap/dp/B0000VMBB0

Unfortunately, it only comes in 3 colors, gold, silver and white. Here's how my mini guy turned out. It's pretty thin for its size, so imagine how thin it will be for yours.

http://imgur.com/a/oft9T

NOW, what I recommend is that you make your own paper!!!!

It's not that expensive, doesn't take that long at all, and you'll get more pride out of your finished product, and it will be very thin as well.

1.) Buy a metal meter stick, an Exacto Knife, Spray adhesive, 50 cm wide THIN (Not Heavy Duty) cooking foil, and various colors of 50cm square tissue paper

2.) Pick the two colors you like the most.

3.) Pick area that is flat, dirt and crumb free, and lay down some newspaper so you don't get adhesive on anything you like.

4.) Rip off enough tin foil

5.) spray down one side of tinfoil. Carefully lay down your tissue paper so that it is perfectly flat. Take your time with this, because once you lay it down, it's never coming off.

6.) Let dry for a few minutes, then repeat with the other side

7.) Time to cut it into a perfect square. This part is the tough part. Before you cut, you need to make sure that your sides are all the same length. Then, you need to measure the two diagonals. Once every single side to the paper is perfectly the same as well as the diagonals, then you are good to cut your perfect square. Most people only measure the sides and assume the square is perfect. Measuring the diagonals will let you know if your square is lopsided or not.

Usually you have to trim it down because you can never lay down the tissue paper perfect, so my squares usually ended up being around 45-48 cm

The Paper holds itself together extremely well, is cheaper, and it's better than most of the stuff you can buy. If I'm not using Wilton's Fancy Foil, this is what I'm doing, because sometimes models need colors. Sometimes they need specific colors. Here's an example of one I made using paper I made myself.

http://imgur.com/a/4gVxO

So yeah, for the thinnest paper around that is also very strong, use Wilton's. If you are okay with slightly thicker (But as you can see, you can still shape very well) paper the benefit of colors of your choice, then making your own is where to go. You should make your own I recommend, it's a lot of fun.

If you have any other questions, I'd be happy to answer.

First thing first: If you're american, I would suggest joining Origami USA for the lending library. I've never used it (not american) but it seems useful.

If you're looking to get past the youtube videos and simple models, I would recommend some of the classics (though they might not be the newest). They are also more likely to be available. [Origami Omnibus] (http://www.giladorigami.com/BO_Omnibus.html) gives a good overview of the field though it was written before the Tessellators made it big. It should help you decide what kinds of origami you're interested in.
Origami from Angelfish to Zen has a nice overview of the history of origami.
[Origami design secrets] (http://www.giladorigami.com/BO_DesignSecrets.html) is a newer classic and covers a lot of the technical advances in the latter half of the century.

As for intermediate/advanced books, the best ones are "boutique" books from special publishers.
origami house does all the hard core japanese designs like Kamiya, Komatsu, and Nishikawa. They also publish the annual tanteidan convention book which is hands-down the best collection of diagrams each year. I almost always buy it (though sometimes I wait and buy several at once)

[Passion Origami] (http://www.passion-origami.com/marques.php) is the other major publisher and has the books by Roman Diaz, Quentin Trollip, and the VOG.

If you don't want to pay for shipping dead trees around, [Origami USA] (https://origamiusa.org/catalog/newest-downloads) has some diagrams for online purchase, I haven't looked at them all, but there are some good names there.

Modular origami is actually kinda diverse. Are you interested in pure geometrics (phizz, sonobe), clever decorative (Miyuki Kawamura), kusudama balls (glue!). Try the flickr group or browsing.

For Tessellations, it's Eric's book Origami Tessellations, and the Origami tessllations flickr group.

Other books I like (and can name off the top of my head right now):[Origami Dream world] (http://www.giladorigami.com/BO_Dreamworld.html) and origami dream world 2, Brilliant Origami is a classic for animals and has many clever models, Origami for the Connoisseur is a mix of good models from other sources, Fuse's Spirals a gorgeous art book. I have a soft spot for Origami in action .

Hopefully that's enough so that you can get a feel for what's out there right now. If you can tell us more about what you like, then we can give more specific suggestions.

Last comment: Go to an origami convention! That's really where the new and exciting stuff happens and you can meet all the designers.

Really anything will work at first, but it is a lot more rewarding to use decent paper. I've found Tant to be a great compromise between price and quality; here's where I got mine.

As for instructions, it really depends what you're interested in making.

I would recommend YouTube videos since you're just starting out; it will pretty much eliminate the confusion that comes along with diagrams and crease patterns.

Sara Adams has a great channel, as does Jo Nakashima. There are a bunch more, but those two are what I remember off the top of my head.

Just searching around I found one for a hummingbird - I haven't folded it or watched it before, but it looks decent.

I almost exclusively fold tessellations; I'm not sure if that would interest you or not. Shuzo Fujimoto's Hydrangea might be a good place to start. Or Eric Gjerde's Tiled Hexagons, which is a more traditional tessellations, although it isn't diagrammed as well here as in his book (which you should definitely get if you are at all interested in tessellations).

The plastic (mylar?), or holographic reflective paper does not work too well, it doesn't hold creases good, but it can still be worked with for figures of simple to moderate complexity if it has paper on one side. If it is the kind that is all plastic, it will not be able to hold creases sufficiently well for most origami- anything you try to fold will unfold itself partway.

Real foil gift wrap with one side paper and one side foil works as well as origami foil paper you find in packs.

I often assume the side edges of the foil are a straight line to make things simpler, but you can cut a full square without making this assumption, it just takes a little additional measuring.

Tools to use are a ruler, pencil, and an "L square right angle rule" - Google it if you are not familiar with it; it is an architects/construction worker's tool, looks like a big metal L-shaped ruler; they can be had cheap at a Home Depot or Lowes, or a protractor would work too, but would not be as convenient.

I carefully measure off a square up to the size I want (I've made ones as big as a yard square in the past) and then cut it out using a metal ruler and X-acto type hobby knife. Then fold it on the diagonals and make sure the edges line up.

If they don't quite line up, you can place the ruler on the edge where all the raw edges are, with the ruler at a 90 degree angle to the adjacent edge, and cut through all the edges at once to make something very close to a perfect square.

It actually takes a decent amount of time and attention to detail to produce a good square of paper this way, but it allows you to use any kind of paper (butcher block rolls, for example, or handmade paper, textured paper, etc) and so I think it is worth it. I read the basics of the technique in one of the more popular origami books, "Origami from Angelfish to Zen" by Peter Engels, page 7, "Materials".

http://www.amazon.com/Origami-Angelfish-Zen-Peter-Engel/dp/0486281388

I hope this helps!

Thank you for that. That book is perfect for anyone who wants to learn about origami. It's really more of a textbook with expanded explanations about the science of origami so I'd say yes indeed, read it cover to cover and make everything in it and you'll be an origami ninja in no time. Granted some of the folds are pretty hard core, Lang loves to put open and closed sinks in the most difficult places.

For those with little origami experience, I always recommend Origami Omnibus. It explains some of the math/geometry and has a taste of everything from Modular to animals to adam and eve in the back of the book. Great beginners book with some fun models too. Like most others it gets more difficult as you progress so it's a great book to learn with.

Happy folding and post your pics, we'd love to see what you make.

My favorite tessellations (including your one) comes from Eric Gjerde (Sarah Adams did many of those in her channel). Get his book and visit his website and flickr.

Start with this one. It is not a tessellation by mean, but it is fun model and good for practicing precise folds and some skills.

This one is interesting model and it will give you an idea how important is to fold a grid (basically how to "prefold" a paper before making creases).

And finally - this one followed by [multi-level version] (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=474PmBXekK8) is your holy grail. If you stick with this one and find yourself enjoying hours spend with this bad boy you'll know that you're hooked on tessellations (here is my humble 5-hour contribution). Then just go through the book and videos and diagrams.

I just find it so relaxing. Just turning on some music, and for hours creating something complex and symmetrical. Have a great time!

Genuine Origami by Jun Maekawa (http://www.amazon.com/Genuine-Origami-Mathematically-Based-Models-Complex/dp/4889962514) is a pretty good book to learn about the more technical side of origami. Jun Maekawa goes into depth about how he developed a lot of the models and what techniques/theories are applied in the models. He also selected models for the book which are illustrative of specific design features. I found a lot of the models in this book to be fairly difficult but with enough patience I was able to fold most models.

Personally I'm also a fan of Origami to Astonish and Amuse by Jeremy Schafer (http://www.amazon.com/Origami-Astonish-Amuse-Jeremy-Shafer/dp/0312254040) which isn't quite as technically in depth as Maekawa's book. However Schafer does go into depth about how he developed the various models as well though. The models can also be quite funny and I'm fairly sure 14-year-old me would have thoroughly enjoyed this book. The models in this book can range in difficulty from fairly easy to tediously difficult.

I think either book would make a good present and they're also reasonably priced on amazon.

I think I started with the traditional bases and started thinking what else could use that arrangement of flaps. Also I was really persistent. The first things I came up with were nothing special but I kept on it because I wanted to get better.

Robert Lang's writings on origami design are great but can be a little overwhelming if you're just starting out. One of the books that I remember really liking as a beginner (and still today) is Origami to Astonish and Amuse by Jeremy Shafer. The author talks about how he went about designing things, and he shows how you can take an existing model or base and modify it to something completely new. I would definitely recommend picking it up if you can.

Just buy standard origami paper from Amazon.
I recently started and it was everything I needed. I also purchased the "complete origami" book, but it's just adding a little bit of background right now, I think later it adds more value, so in my opinion not needed for the beginning.

My first piece was the standard crane and it worked. They most common pieces aren't that kind of scary (even though the frog is kind of hard).
They may not look perfect and you don't understand the background at first, but after the 10th crane you figure it out.

The first 2 days I just folded something from this side, what I liked. (but be careful, there's a lot of unnecessary stuff)

Now (the 3rd day) I just continue working on my technique, folding crane after crane.

Of course you can buy an introduction book to origami or the best paper available, but just starting anywhere you like worked for me and I'm happy I didn't wasted so much money. You can buy better and fancier paper later, after you found out what exactly you want during folding stuff, because there are a lot of different types of "origami" (wet folding, modular, with or without cutting etc etc).

I too love origami but not that fond of single unit/ origami..

I started with Modular origami..

It appeals to the gear head side of me and the fact that i love geometry..

The options are limitless..

I use http://www.antiprism.com/ to design and preview my Origami builds

A few ideas for inspiration: try the following books...

Unit-Origami-Multidimensional-Tomoko-Fuse

Unit-Polyhedron-Origami-Tomoko-

Modular Origami yields eye catching models that are like art pieces and most things i fold/assemble,ble get very awe inspiring reactions..

That's pretty cool! I've experimented with coloring the paper before folding, and you can get some pretty cool things. Have you tried using wax paper?

If you like tesselations you definitely check out Eric Gjerde's book, I found it really helped me to get into the spirit of it, which is useful for reading fold patterns and intuiting new patterns.

Aha! I see a Menger sponge or two and some Thomas Hull intersecting tetrahedra. Excellent!

I'd highly recommend this book (http://www.amazon.com/Origami-Tessellations-Awe-Inspiring-Geometric-Designs/dp/1568814518) for getting started in tessellations. They're similar in spirit to modular origami (to which I see you're well-informed), but I find it much easier to fold these when I travel for work (It's just one piece of paper) and make better gifts (they can be hung from a wall/window for backlighting and fit an "adults" house better).

Bonne chance!

• Model: Simple Sonobé 12-unit Assembly Plus Alpha
  
• Designer: Tomoko Fusé
  
• Source: Unit Origami: Multidimensional Transformations
  
• The base cube was a bit unwieldy at first, but as I added the accents it tightened up. I'd say it's moderately secure, it shouldn't fall apart on its own, but certainly would not stand up to a lot of rough handling. All in all, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

modular designs often work well with small sheets and are nice to hang up with tassels or decorative knots

plain printer paper is fine; but you can also print/paint designs onto the paper before cutting (im sure theres websites with free designs if you arent inclined to create your own) or cheap single colour (i love this paper for small simple modular units)

It really depends on what kind of origami appeals to you but I do mainly modular origami and my number one go to book is Tomoko Fuse's Multidimensional Transformations Unit Origami. This book was published in 1990 and is a little bit pricey (around 30-50 dollars these days). It was my first major origami book and I couldn't be more amazed at how many different designs it offers. The models really range from basic to extremely advanced and most of them like in the medium-hard range. If you're looking for something complex and not as 2-D as many origami books can offer you- I highly suggest this book. Oh yeah, It's also not short. It's around 230 pages of work.

Here's a link to what it looks like: http://www.amazon.com/Unit-Origami-Multidimensional-Tomoko-Fuse/dp/0870408526

Hope this helps!

Awesome! Lots of other people linked great references as well, hope you find something that interests you. I've always been fond of animal origami, it's great fun. I also forgot to mention John Montroll's work there - I find his models much simpler compared to Lang's, but no less fun to fold.

You should get this book Origami Tessellations: Awe-Inspiring Geometric Designs by Eric Gjerde, you can buy it from here,

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Origami-Tessellations-Awe-Inspiring-Geometric-Designs/dp/1568814518/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415997968&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=origami+tessillations

Its a very good starting place, the models start of very simple, and get slightly more difficult as you progress through the book, the diagrams are very clear, pictures are shown for most steps and there is also a coloured Mountain and Valley Crease pattern for each model which helps ALOT! :).

If you dont want to buy the book, you can find lots of examples and tutorials on youtube, ill provide a link to a few,

Five-and-Four Tessellation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2boGii3i9s

Star Puff
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhyM6_ioTCE

For the paper, you can use Glassine, super thin, which you can get from the Origami shop.com
http://www.origami-shop.com/en/extra-thin-glassine-xsl-207_215_624_633.html

Tant
http://www.origami-shop.com/en/tant-papers-origami-xsl-207_215_458_625.html.

Hope this helps! :D

Thanks! The key is to start simple, be persistent, and to be analytical when you're folding from diagrams. Most people ( myself included) start by modifying traditional bases. When using diagrams, Try to look at the ways that structures come together and look for recurring structures and try to understand what these structures can do. Everybody recommends the book origami design secrets by Robert lang but the book that helped me understand design the most was Genuine Origami by jun maekawa. This one http://www.amazon.com/Genuine-Origami-Mathematically-Based-Models-Complex/dp/4889962514/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415713219&sr=8-1&keywords=genuine+origami Other than that try to get ideas from other models ( I got the idea for the shell from fumiaki kawahatas stegosaurus) and have fun discovering your unique style of origami! If you have any more questions feel free to ask!

YouTuber Sarah Adams has a couple of videos on tessellations. Here's a playlist of her videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL13A44D22E042BB7F


Book-wise, I am personally very fond of Eric Gjerde's Origami Tessellations: Awe-Inspiring Geometric Designs.
You can buy that here: https://www.amazon.com/Origami-Tessellations-Awe-Inspiring-Geometric-Designs/dp/1568814518


Good luck and happy folding!

Not really; when I started folding tessellations 7 years ago, there wasn't much in the way of information available online. The few people who had done it before had not published much on the matter, or if they did it was completely inaccessible. (like, hand-published Japanese texts printed out on a mimeograph in 1977 inaccessible, and I actually managed to find one of those...)

So as I taught myself how to do this, I shared my discoveries on Flickr, and my website. I created a group on Flickr, called Origami Tessellations which became a pretty important part of the current resurgence of this style of folding. I published a book, titled "Origami Tessellations: Awe-Inspiring Geometric Designs", which happens to be where these images are from.

I'd heartily recommend checking out the Flickr group, there's over 9,000 images there, and lots of great info from a community of folders contained within.

I'm pretty sure it's made from double-sided convex hexagonal ring units (a mouthful, I know!) from Tomoko Fuse's book Unit Polyhedron Origami.

Here's one I made next to the illustration from the book, and it looks pretty much identical to OPs.

It's an awesome module, they look similar to little turtle but they hold together much better. They're made from 1:2 paper which can be annoying, but they're basically just an improved little turtle otherwise.

EDIT: Icosahedrons made with little turtle also have wider triangular openings and the spikes are a bit shorter from what I remember.

Thank you. I love the book a lot as well. Although my personal favorite will always be Kunihiko Kasahara's Origami Omnibus. https://www.amazon.com/Origami-Omnibus-Paper-Folding-Everybody/dp/4817090014 I folded things from this for well over a decade when I was a kid.

Amazon has really cheap options for 1000 sheets of paper; but like @ilykeurface mentioned, best get more sheets - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001J2YI7E/ref=sr_ph_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487343266&sr=sr-1&keywords=1000+paper

I usually buy that size to make kudusamas too

The easy answer is Origami Design Secrets: Mathematical Methods for an Ancient Art, Second Edition https://www.amazon.com/dp/1568814364/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_r46Hub00PYXXZ
Great book, well worth the price

Like most I order from amazon. For anything modular there is a set of 1000 2,75 inches square. 6 is good for almost anything else, but for something super complex I will make it from a roll of parchment paper or craft paper.

I found this I haven't bought it myself but i think its pretty good quality, and prettig cheap too (€10 for 1000 sheets).

Judging by the picture, it looks like these might have the glue, but I'm not sure. The reviews look good, and it's a decent price for 1000 sheets.

Edit: oops, forgot link :)

Michael Lafosse books are good, like Origami Art and Advanced Origami
http://www.origamido.com/

I like Eric Gjerdes diagrams in here
http://www.amazon.com/Origami-Tessellations-Awe-Inspiring-Geometric-Designs/dp/1568814518

Also John Montrol has lots of animal books

I bought these from amazon...
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001J2YI7E?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_image

And just created 23 boxes in order of the shades :) there are 50 colors plus gold and silver but I just picked out the most vibrant ones. The 👍👍

Yes! In Origami Tesselations by Eric Gjerde. This book is the best entrance point into origami tesselations. I would warn you though, this model was way harder than I expected, so you probably want to start with some simpler tesselations first.

This is the peacock from the Genuine Origami by Maekawa. Had a blast, but I'm definitely gonna start from the beginning to ease into it!

This book came recommended during a conversation about learning origami design. However, if you're not yet an advanced folder, I recommend you work on building your repertoire and progressing to more advanced models before investing in a book, since this is a great way to see the methods designers use.

This model is one of my favourites and illustrates how designers use the potential of folded bases: The tail, head, and wings are all made of identical flaps!

Here's a pic. Or Support the Author!. It really is one of my favorite books and very worth it.

Looks like "Equilateral Triangle Edge Module" by Lewis Simon and Bennett Arnstein. The resulting icosahedron is on the top-right of the cover of Beginner's Book of Modular Origami Polyhedra: The Platonic Solids.

Amazon

Dover Publications

the nearest library

(This was the book that got me interested in origami in high school.)

I have some!

Genuine Origami by Jun Maekawa

Each model comes with a "theme", often mathematical in nature. Design theory (like Design Secrets but more digestible) and history is interspersed.

Origami from Angelfish to Zen by Peter Engel

Probably the most intellectually wide-ranging book on origami of all time. The first half of this book is collection of essays about origami history, math, design, and the craft as an art form.

Advanced Origami by Michael Lafosse

This book mostly covers the paper side of origami, such as how to make duo paper, wet-folding, etc

My favorite origami books are:

Origami for the Connoisseur https://www.amazon.com/dp/4817090022/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_X5GGzb0NC14YA

and

Genuine Origami: 43 Mathematically-Based Models, From Simple to Complex https://www.amazon.com/dp/4889962514/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_L7GGzb1H9N4SY

Both books are well written and cover a wide range of designs (both in content and in skill level). The harder models in genuine will take hours to fold.

"Origami Design Secrets" by Robert Lang is a fantastic place to start. The basic idea is that most object can be represented as a tree (in the computer science sense), with some extra tricks to make things more efficient. The book details how a tree can be converted into a crease pattern, which you would then collapse and shape to get your desired result.

Michael G. LaFosse's book Origami Art has a chapter on developing your brand as an origami artist. This includes information on intellectual property.

http://www.amazon.com/Origami-Art-Exquisite-Designs-Origamido/dp/4805309989/

I am interested in modular origami. I have a playlist, mainly for personal use, but it will give you some youtube videos that can walk you through folding some models.

As for paper, I purchased a 500 sheet $10 bundle on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Global-Art-6-Inch-Origami-500-Pack/dp/B002RBL8BA/ref=sr_1_2?s=arts-crafts&ie=UTF8&qid=1457878152&sr=1-2

Unit Origami by Tomoko Fuse

http://www.amazon.com/Unit-Origami-Multidimensional-Tomoko-Fuse/dp/0870408526/

The best book for unit work. I got one over 20 years ago when I was 12. Lost it some time during those 20 years and bought another one a few years ago just to have it.

It can also be found in the book Unit Origami by Tomoko Fuse, a book I highly recommend for anyone looking into Modular Origami.

This book includes quite a few variants of the sonobe unit if that help.

This is the book, but I don't have it yet, unfortunately. /u/opus25no5 mentioned on his/her thread that instructions for this model could be found online, and I did find a youtube video. Try it! :)

They're all from this book: https://www.amazon.com/Unit-Polyhedron-Origami-Tomoko-Fuse/dp/4889962050/#reader_4889962050, which I would recommend

I recommend starting simple and working your way up to more complicated stuff. I got started with this book:[Animal origami](
http://www.amazon.com/Animal-Origami-Enthusiast-Step-Step/dp/0486247929)
It has lots of models, and they get progressively harder, but start really simple.

If you don't want to buy anything just yet, I would suggest at looking though the models here: origami.org and just work your way up form simple to complex

Amazing, I've tried to fold this on 6" paper several times and failed. I end up crumbling it into a ball :/ and make a bolder instead.

I believe this is Jun Maekawa design? and is in the book Genuine Origami.

It's called Genuine Origami by Jun Maekawa. This one does NOT have the pterodactyl that you are referring to.

Also, link to Genuine Origami https://www.amazon.com/Genuine-Origami-Mathematically-Based-Models-Complex/dp/4889962514/

The bookshelf and a couple of book designs came from the book Origami Omnibus. Over the years I sought out other models of books on the internet and in other books.

Not quite an inch, but close enough?
Origami Paper- Mini Mini Set of 500 Sheets 1-1/16 Inch Square
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000GTSF1Q/ref=cm_sw_r_an_am_ap_am_us?ie=UTF8

Left are Narcissus from the book Origami Flowers, and the ones on the right are found here.

Origami Paper 500 sheets Chiyogami Patterns 6" 15cm https://www.amazon.com/dp/0804849234/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_rR8IDbBFPFE03

11.99!

http://www.amazon.com/Origami-Art-Exquisite-Origamido-Projects/dp/4805309989/

This and this.

https://www.amazon.com/Origami-Tessellations-Awe-Inspiring-Geometric-Designs/dp/1568814518

I got them from a local shop but these are the ones:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0804849234/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_rR8IDbBFPFE03