How to Make a Peace Crane for the Tree
So when your darling wife leans over to you in church and announces "I want a giant peace crane for the top of the tree", here's what you need to know and do.*
A roll of wrapping paper. It is entirely possible to fold an origami crane out of wrapping paper. You may, however, want to iron the wrapping paper first, because it has a tendency to roll, which makes folding difficult. Also, note that wrapping paper is a little less stiff than traditional origami paper, and this may lead to drooping and also a tendency to drop folds if you don't make them stiff enough.
A working knowledge of origami crane making. I know how to make origami cranes. Every 6 months or so, the need to make a crane comes up (I'm only joking a little - this is a surprisingly useful skill), and I have to look up the opening folds again, because that first square is a little tricky. It's doubly tricky when you're working with large paper, especially if the paper rolls and looses folds easily. So, a working knowledge of the process is helpful. These are good directions.
A certain amount of patience. Cranes are fiddly at best, and large rolls of paper make them trickier. Remind yourself that the end result will be worth the effort, and persevere. Along with patience, a strong belief that imperfections make the end product charming in a hand-made sort of way.
The end result is a large crane. In our case, arguably too large - the crane kinda looms, it's a little intimidating. Still, there he perches, bringing peace and goodwill to our living room and dining room, if nowhere else. Hopefully, Lora can be induced to take pictures...
*There is a large crane in the palm tree next to the podium/rostrum at the front of our church. I'm not longer sure if the crane was made in memory of the shooting victims over the summer, or for Hiroshima Peace Day. Either way, I suspect that it was the church's crane which inspired our tree crane.
A roll of wrapping paper. It is entirely possible to fold an origami crane out of wrapping paper. You may, however, want to iron the wrapping paper first, because it has a tendency to roll, which makes folding difficult. Also, note that wrapping paper is a little less stiff than traditional origami paper, and this may lead to drooping and also a tendency to drop folds if you don't make them stiff enough.
A working knowledge of origami crane making. I know how to make origami cranes. Every 6 months or so, the need to make a crane comes up (I'm only joking a little - this is a surprisingly useful skill), and I have to look up the opening folds again, because that first square is a little tricky. It's doubly tricky when you're working with large paper, especially if the paper rolls and looses folds easily. So, a working knowledge of the process is helpful. These are good directions.
A certain amount of patience. Cranes are fiddly at best, and large rolls of paper make them trickier. Remind yourself that the end result will be worth the effort, and persevere. Along with patience, a strong belief that imperfections make the end product charming in a hand-made sort of way.
The end result is a large crane. In our case, arguably too large - the crane kinda looms, it's a little intimidating. Still, there he perches, bringing peace and goodwill to our living room and dining room, if nowhere else. Hopefully, Lora can be induced to take pictures...
*There is a large crane in the palm tree next to the podium/rostrum at the front of our church. I'm not longer sure if the crane was made in memory of the shooting victims over the summer, or for Hiroshima Peace Day. Either way, I suspect that it was the church's crane which inspired our tree crane.