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Teabag Folding Explored

karenbiko by karenbiko

Teabag Folding on my Holiday

You've got to check out Teabag Folding. I'd seen it before and realized how beautiful the craft is, but never actually sat down and done any. Well my visit with Mom was all the inspiration I needed. You get the two of us together and we become obsessed with something new. Teabag Folding was no different. We went shopping for origami paper, and spent way too much, and then filled every spare moment with a fold here and a fold there.

An Overview of Teabag Folding

Teabag Folding uses some of the preliminary folds from Origami. I wanted to be able to show some of the work that I completed with Mom (some of the pictures are of ones she did). The fun thing we found with the teabag folding is that you don't really know what you're going to get until it's done. Then it's just as hard figuring out which side you like the most. Some of them turn out very beautiful on the back side.

Materials you'll need

So what do you need? Well paper for start. Now Teabag folding isn't really folding the teabags themselves, but the wrappers that tea come in. Generally to start folding you need 8 sheets of identical paper, that's why the teabags worked so well. Origami paper works well, but you need the pattern repeated 8 times to get it to work really well. The other item you will need is glue...something you don't find in traditional origami, but is a must here.

Specialized Paper

Paper is generally used, but I gave it a try with some Vellum. Beautiful, and even more so when hung in a window. I will be folding a few more of these, so watch for an update. Simple, clean, and artistic. Of course traditional teabag folding is done with the beautiful wrappers from tea bags.

I Folded Some More

This is a nice craft I like working on in the evening. I've played a bit with putting them together, and even used some odd-shaped papers.

The model I folded here happened by chance...here I was folding away papers and found that I only had five identical, so I put it together anyway, and quite liked the result.

I've also done a few with many more papers. I enjoy taking something I've learned and adding my own twist to it.

Little Puzzles that Fit Together

Each "flower" comes out different, through experimenting and using some of the preliminary origami folds, the ideas seem endless for the designs. The origami paper works really well if you are patient and can go through cutting them all the same without getting the designs mixed up. I have yet to crack open some of my old origami books to see if there is a different fold that I can bring in.

I've got quite the little production line going with these, here's a peek at some of them, so now the next step...what do I do with all these?? Stay tuned to see what I come up with.

I just love them!!



Books For Folding

There is lots of information on the internet about teabag folding, but if you prefer book, then you can give these ones a try.
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Other Folding Lenses

Learn about other types of Origami or even how to fold your own Origami box!
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So What Do You Think?

Just starting out with this craft but am expecting some fun things out of it. Let me know how I can help you.

  • kim Sep 14, 2009 @ 12:39 pm | delete
    i like all these ideas and hope to create some of my own.
  • Mom Mar 15, 2009 @ 7:05 pm | delete
    Surely Dad was left to his own devices....you know he has no vices
    Mom
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karenbiko

Hi, I'm Karen Biko, artist, mother, entrepreneur, and a Squidoo noobie. I'm hoping to add some awesome information to the Squidoo platform so you migh... more »

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