Customer Reviews

Origami Boxes

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This lovely book is a reprint of the material found in some of Ms Fuse's Japanese origami boxes books and contains a compilation of models from some of her earlier books. The boxes are a delight to make though they do require care and accuracy in the folding and must be made from accurately cut sheets of paper. All of the pieces displayed in the book produce attractive results though some do take more time than others.

I find that Tomoko Fuse boxes once made are excellent for display as well as being great for practical purposes. I currently have several of these boxes on my desk at work acting as receptacles for doctors' dictation tapes and paper clips (what's more they have been there for several years and are still in good shape), and they make great gifts as well.

This is a lovely book which will suit the folder who has mastered the basics of origami and is ready to move into intermediate level work. I still come back to it occasionally even several years after having purchased my copy and always enjoy folding the pieces in it.

Tomoko is certainly the premier box folder in origami, and it's wonderful to have a lot of her designs in English now. I love her work so much I bought a lot of her Japanese books and would just work them out from the diagrams. This book has a lot of my favorite boxes, most are what I would consider Intermediate to Advanced to fold. Boxes are a lot of fun to do, each piece will not take that long to fold, but doing all the modules and then fitting them together will take you about an hour! They make wonderful gifts, small jewelry boxes, etc.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to make the sqaure origami boxes. It has square, triangular, and hexagonal boxes in it. You would think that it would take 8 pieces of paper to make the hexegonal one but it's actually only takes 4. This book is good for the people who don't like to read the directions, but follow the pictures. I'm 12 and enjoy making origami of all kinds not just boxes and for a project in school I sell the ones I make so this book came in handy.

I got this book for Christmas last year. I've enjoyed using its helpful diagrams to make boxes for myself and for gifts. I was able to easily follow the diagrams and produce some beautiful boxes. I'd recommend this book to anyone who has some origami background and is looking for some fun new diagrams to try!

I bought this book based on the reviews I read here -- I am very pleased, it was my first time doing any origami and I was able to complete each box. Fun & challenging. I highly recommend it. My friends and family have been delighted by the boxes I've been giving them. This book will give you hours and hours of enjoyment!

If you like origami or origami boxes, you need to own this book.

It was written by the queen of origami boxes, Tomoko Fuse. This is an outstanding book because the directions and illustrations are nicely done and easy to follow.

The book has SQUARE boxes. It has TRIANGULAR boxes. It has HEXAGONAL (6-sided) boxes. It has OCTAGONAL (8-sided) boxes. All boxes have lids and Fuse gives lid variations of many of the boxes.

The boxes are beautiful AND functional. Use the boxes to organize office drawers, hold your jewelry, etc.

They make wonderful (and strong) containers for gifts. It's fun to make them in graduated sizes and "nest" the boxes, tucking the gift (jewelry, check, watch, etc.) inside the final box.

The first time origami folder will breeze through the beginning folds of most of the boxes. The final steps of the boxes are a bit more challenging and will take the new folder a bit more effort to figure out. In other words, the end steps where you fold the flat paper up into the 3-D side of the box can be a bit confusing to a new folder.

That's typical of most origami books. However this book is far, far, far better than most in guiding you through the final steps. And if you get stuck, look at the next illustration to help you figure out how to do the current fold.

If you're new to origami or to boxes, start with the regular 4-sided box at the beginning of the book. That will familiarize you with Fuse's diagrams and instructions.

The square boxes are very fast to make ONCE you're familiar with the technique. You can easily do an entire square box (top and bottom) in 5-10 minutes. The square box is a very strong box and quite delightful. While it's not as stunning as the hexagon, use good paper and bright colors and you'll love the result. So will the recipient of the square box!

Once you've mastered the technique of the 4-sided box, you'll definitely want to make the hexagon box. This once takes about 15 to 30 minutes to complete once you're familiar with the steps.

The hexagon box is my favorite. It's quite strong and quite stunning. You get a "star burst" effect on the lid if you use paper that is colored on one side and white on the other (or paper that is colored differently on each side).

One more tip....these boxes are easier to make if you use REAL origami paper rather than colored copy paper. Why REAL origami paper??

Because REAL origami paper folds MUCH crisper, holds its edges MUCH better, and slides MUCH easier than colored copy paper. "Sliding" is important when fitting the boxes together because paper that doesn't slide well crunches up or wrinkles when you try to put the boxes together.

And you don't have to spend a ton on beautiful origami papers when you're first learning. You can buy Bulk packages of 100 to 500 sheets of assorted-color origami paper which works just fine for learning and practice.

Happy Folding! :D

Some reviewers have commented on the instructions: let me say from my experience with origami instructions and illustrations, this book is definitely on the easy-to-understand end of the spectrum! I would consider myself an advanced beginner folder, and I have had absolutely NO problems making any of these boxes, which should be sufficient testament to the ease of instruction. If you're new to modular folding, do what I did to practice, and cut down some regular copy paper to 8 1/2 inch squares--your pieces will be nice and big and you can see what's going on. I just dig up a pile from the recycling bin at work before I head home.... You will be pleasantly surprised at the range of boxes you can make with this book. And that's really the joy of unit origami! One warning: it's ADDICTIVE AS HECK! Tomoko Fuse is the queen of modular origami, and this book is a reason why!

If I could I'd give this a 10. I've had a fascination with boxes most of my life. As a kid I even collected shoe boxes and cigar boxes! I also enjoy origami and one of the first things I learned to make was a folded paper bag-container when I was in kindergarten in Honolulu. I can still fold them, and it's been a long time since I was 6! This book is fabulous. Some of the designs are a little tricky, and some are time consuming, but they are clever. My favorites are the triangle box, which I used as a gift box for homemade candy, and the hexagonal box, which I used to package a variety of cookies, candies and mixed nuts by using the triangles as dividers. I've used both the hexagonal and octagonal boxes in heavy weight oversized paper and wrapping paper to make storage boxes for yarn, sweaters and other things in my closet. Changing the starting size of the paper by as small amount easily makes a box top with the same pattern folds. Though some of the patterns may be a little beyond a very young child, some of them would be doable by the school aged child, especially with an adult demonstrating each fold and with a finished product with which to visualize and to encourage their persistance. For the educator, the boxes might help students visualize geometric shapes and spacial relationships. Definately a fun way to spend a quiet wintery or rainy afternoon.

I just picked up Origami recently, and found the boxes relatively easy to learn, as compared to other types of origami designs.

The instructions can be a little sketchy at times, but not insurmountable. There was only one box lid that I could not figure out due to incomplete instructions. I enjoy making them (relieves stress) and enjoy giving them to people. They make excellent containers for gifts, candy, guitar picks, paper clips, etc. Now if only I could find some really beautiful double-sided 4 inch paper I'd be all set!

This book has readable instructions and (mostly) helpful diagrams. Like many origami books, the instructions follow a winding pattern across the page, but the path is clearly marked so this is okay. The folding instructions are reasonably clear, but the 3D pictures (when you actually start making the paper into the corners of a box) are not always easy to interpret. Once you stare at them for a while, they usually become clear, though. My biggest complaint is the instructions for joining the pieces together. More details, please! So far I've been able to figure them out, but they are a bit tricky. With those warnings in mind, I definitely recommend this book. The boxes are beautiful, and functional.