Free Tea Bag Folding Pattern Instructions*Part Two

Christmas is coming and this year I have decided to share and post the Christmas tree I developed for handmade greeting cards.

It takes me an evening of TV to completed one or two trees. So get folding so you will have a few done when they are needed.



Start with 12 square tiles. Mine are 1 1/4 inches. I will use this tree for a note card 4.25X5.5 inches. The tree measures 3.5 inches high.






Fold into the water bomb.







Take the right flap bring to the middle and squish. Turn it over and squish the right flap again.









Fold under or clip the tip of the back side of your folded piece and adhere with a dab of glue. Make all twelve in the same matter.

Glue three tiles together. Use a dab of glue under the wing flap. Line up and make as neat as possible.







In all make two three tile rows. Two two tile rows. and two singles.







Put small dab of glue in the top tips and slide into the next row just enough to hold them together. Your tree should look like the one to the left. Do not worry if it is a bit unstable. You will be gluing it down for your card.

Cut a 2" square in half to make a triangle. Fold in half.







Turn tile over and fold tips up to center.









Unfold. Fold in half and bring folded side to center fold and crease. This will aid in squishing for the next fold.







Open and form a squish fold and crease under a little to make the bottom of the stand.







Fold under the sides to an angle that pleases you. Dab the three tips with glue and slip under the base of your tree.

I did not use tiles that were alike for this tree. It looks natural this way. I will use a matching pen to color the edges to eliminate any paper cracking or white edging.

If you have followed paperfacets's previous lessons fold five units to look like the one here.



P. S. If you are totally new at this I suggest going to Tea Bag Folding and start at Lesson One. If you are familiar with tea bag folding but need help with the first fold go to Lesson Two and do Steps 1 and 2.



Turn the unit over and fold the wings in to the center. See photo to the left.












Take the wing on the right open and refold to the fold made previously as shown.

With the tip of a pencil or barbecue skewer gently open your fold and squish to get a mountain fold.

Do the same with the bigger fold on the right.



Your units should look like those below to the left.

Take two units. With the bigger mountain fold pressed flat, set the edge of the diamond up to the mountain using a dab of glue to adhere. There will be a 1/8 inch space between them, as in the picture below.

Work around with the remaining three units.



The back will look like this.

A card made from our medallion with embossing and black background accents.
This fold stands out and is very pretty.
Hint: You can make eight units and interlock them next to each other, leaving the spacing out. You will have a multi-petal look.

Looking at the back I got an idea for a snowflake. I made a template like in Lesson4 (Tea Bag Folding) and matched paper so white would show when folded. Hint: Double sided paper would be nice for this treatment, as well.

I used paper punches to give it extra interest and glued it on to a stylized heart to match the paisley. The white against the dark background really makes the medallion pop. It is six pointed like a snowflake but I ended up with a whole different look.

I have not used the back of this pattern before. This is creativity and invention at work.

Have fun paper folding!

This is an exercise on unit placement and an invitation to show us what you have created with the water bomb. This week I will show you three examples. One I came up with myself. A treatment I have never seen on the internet or books.

Let's get started with eight units made like in Lesson 2.

Instead of interlocking at the tip of the diamond interlock the opposite end.
Example below.


A new card made with the medallion.

This next treatment is similar to Lesson 2 except and last four units placed under the first four are glued 1/2 way into the center.










Here is my new treatment. Six of the units are placed side by side with one at each end.






To be honest the last two medallions I am not satisfied with. The jungle one is too busy and I think it will look better with all the units folded with the print identical.
The blue one would look attractive with the right print. Maybe a geometric style or retro motif. I will work on getting prettier medallions from those treatments.

Craft fairs can be enlightening. One response I enjoy immensely is the reaction from young people when they see my table layout. They are very intrigued.

Usually the kids ask, "Did you make all this?"

Here is a Lesson with those young people in mind. If your young person likes to make things try this and see their reaction. These techniques are like origami. I feel tea bag folding is easier, but see for yourself.

I usually use 2 inch tiles. For the smallest kids go bigger. The papers will be easier to handle. Practice with big scraps of tiles a couple of times so the little hands get used to the task. My suggestion is the adult read through these instructions and guide the student one on one.

This first example is for the younger kids. Second or third grade.
STEP ONE

This pattern is the water bomb. Instructions for the water bomb is Lesson One Steps One and Two of Tea Bag Folding and Patterns Instructions.

Your finished tiles should look like the two units shown upper left on the photo below. The project needs eight units.



There is an example of a template to aid in the layout if printed paper is used.

The making of a template is outlined in Lesson 4. Tea Bag Folding and Pattern Instructions.

Plain colored paper would be fine for the beginner.








STEP TWO

Interlock them together using a bit of glue. The top right unit slips in under the printed wing of the interlocked unit on the left. Work all the way around in the same fashion with the eight units.

The finished medallion will look like the one below. Plain colored paper could be used. Just dress it up with edging scissors before you interlock them.

A mini brad is used to accent the center. The corners are clipped with edging scissors and the cut off tips glued on next to the edge. This centers the medallion and gives the card added texture. Finished. A card to send to the grandparents.

Next week a project for the big kids. Nine and ten years old.

I have put all the links available about tea bag folding on the internet in one place.

No more searching. See it at Web Links for the Craft of Tea Bag Folding.

The template below is from the bat fold. I have moved the instructions for the bat to
Bats in the Kitchen. Please follow the instructions there to create the template.

Open the paper and you have a template to use for some extra sophistication.
Use this on patterned paper that you like and match up the design for two units.



Use additional elements from your patterned paper and you have an abstract design to send to friends and relatives.

Hint: You may have noticed cracking along the folds in the lesson photos. I cleaned them up with a brush tip pen using the side of the tip along the fold.

Variations of the same fold is our highlight in these set of lenses. For this one start with eight tiles and make our origami water bomb fold. See Lesson One for in depth details at Tea Bag Folding and Pattern Instructions. Steps One and Two.

Eight Tiles

Water bomb.

With the tip facing down take the left top flap and fold down to point, as shown at left.













Take the point and fold up to the top, as shown to the right.

Unfold, reshaped and form into a square. Do all eight squares the same.



Slip the point of the tile on the right between the flaps of the tile on top. Use a dab of glue to adhere.













Work your way around with all eight tiles.

Your finished project.

The finished medallion made into a light blue card of linen card stock.

Lessons One and Two gave you variations of the same basic pattern. You are armed with additional variations in Lesson 3. Lesson 4 was about making a template and more card making hints. These Lessons are in lens Tea Bag Folding and Patten Instructions.. Lesson 5 is here in our expanded lesson lens.
Lesson 6 has new treatments and a challenge to show your stuff.

Lesson 7 is a project for kids.

Lesson 8 Design for a card using the bat fold.

April 7, 2009
Lesson 9 New variation using the origami water bomb.

You start with the basic origami water bomb add some imagination and you are armed with many projects to keep you busy.

If you have a question or comment on this lesson feel free to leave one in the section that follows.

This has been a fun nine weeks of paper folding and exploring tea bag folding .
The theme has been the origami fold called the water bomb. We have done variations and designs to keep the beginner of tea bag folding busy with new creative possibilities. Have fun paper folding.