Few people still don’t know what “Origami” means. But once they do, they always want to try it. But ends up giving up…

 What is Origami? In some dictionaries it is described as “the art, originally Japanese, of folding paper intricately into decorative shapes. Origami comes from two Japanese words ori which means “a fold” and kami which means “paper”. So, Origami simply means “to fold a paper”. No one really knows when or who invented Origami. But according to other books, it is known to be less than 2000 years old. But no one can really say the exact date. At first, people only know the basic folding skills, but later on, experimentation began. And as designs evolved, new methods and skills in folding papers in one’s desired shape was discovered and introduced and the art of Origami began to mature.

Actually, Origami is not as simple as you think. It’s not just about folding papers. You also got to have patience before you start. Patience is always the secret to learning new stuff. And in Origami, you’ll need tons and tons of them! It involves a lot of basic folds to learn how to make swans, flowers and dinosaurs. There are lots of folds like mountain fold, valley fold, cupboard fold, blintz, petal fold, squash fold, book fold, pleat, bisect, inside reverse fold, open sink fold, swivel fold, etc.

“ Everytime you do Origami, don’t rush, find your own pace, and take time to share it with everyone you can.”

-Matthew Gardiner

Although it sounds hard, it’s still worth trying, coz once you successfully made a design; it’s worth all the patience. Knowing that you did not use anything other than paper. Oh yeah, another cool thing about Origami is that, you can never use any tool to make a design. Such as glue, fastener and stuffs… Just you, the paper and nothing else.. 

I started Origami 4 months ago. It wasn’t really planned. I just stumbled upon this book about Origami and I thought it was a great idea for a hobby since it was summer and boredom is already killing me. And bam! Now I’m addicted to it. I now call myself “a folder”. Of course I find it a little difficult at first but I managed to keep up and now I feel so passionate about this hobby. I even made this article! But I’m still learning. I still have lots of things to know about this art.

So, to anyone who finds Origami intriguing, and you feel like you want to try it, I’m encouraging you to do so. It’s a little hard at first but it’s very fulfilling. I suggest you start buying books about Origami first. Good luck!

Well, gotta bounce for now! I’m going to try to make a Triceratops figure! I hope I get to finish one today!