We’re all about Christmas this year…we even have 95% of our shopping done! The tree will go up over the weekend, and the gifts will be wrapped before Christmas Eve for the first time in forever! This means that we will have even more time than usual to dedicate to making home-made kid-made Christmas crafts-woohoo! This year our first tree decoration also doubles as a gift tag or bookmark, too! All the better as it’s a book that has inspired this decoration; Suki’s Kimono by Chieri Uegaki.
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You know we love origami in our home, and we all love learning about Japanese culture. My children had not yet read Suki’s Kimono, and I thought it was time that they did, as I had first learned about it from The Wise Owl Factory (check out her post, which includes a word wall for learning the Japanese terms in the book).
This is how we made our origami kimono doll
Materials For An Origami Kimono Doll:
- Origami paper, double-sided if possible
- cardstock or thin cardboard
- black crepe paper
- scissors
- ruler and pencil
- double-sided tape or glue
Making an origami doll
Head
Use your heavy card stock or light cardboard and cut:
- a triangle of 5cm x .5cm
- a circle about 2.5cm across
Tape or glue the head to the neck.
Origami Body
If you happen to have some washi paper, that would make a beautiful doll! I couldn’t get ours out in time, so we used some of the beautiful origami papers that came in our Tuttle Publishing origami kits; they’re just the thing for this!
We used origami paper sized 15cm x 15cm, but you can use what works for you, just adjust the size of the other elements as required.
If you use washi paper or origami paper that is only printed on one side, you will need to back it with another piece of paper for this project, but if you’re paper is double-sided, then you’re good to go as is.
Cut your origami square into two triangles.
Fold the long side of the triangle over towards the patterned side of the paper between .5 to .7cm. This will be the collar.
Turn the paper over and place the neck of the doll on the kimono in the centre.
Start by folding the doll’s right side (your left side) of kimono over diagonally. You don’t want to start with the other side! The way a kimono is folded is important in Japan; if you start with the other side, this is how a person is dressed for their own funeral.
Then fold over the left side of the kimono diagonally (your right side).
Now to form the arms
Fold the doll’s left side (your right side) over towards the folded edge. collar of the paper.
Then fold the other side (whereas the folding of the kimono is important, the folding of the arms doesn’t matter, so fold either one first).
Unfold the arms for the next step.
Obi
The obi is what holds the kimono together, like a belt.
Cut a piece of origami paper in a coordinating colour to the kimono to the size 3cm x 2.5cm.
Fold the long sides to meet in the middle. Flip it over and place it on the kimono, fastening it in place before folding the arms back over, also fastening them with double-sided tape or glue.
Hair
Cut a piece of black crepe paper 6.5cm long (going with the grain of the crepe paper) and 5.5cm wide.
Place the hair over the top half of the face and fold it back over the head, and fix it place, both front and back. If you want shorter hair, give it a careful trim to your desired length.
Shape the head by folding back the top corners of the hair along the round head form.
If you would like, you can add a small butterfly, flower, or such to the hair.
Face
Adding facial features is optional, though children often love this part of any project!
Final touch
You can leave your doll just as it is and use it for a bookmark, or you can put it on a piece of card stock (we used some pretty silver mirror card) and punch a hole in the top, add a piece of ribbon, and hang it on a Christmas tree or use it as a gift tag… as well as many other uses!
10 Days of a Kid-Made Christmas
As in previous years, this year we’re joining in with some wonderful members of the Kid Blogger Network for the 10 Days of a Kid-Made Christmas. The goal of this project is to share with you kid-made Christmas decorations based upon a book.
Also joining me today with book-themed Christmas crafts are:
- Teach me Mommy with How the Grinch stole Christmas
- That Kids Craft Site with Rainbow Fish
- Mama Teaches with a Narnia Inspired Lamp-post Ornament
Melissa from Mama Miss has once again organised us all for this year’s event; hop over to her site to see all the links. I’ll also share them here:
- Mama Miss – Rock, Paper, Scissors Ornament
- Witty Hoots – Snowflake Paper Ornaments
- Adventure in a Box – DIY Krampus Christmas Ornament from Felt
- Feels Like Home – Simple & Easy Christmas String Art Ornaments
- Mama Smiles – Snow Ornament
- Glitter On A Dime – Beaded Candy Cane Kid-Made Ornaments
- Feels Like Home – Simple & Easy DIY Sequined Christmas Ornament
- School Time Snippets – Whimsical Pom Pom Ornaments
- Witty Hoots – Christmas Memory Baubles
- Heart of Deborah – Adorable Olaf Fingerprint Ornament
- Rainy Day Mum – Gingerbread House Ornaments
- Artsy Momma – Heart Shaped Penguin Ornaments
