Without Reading Rainbow back in the 80s and 90s, I would have never learned anything about this beautiful, sculptural Japanese paper art. Thanks to the Reading Rainbow episode The Paper Crane, I was intrigued, and since then I’ve tried my hand at it several times.

Starting Out with Origami

Trying some simpler origami crafts, even the ones meant for kids, may help you start with this papercraft if you’ve never tried anything like this before.

First, I’ll share with you my favorite simple origami form: the paper cup. I do this a lot at restaurants when I’m bored, using square paper napkins or whatever vaguely square paper is lying around. It’s also fun to do with wax paper–you get a cup you can actually use for a bit of water! (Forgive rudimentary images–this is what happens when your hard drive fails and you have no sophisticated image or photo software to work with. Microsoft Paint to the rescue, LOL!)

Origami Cup Instructions

	1. Start with a square piece of paper. This is important, otherwise your cup will look deformed at the end! (speaking from experience… -_-)
	2. Fold the paper diagonally in half. You’ll end up with an isosceles triangle like the one to the left.
	3. Take one of the narrow corners and fold it across the triangle so that the tip of it touches the other side of the triangle. It should lay straight across, not pointing down or up at an angle.
	4. Take the top point of the triangle (only one of the sides, not both) and fold it down across the folded corner. Then tuck the newly folded flap into the little “pocket” formed by the folded corner.
	Flip your half-formed cup over and repeat steps 4, 5, and 6 on the other side, folding the other corner over, then folding the remaining top point down and tucking it into the second little “pocket”. (see following images on left)
	You should have a finished little origami cup!

Other Instructions from Origami-Instructions.com

For More Advanced Learners: The Star Box

This festive, four-pointed folded box form is a form I have yet to master again–I used to make them all the time, but have lost my touch over the years. It’s a really fun craft (and useful for storing small trinkets, bobby pins, or anything else light and easily lost). Try it out if you’d like a more challenging origami form!

Instructions from EHow
Instructions from Origami-Make.com

Resources to Learn More about Origami

Origami @ Wikipedia
Origami-Resource-Center for all levels of crafters–easy and kids’ origami, novelty origami (with toilet paper!), and even Star Wars/Star Trek-themed projects!
Origami.com Diagrams for the more advanced paper-folders–detailed, almost scientific step-by-steps.