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Origami

Celebrate the Bees – World Bee Day

2021-05-29T08:08:07-06:00

On December 20, 2017, the General Assembly of the United Nations unanimously voted to declare May 20 World Bee Day. Why should we celebrate bees? Why not? The purpose of World Bee Day is to recognize more than just the most well-known of the bees - the European honey bee.  Many people don't know that the honey bee isn't native to North America.  It colonized the western hemisphere with the European settlers.  When the settlers arrived, though, this country already had plenty of bees of its own, some 4,000 different species actually, ranging in size from the world's smallest bee, the [...]

Celebrate the Bees – World Bee Day2021-05-29T08:08:07-06:00

World Origami Days are Here! 20 Days of Workshops and Tutorials

2021-01-27T16:29:22-07:00

Like so many conferences, festivals, and other events, World Origami Days has gone virtual this year. Beginning on October 24, the birthday of Lillian Oppenheimer (1898-1992), who founded the first origami group in the USA and was one of the founders of OrigamiUSA and the British Origami Society, this event will host workshops and tutorials daily through November 11, which is Origami Day in Japan. Everyone who registers will receive links to the videos of the daily tutorials in November, so don't worry if you miss one or a few. There is a page of templates for folding a flapping bird [...]

World Origami Days are Here! 20 Days of Workshops and Tutorials2021-01-27T16:29:22-07:00

A Visit With Master Artists and Teachers – Michael LaFosse and Richard Alexander

2018-11-23T19:14:08-07:00

A local museum is hosting an exhibit entitled "Origami in the Garden" until March of 2019.  It's a fantastic series of metal sculptures based on origami designs scattered throughout the gardens of the museum.    As part of the exhibit's kick-off activities, Michael LaFosse and Richard Alexander, master origamists, were invited to visit local schools and to teach workshops at the Botanic Garden.  I was fortunate enough to be able to attend one of their workshops.  It was great! Using giant squares of paper and the wall as their flat surface, Michael and Richard showed a group of about 25 how [...]

A Visit With Master Artists and Teachers – Michael LaFosse and Richard Alexander2018-11-23T19:14:08-07:00

Celebrating Rockets’ Red Glare!

2018-07-03T22:52:45-06:00

On Monday, we celebrated America's birthday with some STEM activities! As always, we started with some reading, and I intentionally chose books that included images of fireworks. I also included a number of non-fiction Independence Day titles in my book display, along with this title: We started by reading A is for America, by Devin Scilian, then read Happy Birthday, America, by Mary Pope Osborne.  In keeping with the "rockets' red glare," theme, I decided to try two different activities, and both worked very well. The main activity was the creation of paper rockets which we launched with a stomp rocket launcher. [...]

Celebrating Rockets’ Red Glare!2018-07-03T22:52:45-06:00

International Peace Crane Swap and a 1000 Cranes From Around the World

2017-04-26T19:00:28-06:00

      I know International Peace Day seems like a long way off, but when you're planning to string 1000 cranes contributed from folders all over the world to display in locations equally as diverse, you can never start too early. The United Nation's International Day of Peace is every September 21.  This year, in recognition of the holiday, the International Peace Crane Project is planning a travelling exhibit of 1000 cranes to promote peace among the peoples and cultures of the world.  Each crane in the display will come from a different part of the world.  People everywhere have [...]

International Peace Crane Swap and a 1000 Cranes From Around the World2017-04-26T19:00:28-06:00

3-D Origami – The Fun of Legos on a Much Smaller Budget

2016-08-06T16:18:05-06:00

Fate is a funny thing.  A few months ago I got ambitious one week, and wrote and published ( I thought) three blog articles.  Unbeknownst to me, it was the same week that the STAR_Net blog was being moved to its new home on this website.  For some reason, one of my articles made the move.  The other two disappeared into the ether.  I could have taken this experience as a reminder to always back up my work on at least one flash drive.  Instead, I decided it was the universe giving me the opportunity to work harder on my article. [...]

3-D Origami – The Fun of Legos on a Much Smaller Budget2016-08-06T16:18:05-06:00

Paper Airplane Challenge!

2016-05-18T15:06:55-06:00

Last week my Crafternoon participants (with a few moms and one teen-aged sister included) enjoyed a paper plane tournament.  It was a wonderful, low cost, quick prep program which everyone enjoyed thoroughly. I collected all the paper airplane books that my library system owned, added quite a few that I bought online, and had them laid out on tables around the room.  I made sure that I had paper of the correct dimensions available, as well.  Most of the books that I used required standard 8 1/2 x 11 letter size paper, but a few called for 6" x 6" squares.          [...]

Paper Airplane Challenge!2016-05-18T15:06:55-06:00
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