Kirigami is the japanese art of paper cutting.

Many people might know this art from childhood while cutting out paper hearts, snowflakes, or even a string of people holding hands. It’s pretty much the same, the only difference is in the folding.

The difficulty ranges from one fold and a few cuts to multiple folds and hours of paper cutting. Even beginners can make beautiful detailed creations, as long as they have patience and time.

I have previously shown how to make a kirigami flower

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and circle of hearts,

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but this time I would love to show you how to make a pop-up string of butterflies.

For any kirigami creation, there are a four standard items needed. Paper, a pencil, scissors or exacto knife and a small stapler (the staples are to help keep paper aligned and reinforce certain areas).

The first step is to find a piece of paper that you like. Any colour or light pattern will do, but just remember to choose a paper that’s strong enough for delicate cuts.

The easiest kirigami fold is to simply fold your piece in half. The more common paper shapes are square and rectangle, but any will do as long as you have enough room to draw your image.

Next, draw out your image with a pencil. The most important thing to remember at this point is to include parts of the folded edge in the main image drawing. This will ensure that your entire image stays in one piece.

Another important point to remember is that anything you draw on one side will be the mirror image of the other side, so drawing half a flower from the folded edge will turn into a full flower once completed.

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I have chosen a string of butterflies.

*Note that all the butterflies have overlapping parts to ensure they all stay together. Also, I’ve only drawn half a butterfly on the left, to become a fully opened one once it’s done.

(Please excuse the “dirty” look of the picture since I had to adjust the colours a bit to make the pencil drawing more visible).

The next step is to staple throughout the drawing in order to reinforce certain delicate areas and make it easier to cut out.

I prefer using a scalpel type knives for small spaces and tight curves.

Once you’ve finished cutting your image out, use it to decorate any number of things. Secure it to book or card covers, frame them, or hang them up.

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I’ve also twisted it a little at the ends to create a pop up cut out.

My apologies for the long silence, but I’m back to tell you about my two new flickr groups.

First, I’ve created a fun group for those who love origami.
It’s a place where you can post all of your favourite models and creations.

Check it out and see some of the amazing models from other members -they’re fantastic!

http://www.flickr.com/groups/chiyogami_origami/

My second group is for those who love chiyogami as much as I do. I’ve named it “Chiyogami Love, Chiyogami Life” simply because it’s a wonderful old traditional paper with so many beautiful patterns and such versatility!

Please join the group and show off your favourite chiyogami patterns or chiyogami creations.

I’ve posted some of mine:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/chiyogami_love_chiyogami_life/

I would love to see your work in the groups!

*^_^*

A fun and simple way to make decorative flowers. All you need is a pack of muffin cups.

I purchased an inexpenisve pack of foil muffin cups from the ¥100 shop (Japanese version of a dollar store).

Between each foil cup was a thin white paper one, and when I took them apart, I loved the combination of matte white with shiny metal.
I found a new way to make a fun muffin cup flower that can decorate pretty much anything you’d like.

Make mini ones to glue onto cards or notebooks, or combine a few flowers with ribbon to make a floral hanging ball!

First, separate the cups and folded them in half to make a semi circle. Take each semi circle and roll it into a cone shape and secured with a small piece of tape.

*Make seven cones of each colour.

Once all the cones are completed, secure one white one into a silver one.
I used a loop of tape, but any adhesive will do.

Next, fold seven sets of white and silver semi circles.

Layer one white over a silver and roll it into a coil.

Now you should have seven cones and seven coils. Place and secure one coil into each cone.

Once that’s done, you have seven mini flowers. If you would like to stop at this step, cover the out layer with a muffin cup and add a stem (pencil, wire, twig, anything) -and you can have a stemmed bouquet.

If you would like to complete the bigger flower, secure one to another to form a circle, flip it over and it’s done!

Make three large flowers and combine them to form a ball. Add a ribbon and it’s a hanging decoration.