Paper wallets

*Versión en español aquí*

This craft was in fashion some years ago. I remember making little purses out of plastified comic pages, sewing them with coloured cotton thread. We sold it at school to get some money for our study travel =)

Here I show one of the wallets I have been making since I learned the technique. Sometimes we look for something that fits in our pocket, that is not very thick…the best solution: DIY!
The wallet is made using images downloaded from the Internet. For the inside I have used both printed frames and newspaper. This time I did not include a purse for the coins, since the wallet was only intended for holding cards and bills. If we’d like to include a purse, we’d just put the card holders in one side, and sew a little bag with a cover that can be held close with velcro in the other side. In the inside of the card “pockets” we can cut a little window that allows us to see easily what is in the inside.

As a big version of the idea I made some classifying folders for my notes. The first one had plastic bags, and the second one cardboard sheets to separate compartments. They look pretty old now but still work nicely. And since they were designed by me, they are unique =)

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Origami envelopes

*Versión en español aquí*

This week brings an origami craft; a technique we are really fond of although it’s been a long time since our last work of this kind. Surfing the Internet I came across a really good idea: making envelopes by using only a sheet of paper, no cutting or glue needed!! Only folding the paper in the right places…
Here you have the original video, thank you Makeuplessgirl!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAn5QFiKwFQ&feature=related

This is an awesome way of sending those letters that are just one sheet long; in addition to the different touch it gives to our message, we do not need to buy an envelope ;P
As I have a weakness for miniatures, I’ve chosen to make a tiny version of these origami envelopes, by using some small pieces of paper that were left from other projects (always think twice before throwing away remaining materials!).

I also decorated some of the mini-envelopes to make them look like those classic air-mail ones

I loved the idea of having a myriad of tiny envelopes but, what to do with them? Next time we’ll find out…

Origami flower brooches

*Versión en español aquí*

Some time ago I wanted to make a small gift for a group of people I was working with. But I wanted it to have a special, personal touch, so I decided to make these origami flower brooches:

They are really eye-catching, but at the same time very easy to make. We need:

– Paper squares of different sizes. For each brooch, we need a square of 9×9 cm. (3.54 x 3.54 inches), another of 6×6 cm (2.36 x 2.36 inches), and a third one of 4×4 cm (1.57 x 1.57 inches). It’s better not to use thick paper, especially for the little parts.
– Glass beads for the central part.
– Needle and thread.
– Brooch bases, that you can find in every notions store/haberdashery.
– Glue may not be essential but it will help to get a better result 🙂
– Some soft varnish; again, it’s not essential but it makes the result look better.

Firstly, we have to fold each piece of paper so as to make an origami flower, following the steps as shown in the image below. That way we will get three flowers of three different sizes, and of three different colors if we choose the adequate papers.

When we have the three flowers, we put all together by sewing them with the needle, starting in the back of the biggest one and adding the other two on the same thread. To make the centre of the brooch look nicer, we can add a glass bead to the thread before sewing the three flowers on the other way back. To join the flowers in a better way, we can add a drop of glue between each pair of flowers before knotting the thread at the back of the brooch. We can sew the group of flowers to the brooch base with the same thread, also adding a bit of glue to secure the joint.
Once the glue has completely dried, we can apply the varnish to the flowers. That will make the brooch more resistant, and it will also look brighter. The easiest option is to use a spray varnish for paper, since it reaches all the small holes and corners of the origami.

These brooches I made were not too big, so they are quite easy to combine to get a touch of color in our outfit. As they are so easy to make, you can have several in different colors and use them with different clothes; I’m sure more than one person will ask you about them!