Happy (belated) St. Patrick's Day!

This year Belfast City Council pulled out all the stops and put on a four day festival for Saint Patrick's day and I was drafted in to do origami and papercraft workshops for three days.

 

We made shamrock badges, hairclips, necklaces and origami shamrocks and four-leaf clovers with kids from one to a hundred (more or less) and it was great craic, the only thing problem being that I was kept so busy that I hardly got a chance to take many photos or indeed to take part in some of the amazing other traditional crafts that were on offer.

 

I hope you all rose a glass for luck on Sunday, wherever you were in the world.

Lost & Found workshop

The lost and found exhibition at PS2 will be finished this Saturday and after then I promise to blog about something, ANYTHING else, but for now, here is a post about the free papercraft workshop we had there on Saturday.

About 10 people squeezed into the space to learn how to make newspaper pompoms and some origami designs. It was great to actually get people using the space. Afterwards a few of us hung out for a drink and a natter. How I wish this were my permanent home in the city.

Thanks to all the lovely people who came down - to the old friends and the new friends I made.

Origami class at the Crescent.

Last weekend I led an origami workshop at the Crescent Arts Centre with eleven lovely ladies. I learnt a couple of new designs - a little fox that's simple enough to do with kids and a butterfly, and I was invited to do an origami class in a school in a couple of weeks, which  is nice!

There's a paper party decoration class on next month too if you may fancy learning how to make decorations for a party or wedding. Click here to book a spot through the Crescent Arts Centre. The class costs £16 and is on Sunday 1st April.

Origami winged heart tutorial

I browse a lot of design blogs and have almost overdosed already on all the hearts and pink everywhere so I'm not going to go overboard on the Valentine's themed posts. This however is a really sweet and easy piece of origami that you can make in a minute or so. I found the tutorial on youtube (that's the absolute best way to learn origami in my opinion) and the photos are of a few hearts I made myself. 

If you search on youtube you can find slightly more complex versions of this design with more realistic wings but I think this one is a good one to start with if you haven't done a lot of origami before. You could make large versions of this to decorate a room or stick one to the front of a homemade Valentine's card.

Christmas in Portstewart

Christmas has been and gone but the festivities are still continuing in our house. My brother just got back from Wales last night so today is the only day we're all together before my big sister heads back to London. We'll be having a nice dinner tonight and even more presents. Speaking of which, here are some photos from Christmas day and the cool presents we gave each other.

Check out the AMAZING brooch I got from my parents, above. And the geek craft book was a present for my sister (she's the coolest geek around so there was no offence taken I don't think) and there are a few ideas in there I'll have to steal.

I have a feeling though that I shall have my work cut out attacking all of the crafts in the Martha Stewart encyclopedia of crafts that I got for myself just before Christmas. Me loves Martha.

I got a gorgeous origami crane necklace from my brother and sisters as a reminder of all the cranes we folded for my wedding. And it's actually made from a tiny folded piece of silver, amazeballs. The earrings are from Danny.

So once we were done in Portstewart it was up to Belfast for even more presents and dinner with the in-laws.

Crescent Craft Class

On Sunday I had the joy of making lots of paper party decorations with a group of lovely ladies at the Crescent Arts Centre in Belfast. We made book trees, paper pompoms, giant flowers made from card, fan decorations and tissue paper flowers.

I also have a Christmas crafternoon planned for next month. I'm looking forward to getting properly into the festive spirit with mince pies, It's a Wonderful Life on in the background and lots of mulled wine on the go. Oh yes, and we'll be making things too! Probably the book trees and photo globes.

 Why not organise a crafternoon of your own? Even if you aren't particularly crafty, you could ask your friends to take it in turns to share their talents whether it be baking, knitting or papercraft.

Let's start a crafty revolution.

Recycled Book Christmas Trees

I only accepted the fact that summer is over a few weeks ago but now I'm jumping head first into Christmas mode. Here is my first batch of recycled book trees for this year. They make sweet presents and are good for decorating your dinner table or mantlepiece.

These are a few from last year, on my mantlepiece with the gorgeous nativity set we were given as a wedding present.

I'm going to be selling some from the Lulu Lounge in the city centre and hopefully at a few Christmas craft fairs. And I'm also really excited that the Belfast branch of Waterstones have bought some off me to use as rather appropriate Christmas decorations. (forgive the rubbish phone photos)

DIY Recycled party decorations

Here's a variation on the tissue paper pompoms I've made in the past. They're made out of old newspapers so are considerably cheaper and better for the environment. Win!

I'll be demonstrating how to make these and other recycled paper party decorations at the Crescent Arts Centre in Belfast on the 23rd September at the official launch of the amazing sculpture installation that weaves its way through the building.

Youth club silhouette workshop

Last night I led a craft class with some young people from a youth club in Larne.

They made silhouette pictures of themselves and then we did some simple origami pictures.

They were all really lovely kids and and they had some nice art skills too, I love some of the original touches they've each given their silhouettes. 

Origami wedding garlands

As well as making pew decorations out of origami cranes for our wedding, my sisters and I made garlands to decorate the hotel. This is me on the day before the wedding, starting the long process of threading the hundreds of cranes into garlands.

Friends and family dancing under the cranes.

Our first dance.

Photographs by Helen O'Hara and Ronan O'Donnell.

Get in touch if you'd like me to create similar garlands to decorate your wedding or party - any commissions considered!

Origami wedding decorations

My sister and I used to be really into origami when we were younger and I recall a half-arsed attempt she once made at making 1000 paper cranes. So in my wisdom I decided the best use of my time in the the run-up to my wedding last summer would obviously be to attempt again to make those thousand cranes.

Traditionally a couple will make the 1000 cranes together and the time and energy required to make them represents the patience and trust required to sustain a happy marriage. In practice husband Danny made a few cranes but once again it was my elder sister and I who risked repetitive strain injury folding endless squares of coloured paper.

Mountains of cranes formed in my home but in my typical last-minute fashion, it wasn't until the frenzied day before the wedding that the paper birds were made into be-ribboned decorations for the pew ends in the church.

My dad being despatched to the church to put the cranes in place on the morning-of.

photos by Ronan O'Donnell.