making origami durable - question

[sf craftster]

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.

[robingal1]

I know that polymer clay has a glaze that's easy to use.  Just air dry. 
I don't know if it'll work, but it might.

[Wildfyre]

Would resin work?

[Hannabel]

Would resin work?

Great minds think alike! I was about to suggest maybe trying a resin dip, unless that would be too heavy for the paper....like...the wings on cranes might droop....

[sf craftster]

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!

[shout4joy]

way back when, I used to dip them in clear polycrylic (or whatever it is called) stuff - you know, the minwax stuff? I think I did about 3 dips total, drying them out between layers. I know I put one on a stick pin and wore it a lot when I was in college. It held up really well. And I found I could manipulate the wings to give them a curve.

JOY