I'd like to hear more about how you made the cherry blossom origami.
Thanks,
Summer

hi summer - the blossoms were from an origami book i got at the library. here's the amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Origami-Flowers-Soonboke-Smith/dp/1402714831

the fold in the book is called "beautiful blossoms." unfortunately, i wasn't able to find a free, online pattern that i liked. sorry i can't be more helpful, but check your library!

and, it's technically not a cherry blossom (four, instead of five petals). since a square piece of paper has four corners/sides, it usually requires cutting or gluing to do five petals. just FYI!

[worst]

roasted beets! they're so easy and tasty. just wrap the whole beet (greens removed, but leave about an inch at the top of the stems) in tinfoil and roast for 45 minutes to an hour. if you wrap them individually, you can take out the smaller beets when they're done and leave the bigger ones in. the skin comes right off with a paring knife whenever you're ready to eat them! if not right away, just put the tinfoil-wrapped beet in the fridge to use later.

and, just a note, packaged greens are the worst! not only is all that plastic totally unnecessary and bad for the environment, but the lettuce is picked one place, shipped somewhere else to be packaged and then shipped again to your grocery store. such an unnecessary waste of gas! particularly in the summer, where you can get local, fresh lettuce all over the united states! just my two cents!

thanks for all the compliments! vee was the brains behind the whole operation

I haven't posted in a long time, but I wanted to share some photos of the craftiness from my sister Veronica's wedding (she's veevaa04 on here, but I think she only really uses it to espy all the crafty goodness, rather than post herself...). She was married in mid-March and, as a crafter-extraordinaire, put a DIY spin on much of her wedding. My big contribution was to make the centerpieces which included almost 1000 origami blossoms. All of my friends pitched in and all of her friends helped to make the invitations, so it really was a team effort! Either she or I can answer any questions you might have about the process or materials involved!

Now, on to the photos!

The invitations:


The memorial piece for our grandparents who have passed on. My other sister, Danielle, helped me with these:


The adorable clutches that she made for the bridesmaids:


The table cards with some of the origami blossoms:


The place cards with more origami! My mom did all of the calligraphy and my last sister, Sarah, made the actual place cards. Craftiness runs in the family


A shot of one of the centerpieces:


Another centerpiece:


Artsy photos of the rings with the centerpiece I made for their sweetheart table:


Hope you enjoyed and thanks for looking!

P.S. The fabulous photographer was Jen Harris: http://www.jenharris.net/

what a great idea! also, i truly appreciate your statement on the home page of your website (great site, by the way) about marriage equality. how courageous of you to put it front and center!

So pretty! I love it! These would make amazing centerpieces at a wedding... I hope you don't mind if I feature these in my blog?

ha! i just spent more time looking at your wedding photos. i'm a big fan of those bridesmaids they just look like so much fun!

and funny you should mention it, my little sister just got engaged and has asked me to make these as centerpieces for the wedding. i'm actually going to wire up a mini one in the colors she's chosen as an engagement gift. vee - if you're reading this, act surprised (i think she's created an account to help with the crafty, diy wedding ideas).

as for featuring them, please do! they've actually been in a bunch of blogs, but no one has asked me first, so that's very sweet. (not like i mind, i mean, i posted this on the internets because i want other people to see them/make them!) post a link here if you remember to so i can take a look.

your bridesmaids are HOT!

it does look great! and i see another change you did too, i suppose to be more modest

thanks robingal1 for the suggestion of polymer clay glaze. i'll try that, though i assume since polymer clay as a material is meant to be durable, the glaze is just a polish.

as for resin, i have no idea. i've never worked with it. if it's a matter of stabilization though, wire within the wings or more delicate areas could be used. i think i will try it and see. any recommendations for a resin-newbie of product? i bet i could check that board...

thanks so much!

hello craftster friends.

i have been trying for years to figure out a way to make origami pieces durable. basically, how to make them hard. for jewelery, decorative pieces for the home or ornaments.

when i went to the craft store, they suggested this:


i did three coats over three days and still the pieces (in this case cranes) were bendable and, on top of that, had a frosty look to them.

i saw cranes made out of polymer clay, but that's totally not my medium...

i have also tried mod podge which just gave it a varnish, not any hard coating.

so, what else is there? something like shellac? seems to me there must be something, right? any suggestions would be awesome. i have such great ideas for my pieces, but no way to actualize them yet.

thank you so much!

mary.