Customer Reviews

Money Folding 2 (My Favorite Origami)

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Should have known by the price that the content and quality would be poor! There were only 6 designs to make - two of which are jewelry. I expected more. Would be best to save your money!

Money Folding 2 by Florence Temko has the same problem that the initial Money Folding book had. Both books only have 6 designs each - but have a relatively high price tag. With Money Folding 2 she doesn't even bother to number the pages since there are so few. There are 11 pages of instructions, plus a page of introduction and then 2 pages at the end for tips. That's it, that's the entire book.

The items you learn how to fold here are: a peacock, a necklace, a flower, a jumping frog, a crow puppet, and a pair of earrings. At least where the first book had super-common shapes that you could find anywhere on the web, these designs are a little more unique. The peacock is the most interesting to me, with its lovely fan tail. Unfortunately the only way you can keep that tail up is with double-sided tape or glue :). The necklace, a "lei", is more like making a series of circles with separate dollar bills and then stringing them on twine or yarn.

The frog does look vaguely frog-like - in essence you push it over and it rolls. The flower is really just a circle shape, stuck on a straw. The earrings are a simple twist fold, that you attach to earring posts. Finally, the crow puppet looks sort of like a beak, I grant you. But I like those four-part beaks you make out of paper much better - something I think every school child learns to make somewhere along the way.

I suppose I might say that if you really want the peacock, that it's worth the price of the book plus shipping to get the peacock design (as long as you have glue and / or tape around). But really what I would say is that there are several other books on the market that include the peacock AND include many other cool designs - and that the per-design cost is far lower on those.

The directions are very well done and I'd rate them 5 stars. But this booklet "Money Folding 2" is just that---a BOOKLET. It has only 6 projects which are shown on the beautifully photographed cover. If you don't think that the 6 projects on the cover are worth the $7 price tag then you will be disappointed. (Add postage to that price if you aren't wise enough to group your purchases to get free shipping from Amazon). I had previously bought Florence Temko's first booklet called just "Money Folding" because I loved the heart shaped "magic" wand on the cover. The wand is fabulous and has been a big hit with the kids who have received them from me. I would have paid $7 for just the wand directions but I also liked the other 5 projects. I bought "Money Folding 2" (the booklet that this review is for) because I liked the flower in a pot project on the cover. I was not as thrilled with this project as I was with the wand but I learned how to do it and have now passed the booklet onto a school teacher.

The only redeeming model in this book is the dollar-bill ring. Your best bet is to pick it up used if it's under a dollar, or find it in a library and copy the diagrams for the ring.

This is the kind of book that parents buy for the kids because of the neat-o cover. Mom and Dad--- avoid!

we have enjoyed this book. Son loves origami and we have used this to help make gifts for others.