Five Intersecting Tetrahedra

This is my first all-out origami defeat - the Five-Intersecting Tetrahedra.

The initial set of instructions I found to construct this piece came from the Rick Beech book, "Illustrated Encyclopedia of Origami," and from that, I was easily able to construct the units. However, the assembly was an unmitigated nightmare, and I just couldn't figure it out from the book. I searched desperately on the internet for different sets of instructions, and I did find several - even a couple of YouTube videos - but alas, none seemed to be able to convey how those final two tetrahedra were supposed to be weaved into the three previously interlocked ones. GRRR. The videos were especially frustrating - they would jump around and skip the critical actions that needed to be taken to find the right insertion points.

Sigh.

After working on this for several fruitless days, I put the whole mess on the mantle over the fireplace, where its incompleteness silently mocked me for about a week before I crumpled the whole thing up and threw it in the recycling. Someday, someday I am going to come back to this and WIN - I swear it.

Carmen Sprung Icosahedron

This is the Carmen Sprung Icosahedron. A little Googling suggests that Carmen Sprung is (a) German, and (b) a hugely prolific inventor of origami pieces. (Without being able to read German, that's as much as I could gather.) This icosahedron seems to be particularly popular.

I really enjoyed making this piece, the units (30) were relatively easy to make, and the assembly mechanism was quite clever. It's surprising how solid and resistant to compression the final product is. Instructions for this piece can be found at:

http://www.origamiseiten.de/diagrams/kmodul02.pdf

You can also make an octahedron using 12 of the same units - very flexible. And just a heads up - the instructions are in German too, but it was pretty easy to work around the language barrier given the clear diagrams and universal origami notations.

Black & White Cherry Blossom Kusudama

I enjoyed making my first cherry blossom so much that I made a second one immediately following the first. This time I used my secret stash of quality black origami paper that I hide from the kids. (The white inserts are just regular printer paper.) I love black & white things - the crispness and contrast really appeal to me.

I made a lot of the units for this piece on the plane during a business trip. My work travel companion was amused.

Multi-Colored Cherry Blossom Kusudama

My very first cherry blossom - this is a very popular piece invented by Tomoko Fuse. Just Google Ms. Fuse's name and "cherry blossom" and you'll see what I mean -- everyone who has ever completed one of these has apparently felt compelled to share their success with the world by posting a photo of it on the internet. (I'm no exception.) Plus you'll find lots of sites with video instructions, so if you want to make one, hunt around a bit for the video that seems most understandable to you.

This piece took me several days to do all the folding and assembly, but it was totally worth it. I even spent the extra time to make the little yellow inserts, which are basically glued in after the base shape is completed. It was with this piece that I discovered that you can listen to NPR and still have enough brain cell wattage left over to fold origami units. Streaming audio of "Morning Edition," "All Things Considered" and "Car Talk" made the long hours spent on this piece fly by.

Castle

My son found a book called "Origami in King Arthur's Court" at the public library and promptly became obsessed with building a castle. The book is quite well done - it teaches you how to make basic building blocks (walls, pointy tower tops, etc.) as well as more custom pieces, like drawbridges and portcullises.

My son built this castle all by himself with no help at all from me. Interestingly, my son had no interest in making the figures in the book - damsels, knights, horses, etc. - he proclaimed them "not realistic looking" and ignored them completely. He's more of a structures man, I guess.

One thing that I will suggest to my son if he tries to make anything else from this book in the future - use thicker paper. The castle here was made from very thin, standard origami paper, and as you can see, it tended to deform too much.

Four Interlocking Prisms

Wow. Just looking at this photo brings back, with startling clarity, the enormous waves of frustration and grouchiness I felt when constructing this piece. Not only were the units hard, but assembly was a nightmare of epic proportions. The final product looks spectacular, and I give myself a lot of credit for not giving up, but it was hard. Oh so hard. I also give my family a lot of credit for giving me a wiiiiiide berth while I was putting this one together. "Shhhhh - Mommy's mad at her origami."

If I haven't discouraged you from trying this one, you can find instructions here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8303956@N08/651459642/

XYZmbe

This piece is called XYZmbe by Nick Robinson. The XYZ in the name is self-explanatory, as this is an intersecting planes piece in three dimensions. The mbe, however, is a little more obscure.

Apparently, the invention of this piece coincided with the awarding of a Member of the British Empire to Mr. Sam Evison, who was an officer and member of the British Origami Society. According to the BOS website, Mr. Evison won for "promoting origami in the Manchester region." I like that - giving national honor and recognition to a man who quietly encouraged others to fold paper and make beautiful things. I believe you can gain a lot of insight into a culture based upon what types of individuals that culture chooses to honor. Too bad it seems quite unlikely that any US Presidential Medals of Freedom will be bestowed upon an American origamist any time soon.

This piece is fun and relatively easy. Directions can be found at:

http://www.nickrobinson.info/origami/diagrams/xyzmbe.htm