Shoebox: Origami Projects, Scrabble Tile Crafts

Carol Duvall Show : Episode CDS-1809 -- More Projects »
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The first item out of the Shoebox today was an "oh, look at that" item that had been made by 13-year-old Will Hare of California and sent in by a proud relative. Using 1-inch squares or paper, he folded traditional cranes and hung them inside a clear glass ball ornament. I removed them from the ornament to avoid the glare, but they looked beautiful in the ball. Will had learned in school that the paper cranes are a symbol of peace. To attach the cranes, thread a fine needle with gold thread and push it up through the bottom of the crane and out the top. Remove the cap from the ornament and glue the loose end of the thread to the inside of the cap. Insert the cranes and replace the cap.
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Karen Thomas was the guest who originally demonstrated making origami cranes on our show, and it was Karen who was also the inspiration for the party invitations that Wendy Polidori of Mukilteo, Wash., sent out to her friends. Wendy wrote: "My friend Mizue and I were having a few friends over to my place to learn some Japanese cooking, specifically riceballs or onigiri. I saw Karen Thomas make a pyramid box and thought maybe it could look like a Japanese temple, but it still looked Egyptian to me, so I needed another idea...a riceball, of course! I know what you are thinking, riceballs sound circular, but the most common shape is a triangle! Perfect for the pyramid box!"

That was the beginning. Wendy then checked out her refrigerator and discovered a bowl of leftover rice. It was too hard for eating but it still looked cooked, so she grabbed a handful and dumped it onto her scanner. She printed the rice image on 8-1/2" x 11" glossy white card stock, and on the other side she printed the pyramid box template. She made it a bit smaller on her computer to fit the size she wanted; then she cut it out and folded along the predetermined lines. She opened it flat again and glued a sheet of handmade paper on the back side to cover up the fold lines on the printed template and to decorate the inside of the pyramid. She then trimmed away the excess paper with a craft knife and refolded the pyramid.

Next she wrote and printed out the text of the invitation on vellum using the template as a guide to format the text to fit inside the box, cut out the shapes, and glued each piece into place. Lastly, she punched the two holes for the skewer.

After the box dried, she inserted a dried plum snack that resembled a riceball filling. There isn't much space inside the pyramid box, so she said the item should be small--a piece of candy, a charm, a coin, etc.

To hold the box together she wrapped a piece of green floral foil twisted and tied into a knot. Oft times she said that a strip of nori (seaweed) is used, but the floral foil did the trick. A length of a small skewer pushed through the holes held everything in place.

The invitations were not mailed but passed out by hand. Very clever. Very unusual. And very handsome.

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And last of all were a few items that that had been sent in by Kate Podwolsky of Tuscon, Ariz. Kate was a viewer guest on the show one time, and in addition to the denim items she made on the show, Kate makes name pins and desk signs using the game tiles from Scrabble. She glues them together in different configurations to spell names and then either puts pin backings on them or lines the letters up on a little desk holder. Very clever.
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