Categories
Craft Origami Paper Tutorial

Origami Samurai helmet tutorial

The first origami I remember seeing was something my mum folded. She’d been going to Japanese classes in the evenings and brought me back a gold paper samurai helmet one time. I kept it for ages; in fact it’s probably still around somewhere.

It’s something that’s really simple and fun to fold – plus you can use them as page markers! Here’s a set of pictures to help you fold your own.

  • Start with a square of paper (main colour/pattern-side face down)
  • Fold in half bottom to top.
  • One at a time, bring the side points down to meet the bottom corner, creasing each one well after you’ve folded it.
  • Next, fold each of the top layers in half, taking the points you’ve just folded down up to meet the top.
  • Fold, crease and unfold each of these top layers in half (you’re making a guide line for the next fold.)
  • See the crease you made in the last step? Fold each of the top of the front layers so the edge lines up with the crease and smooth down firmly.
  • Now it’s taking shape! Nearly done! Going to the bottom corner, take the front layer only and fold it up.
  • Then fold the bottom of this layer upwards to form the base of the helmet. Crease these new folds well.
  • Last step! Take the remaining bottom layer, folding in half (taking the bottom corner up to the top) and pressing the fold firmly – then tuck this layer inside the helmet. Ta da!
Categories
Craft Craft fairs Origami Paper Weddings

Wedding Season 2017

Wedding season 2017 is in full swing! The Craft Fantastic HQ is full of origami bouquets and paper flowers. I’ve been hard at work over the last couple of months finishing orders – and I’m still going! This is my first full year doing weddings and I’m loving it; my brides are really creative and it’s so much fun putting together their perfect flowers for the big day. Here are some sneak peeks!

 

I’m pretty much fully booked for summer 2017 – just taking small commissions – but there are spaces for autumn/winter and of course 2018! You can find The Craft Fantastic at the upcoming wedding fair at the Double Tree Hotel, Stadium MK.

 

If you’re not sure whether paper flowers are for you, this will give you a chance to take a look at the bouquets in real life. You’ll be able to try out the different sizes, view the matching buttonhole options and see what you think of the new range of headdresses. There’ll be pomanders and wands for flower girls, small posies and large bunches, table decorations and garlands.

As always, I’ll have a range of hand bound guest books to choose from, all of which can be personalised. There’ll be a good selection that can be purchased on the day.

Hopefully I’ll see you at the Milton Keynes Wedding Show, Sunday 2nd July!

Categories
Craft Origami Paper Weddings

Origami floral headdresses

Origami flower crown

NEW RANGE ALERT! Just in time for both wedding season and festival season, The Craft Fantastic is pleased to announce the launch of handmade origami floral headdresses, flower crowns, headpieces, head wraps – call them what you will, they’re all gorgeous! Perfect for brides or bridesmaids, festivals or garden parties. Each one is handmade from different paper and attached to a wire base, which is covered in floral tape. They come either with a ribbon tie at the back, or the wire ends can simply be wound together to fasten.

There are a few made up and ready to ship over on etsy (see pictures below) but I can make up custom orders to your specifications. Basically, start with a base unit and decide what flowers, leaves, feathers etc. you want! Here’s a run-down on the prices:

Base unit (with or without ribbon) = £2

Origami flower = £2 (including gem/bead in centre)

Leaf/feather = £0.50

So for example, a headdress with a cluster of 3 flowers and a feather will be £8.50.

I have a wide range of different papers in stock, so feel free to get in touch if you’d like something particular. I have an abundance of music paper and book paper, a lot of pastels, and quite a few sheets of various patterned origami paper.

Categories
Craft Origami Paper Tutorial

Friday Folding: Simple origami tulip tutorial

Spring is just around the corner – even if it doesn’t feel like it. Storm Doris may have blown over but it’s still quite chilly out there, so stay in, get cosy, grab some paper and get folding!

These origami tulip flowers are simple and fun. Make them out of bright colourful paper to distract from the gloom outside. They’re great for putting on the front of handmade cards.

You’ll need:

  • 2 squares of coloured paper (1 for the flower, 1 for the stem)
  • Scissors
  • A flat surface to fold on
  • Something to crease your folds (the handle of your scissors or a thumb nail will do!)

1. Start with the sheet you want to use for the flower, colour-side down:

2. The first fold is across the middle (along the dotted black line). Take the bottom corner up to meet the top corner and crease well along the fold.

3. You should have a triangle – make a crease down the middle by bringing one of the bottom corners over to meet the other, then unfold.

4. Fold the bottom corners up to make the petals – roughly along the line shown, making sure not to fold it right up to the central line – then repeat on the other side.

5. Almost finished the flower! You just need to fold the outside corners behind, as shown here:

6. Ok, on to the leaf/stem. You’ll just need a triangular half of your square for this, so crease down the middle corner to corner and chop.

7. Start with the triangle colour side down, as below. Fold the top short edge over to meet the long edge.

8. Next, fold the bottom short edge to meet the long edge.

9. Crease both these folds well. It should end up look like the picture below.

10. Finally, fold across the middle, taking the bottom point upwards, so you end up with two points and a flat bottom, like this:

11. Now all you need to do is add the flower!

TA-DA! I hope you enjoyed this origami tulip tutorial.

 

 

Categories
Craft Gifts Lunchtime Lusting Origami Paper

Lunchtime Lusting – Valentine’s Day: To give and to get

Because it’s ok to hint, right? With Valentine’s Day drawing near, I’ve put together a little list of some of my favourite unique, handmade and alternative gifts – to give and to get!

‘Chocolate bar library’ from Fortnum & Mason, £5.50 each. What more would anyone want? Well, how about:

It’s £3 from the Literary Emporium. In fact, you could just point your other half to their site. All of it, please.

  • Are you told old to get soft toys? Are you, though? Really? What about… Robot plushies:

Well I’m in love. This little guy is from an American Etsy store, but they do ship to the UK. Hurrah!

This versatile little dish could be used for so many things: jewellery, keys, food… it’s microwave and dishwasher safe and £10 from Present Indicative.

  • Roses? Sure. But be original and get some that can be a keepsake, like these origami roses from yours truly:

These are £10 from The Craft Fantastic Etsy store – vase included! They’re also available in ‘pretty pastel hues.

 

Remember to leave enough time for your handmade gifts to arrive! The cut off date for The Craft Fantastic is midnight, Thursday 9th Feb for guaranteed delivery.

 

Categories
Lunchtime Lusting Paper Stationery

Lunchtime Lusting – Letter Writing: The joy of snail mail

There’s nothing quite like getting a handwritten letter through the post. They seem so much more personal; reaching out and staying in touch through putting pen to paper, we think more about what we’re going to say than when we email or text. It really helps to have something nice to write on and send your letter off in, so I’ve been looking around to see what letter writing sets are out there. Here’s what I’ve found.

One of the main reasons I love this one is because it comes in a gorgeous box. It’s simple but extremely pretty. Containing 20 A5 sheets and 10 envelopes, you can pick one of these up for £8.

This set from Not On The High Street boasts a retro pen and ink pot design. It’s £6.95 for 6 sheets of writing paper and 3 envelopes.

There’s almost bound to be a WHSmith on your high street, so you can be sure of being able to find a pretty stationery set in town! They don’t have a huge amount of choice, but this bird and flower adorned set is all you’ll need. It’s a great budget option at £5.99 for 30 sheets, 15 matching envelopes and a sheet of stickers. Stickers!!

Over on Etsy you can find The Crafty Red Button. With so many pretty sets to choose from, you’re bound to find something to suit and inspire you to get writing! This set with the blue envelops is my personal favourite; the colour and design is gorgeous. The lined envelopes are handmade and the paper is high quality –  120gsm – so no pen bleed through to the other side of the paper. This set is £13 for 6 sheets of A5 and 6 envelopes, which come in a beautiful box.

What are you waiting for? Get yourself a set, grab a pen and write someone a letter! It’ll be just as much fun to write as it will be to receive.

Categories
Craft Craft fairs Gifts Origami Paper

New year, new events

from-the-craft-fantasticA slightly belated Happy New Year! I hope you all had a fabulous festive season. Craft Fantastic HQ is all go for 2017, with new products and new fairs. Here are just a few things in store for this year:

mkhandmadeandvintage

 

This will be my first time exhibiting at one of these events. They’re hugely popular and always full of fantastic handmade goodies and vintage finds. I can’t wait!

For the second year running, The Craft Fantastic will be at Castle Ashby. Crossing my fingers the weather will be as good as last year.

Brand new for 2017 are more origami gifts. I’ve framed ‘Lover’s Knots’ – perfect for a Valentine’s Day or 1st anniversary gift. Alongside the frame is a small, simple paper flower arrangement.

Handmade origami gift

I’m in the process of adding them to The Craft Fantastic Etsy store. These are available in different colours, and I can do custom orders – email me for details.

 

Categories
Craft Craft fairs Notebooks Origami Paper Weddings

Autumn Wedding Show -The Centre MK

wedding-fair-ad-pic

This weekend, The Craft Fantastic will be among a huge array of stalls at the autumn wedding show in Milton Keynes, ready to help make your wedding dreams a reality. Come along to Middleton Hall in The Centre MK and see what’s on offer!

I’ll be taking orders for handmade origami wedding flowers as well as having a range of extras available, such as hand-bound guestbooks, origami garlands, and bridesmaid gifts.

Origami wedding flowers collage 1

The show opens Friday 14th at 9:30, and closes at 17:00 Sunday 16th. Full details can be found on the event organisers site here, or The Centre MK site here.

 

 

Categories
Craft Inspiration Origami Paper Tutorial

DIY Halloween decor

Halloween orange & black paper garland
Halloween orange & black paper garland

Crafters around the world have been busy working on their Christmas stock for quite some time already – but hold up! We have Halloween to go first!

If you have enough time on your hands, it’s really easy to put together these simple ideas for a seasonally spooky home. I’ve been scouring the web for ideas and I think this list shows a great range of different styles to suit any house this Halloween:

tapehand

 

There are some fab easy makes on here – my favourite is the cardboard zombie barricade!

These pretty pumpkins are so simple. If you’re not a fan of carving, this one’s for you.

fancy-pumpkins

Loads of ideas here for a frighteningly good Halloween party for any age group! Pumpkin ice buckets, orange jack-o-lanterns and more. How about these ribs?

ribs

I hope these sites have given you some inspiration. Don’t forget to check out my seasonal page over on The Craft Fantastic etsy shop, featuring my handmade Halloween garlands and spooky fang charm notebooks.

Categories
Craft General Origami Paper

10 Things Only Hardcore Crafters Will Understand

  • Your skin is mostly glue.

Remember when you were a kid and you used to let PVA dry on your hand then peel it off? This is your life now.

Glue hand

  • Accidentally drinking the paint water is an everyday hazard.

Paint water

‘Don’t drink the paint water’ mug by Doofery on Etsy.

  • You put down your tools and they immediately vanish, then magically reappear after you’ve torn your hair out looking for them for five minutes.

  • You move the furniture to clean and find little hoards of scrap paper/wool/material/string.

Material scraps

  • You take said scraps and ‘tidy’ them away. Because you NEVER KNOW when a 2cm x 1cm piece of material may come in handy.

Scrap project

  • You have a different pair of scissors for every possible material. Woe betide the person who uses the fabric scissors for paper.

Do you realize

  • Whenever you enter a craft store you feel like this:

Happy Dance

  • No matter how many supplies you have, there’s always something else you need.

I want more

  • Whenever Taylor Swift’s ‘Shake It Off’ comes on the radio, you hear this:

  • Finally, no matter what the problem, you know that Pinterest will have the answer.

Pinterest saviour