Customer Reviews

Quick & Easy Origami Boxes

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is probably the single reason modular origami continues to gain new fans. Pick up this book, and fold the beginning boxes... In no time, you'll be hooked and want to fold every box, shortly after that you'll want to experiment with different papers/colors/patterns/etc. This book, (while fundamentally simple..the charm of modular...) has a wealth of great boxes. The best part is, when you are done, the boxes can be used as gifts, or gift boxes, and look great for any celebration. I highly recommend this book to all origami fans, but not too people who are only interested in finding difficult models.

Why buy this book instead of one of Tomoko Fuse's full size books?
-- makes a great gift to a new folder,
-- slips into your purse or pocket for folding on the go,
-- these simple boxes are remarkably satisfying.

I already owned a bunch of other Fuse books, and loved them, when I found this little kit. I felt a little silly buying something so simple, but it was so cute. I have not regretted the impulse. I love these boxes. Sometimes I don't want a challenge that will take half an hour, I want immediate gratification -- and this is the book.

The folds are simple enough to work well with 3 inch (75 mm) paper. And if you have fancy paper, these relatively simple boxes will show it to good advantage.

Being new to origami boxes, the title caught my attention, and didn't disappoint. The book is only 62 pages, however it teaches as much as most other bigger books do. It is spiral bound, so it lays flat during the folding steps (if you already do origami, you know how important this is). The boxes are very easy, some requiring only 10-12 steps to fully construct. The designs of the boxes are beautiful for being so simple. The folding illustrations are very, very clear and easy to understand. It is also a plus that the book comes with enough paper (60 sheets in 6 bright colors) to make each box.

Of the 15 or so books I have on origami, I would put this in the top 5, as one that I will use over and over again.

If you like origami boxes, you need to own a book by the queen of origami boxes, Tomoko Fuse. This is a good one to start with because Quick and Easy Origami boxes can be summed up by the title...quick and easy. It's also nicely packaged in a box with about 25 sheets of origami paper to get you started.

Directions and illustrations are big, bright, bold, and easy to follow. The book is spiral bound which is extremely handy if you're trying to fold and keep the book open at the same time.

The book has SQUARE boxes with several design variations for lids. It has TRIANGLE boxes with lids. It has HEXAGONAL (6-sided boxes) with lids. It has nesting boxes.

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 challenging and will take the new folder a while 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.

That's typical of most origami books. Often the final steps are NOT detailed enough, and you find yourself looking at the picture and folding this way and that. Then EUREKA, you discover you've figured it out!

If you can't find this book, Fuse's book ORIGAMI BOXES is excellent. The hexagon boxes (my favorite) in that book are easier to make and stronger than the ones in this book. Also, ORIGAMI BOXES contains the 8 sided octagon box. While it isn't spiral bound like this one, it's one of my favorite origami books.

Although out of print for the moment and at times difficult to obtain from secondary vendors at a reasonable price, this is a great book to start out with for making boxes. It's a simple flip book with cardstock pages the size of large recipe cards. The illustrations are decent, and for some of the more tricky folds a color photograph is included. I really like this author and have all of her books on box making I was able to obtain, including this one. If the idea still seems questionable to beginning Origamists, I would borrow this from the library if I could and look through it before deciding to buy.

Looking at this book again to see what others thought of it, I am surprise I had not written a review of it, especially since I used this book or rather booklet rather often.

Tomoko Fuse is famous for its boxes. Boxes are also well liked by the masses but unfortunately most are unable to differentiate between one square box from another despite the differences in outward appearances in patterns or designs. Hence, if I need to quickly make simple boxes, this booklet is ideal and easy to carry with me.

Three kinds of boxes are taught with their variations, square boxes (with partitions), triangular boxes and hexagonal boxes. I missed the octagonal boxes which is a favourite of mine too. All boxes have lids included.

Tomoko has many designs but this booklet teaches the simpler ones but the effect is the same when compared with the more intricate ones.

I would strongly recommend this book even if you purchase every book on boxes churned out by Tomoko Fuse. I try to collect all of them and I still find this booklet worth it.

What else should I say .. it's the best ! really