January 31

This origami slinky is based on the same modular folds as the chain from the other day.  The links are just put together end-to-end rather than as links....  Mary

Origami slinky

January 30

It was 56 degrees yesterday with 1.75 inches of rain.  Today the temperature dropped to an afternoon high of 29 degrees with 6 inches of wet snow.  Tonight it will drop to single digits and then tomorrow night it will be 10 below.  It's Wisconsin.  If you don't like the weather, just wait 10 minutes.  It'll change....  Mary

Origami lily

January 29

Using repetitious pieces like this is really helpful to learn to do the folds easily....  Mary

Origami chain

January 28

No inspiration on a Monday night, so I added to the gum wrapper chain....  Mary

January 27

This is supposed to be a turtle.  It's sort of there, kind of.  The turtle Leyla Torres folds in her video looks much more like a turtle.  I couldn't quite get the final underside folds that make the shell arced.  Her turtle example made from beautiful handmade brown paper is quite exquisite....  Mary

January 26

We got to have breakfast with some friends who were in town for a nephew's swim meet.  What a treat....  Mary

Origami box

January 25

There was an article today in the New York Times about how every single cell in our bodies has its own little DNA clock in it.  That's like two trillion little clocks ticking away but getting zapped by lack of daylight in January, too much screen time from electronic devices, hormones, diet, you name it.

No wonder I'm whack-a-doodle and want winter to end RIGHT THIS MINUTE.  Well, that and maybe the full moon as well.  I really could use a good night's sleep....  Mary

January 24

Okay, I know it's too early to start saying this, but I'm done with winter!  My feet have been cold since we got back from vacation in December.  I'm still recovering from Death Cold 2013, as Anne has so aptly named it.  And I can hardly get in and out of the car for all the layers of clothing.  At least we have cats and not dogs who have to be walked.  I just keep reminding myself that we are less than two months from the first day of spring, the days are getting longer, and it will be in the 40s next week.  Now I just need to get my poor feet warm....  Mary

January 23

The very traditional pinwheel pattern.  It's a variation on the windmill base which I can now fold without referring to the video at all.  It feels like I've actually mastered some origami....  Mary

January 22

PBS and American Experience are showing The Abolitionists.  It is truly amazing to learn so much about the work and struggles of these people against the seemingly insurmountable odds facing them in their fight against slavery.  There are so many parallels to what's happening now in Washington.  And yet, President Obama was just sworn in for his second term.  We have come such a long way even if we still have a long way to go....  Mary

January 21

"Even in a time of elephantine vanity and greed, one never has to look far to see the campfires of gentle people." ~ Garrison Keillor

Today in Washington, DC, and all across the nation, the campfires of the gentle people were front and center....  Mary

January 20

Still hoping for less stuffiness and cotton headed feeling, but I fear there are still several days to go before this virus has run its course.  At least I'm probably not contagious anymore.  Not that I will relax my hand washing/disinfecting regime.  Since tomorrow is Martin Luther King Day, the University is closed and I can stay home....  Mary

January 19

Today was 42 degrees, nearly balmy except for the wind.  Now the winds have shifted and are howling as a cold front moves in.  There is a high of 12 degrees predicted for tomorrow and a 4 degree high on Monday.  Time for the long underwear, down jackets, and fleece lined mittens again....  Mary

January 18

Full day at work with the dregs of the cold from hell.  I put a warning sign on my monitor, so folks stood in the hall to talk to me.  If I actually needed to hand paper to someone, I'd Purell up first and then hand over the document.

But now I have a three day weekend to finish up with this virus.  As Anne and I keep reminding ourselves, at least we'll never have to suffer through this particular cold bug again....  Mary

January 17

Tonight I almost didn't need to refer to the video for folding the windmill base. It was that last corners-in fold on the base that flummoxed me again.  Hopefully tomorrow night I can get all the way through it myself....  Mary

January 16

These blocks are really fun to fold.  Like my friend JK, who is a fabulous quilter, I prefer blocks on point to squared.  Watching the paper quilt grow will be interesting....  Mary

January 15

Tonight I discovered Leyla Torres' nearly 500 variations on the windmill base.  It's just like quilt piecing only with paper folds and no quarter inch seams to worry about!  Scroll down on the linked page to see them all in black and white.

With her video for the most basic beginning of the windmill variations, she talks about "Friederich Fröbel (1782-1852), educator, crystallographer, and originator of the kindergarten concept, was one of the first to point to the creation of folded patterns like these featured here.  Using white paper only, Fröbel created his own unique collection of folded forms of beauty, as he called them."

What fun to have found an infinitely variable yet simple form like this.  Leyla herself has made a veritable quilt of variations....  Mary

Variations on the windmill base - Set 3

January 14

This piece is technically kirigami because the tail and the mouth were cut.  The fish looked cute, so who am I to be a purist?  I also altered it slightly in that I didn't turn the tail fold inside out and did an extra fold on the face so that they would be the patterned side of the paper.  I didn't have any boogley eyes, but the little red flower is almost in the right place for the eye.

They say as we get older, we should take up new hobbies to challenge our brains and build new synaptic pathways.  While folding some of the these patterns, I swear I can feel the pathways forming as I work.  It's not necessarily a pleasant sensation.  It is, in fact, hard.  But a challenge is a good thing....  Mary

Kirigami goldfish

January 13

Downtown Abbey night....  Mary

Origami flower

January 12

Sorted out all the pots and pans today.  Wiped out the shelves and the under oven drawer where they're all housed.  Everything we're keeping is back in place and, while easily accessible, is off the cook surface and counters. 

We redid the Zone 1 cupboard to the left of the stove.  Instead of having the olive oil, coconut oil, and ghee across the kitchen in cupboard near the sink, it's all within reach from the cooking area. 

Little by little it's getting pared down and organized with three more bags to St. Vinnie's again tomorrow....  Mary

Little pyramid

January 11

We've been working on clearing, winnowing, and cleaning.  For 30 minutes this evening we had one whole drawer in the kitchen with nothing in it.  Miss Minimalist's book, The Joy of Less: A Minimalist Living Guide, suggests that you do zones.  Zone 1 what is you use every day and is within arms reach.  Zone 2 is what you use frequently but not every day, maybe weekly or every other week.  This goes outside of arm's reach but still near enough to access easily.

Zone 3 is things that you use rarely and can be stored in less accessible places: garage, basement, or in this case, in the cupboard over the refrigerator.  The small cupboard over the fridge is only accessible by standing on a stool.  Even on a stool, I can barely reach the far back corner, and I'm tall.

So the drawer right next to stove (Zone 1) now houses only really useful kitchen utensils, ones we use all the time.  And you can actually see the bottom of the drawer!

The third drawer down in the next row (Zone 2 and the temporarily empty drawer) now has less frequently used tools such as the dessert serving spatulas, the nutmeg grater, the flat cheese grater.  You can see the bottom of the drawer and each individual tool.

That cupboard over the fridge holds vases that we actually use for flowers and two tall clear containers with all of the holiday baking equipment.  We wouldn't want to buy new ones every year when baking time rolls around, but we certainly don't need them taking up prime kitchen storage space the rest of the year.

And there are three bags to go to St. Vincent de Paul tomorrow so someone else can enjoy those kitchen tools....  Mary

 Flower box

January 10

A lotus flower and not going to work tomorrow, a lovely combination....  Mary

 Origami Lotus

Lotus Flower

January 9

Anne made the most amazing meatloaf tonight.  We are all in a bit of a stupor after eating its deliciousness.  So a simple origami balloon....  Mary

 Origami balloon folded

Origami balloon inflated

Origami balloon instructions

January 8

Long evening, so quick post.  Isn't this a lovely little rose box?  I didn't have a bonbon to put in the center, so I filled it with some beautiful jet beads my friend JK (pronounced Jake) gave me.  I believe her partner found them at an estate sale....  Mary

Sweetheart Rose Box

January 7

My father's father, Grandpa Lawrence, died when I was nine years old.  He taught many of his 19 grandchildren to fold this paper airplane.  So I've been folding this plane pattern for over 50 years.  Until I started this project I'd never thought of it as origami, but it is folded paper.  I guess I've technically been doing origami for over half a century.

I've folded this plane for the kids I babysat for as a teenager, for my own kids, for neighbor children.  It's by far the best flyer I've ever found....  Mary