Modular Origami Seasonal Ornament

Truly Elegant Ornaments On The Cheap!

Posted by Lanie V.

About

This is a type of modular origami kusudama made into an ornament....called a star sea, I am not sure who the original author of this particular fold is. I hope you enjoy this tutorial. This modular origami is put together with both glue and tape (on the inside of module) for stability as they will be used as ornaments, which will be "handled" from time to time.

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You Will Need (4 things)

Origami Paper
Coloured Foil
Glue Stick
Tape

Steps (41 steps, 120 minutes)

1

You will need 12 pieces of square paper measuring 3 inches by 3 inches each.
2

Take the first piece of paper and fold it in half....then unfold.
3

Take one side of the paper, and fold up to the center crease that you just made in step 1 (shown here). Repeat this step on the other side.
4

This is what you should have so far....
5

Take the top left hand corner of the module and fold down until it's flush (shown here). Crease.
6

Take the bottom right corner (shown in step 5), and bring the corner up to meet the triangle shape created in step 5....shown here. Crease. This is what your module should look like now.
7

Now...unfold....This is what the crease marks look like. Turn the module over.....
8

This is the back of the module. Repeat steps 5 and 6 on this side....
9

....First corner...fold down as before...
10

...bring the other corner up, just as before, and crease.
11

When you unfold the two triangle folds, you will see two (x) patterns shown here....Fold the module back on itself...in half...(shown in next step)
12

Like...this...Crease.
13

The crease just made creates a separation line between the two (x's) shown here.
14

Take the left side of the module, and bring toward the center line....then crease it. Do the same for the right hand side. This will place vertical line down the center of each (x).
15

Look closely at this picture. We are going to make a small (v) crease in the top part of the first "x" shown here.
16

Once you've made the small "v" crease, we are slowly going to fold the left side towards the center line of the module....You will notice how the "v" fold is tucking in....
17

....keep closing...
18

...and it's closed.....repeat the process on the other side EXCEPT, create that small "v" crease on the opposite end of the module. Then fold in as before. Look at step 19.
19

Ok! This is what your module looks like now! Unfold the two flaps gently....
20

Now, bring the top left corner down to the bottom-center of the module...shown here. Then bring the bottom right corner up to the top-center. See next step.
21

Wonderful! You have completed the module. You must have a total of 12 modules to make the ornament.
22

You can create more sparkle to your module by inserting and glueing a piece of square foil to the framed center of the module. (optional)
23

As you can see here, I've just glued the insert in....
24

This is what the finished module looks like. Make 12 of them, and then we will put the whole thing together.
25

Ok...lets put together....
26

If you look at the modules here, you will notice that there are "tabs" on either side of each module, and on the back of it, there are "pockets".
27

Turn two pieces over on their backsides....insert "tab" of one module into one of the "pockets" in the other module...shown here. Add a tiny piece of tape for stability.
28

When you turn the two modules over, they should look like this so far.
29

So far, you have taken module 2 "tab", and placed into module 1 pocket. Now place module 1 "tab" into a module 3 pocket shown here. Add a wee bit of tape to stabalize.
30

This is what you should have so far...now we are going to join all three together as a starting unit for the completed ornament....view next step.
31

Join the three modules together by tucking module 3 "tab" into module 1 pocket. We want to create a "hollow" triangle effect on the inside. View below.
32

This is what the inside starting ring looks like! Here is what it looks like on the outside....next step please!
33

This is how it looks on the outside. AND this is the 3 ring unit that we build upon. Only 9 more modules to attach! This module is made up of 3 unit "TRIANGLES" seen here surrounded by a 4 piece "DIAMONDS" or "STARS" pattern. Look at the next step.
34

This is the "STAR" or "DIAMOND" pattern that surrounds the "TRIANGLE" units. This will help you create the ornament....
35

Turn module over to the back again....grab another module, (module four), and insert "tab" into the side pocket of the triangle shown here. Add a bit of tape. Now...grab another module (module 5), and insert "tab" into another inside pocket of the hollow triangle. Grab another module, (module 6), and insert "tab" into another open pocket of the hollow triangle....
36

This is what it looks like now from the front. The modules that you just added (4,5,6) are the longest points of the module shown here. Turn back over....
37

When you turn model over you will see the 3 longer points (just created by adding modules 4,5,6)and three short "tab" points. The short points are where you will insert modules 7,8 and 9 onto. Secure with a bit of tape.
38

Okay, this is what your modules look like from the back so far. Now you have the means to create 3 more "hollow triangles" by tucking in the shorter "tabs" into the nearby pockets. Again, secure with a bit of tape.
39

Here, we are creating the second "hollow triangle.....continue around the model in this manner....
40

This is what your model looks like now. It has a total of 4 hallow triangles. Add modules 10,11,12 into the open side pockets of the surrounding hallow triangles. Insert the shorter surrounding "tabs" into 10,11,12 pockets, and secure with a bit of tape. Continue in this manner until the ball is closed, and your done!
41

The best way to understand this tutorial is to follow along with your modules as you read the tutorial. If you just scan the directions without the modules in hand, then you will find this quite difficult....so make the modules first, and then proceed....