Fabulous Origami Boxes

My first book by Ms. Fuse was not in English, and it was also my first unit origami book. I have been hooked ever since. The folding is not bad at all, although fitting the pieces together is like putting together a three-dimensional puzzle. The result is surprisingly sturdy, too. I find it a peaceful way to take a break and get my mind off of everyday annoyances. The word "Fabulous" in the title is well-deserved. When put together properly, the lids are decorated with geometric designs, lilies, bunny rabbits, a heart, butterflies, a crane... These are not images, but three-dimensional. If you love origami, boxes, math, or puzzles, this book will amaze you. Given the amount of pleasure you can get out of a few sheets of paper and this book, it is a real bargain.

This delightful origami book features a collection of designs by Tomoko Fuse which have been published elsewhere in her Japanese language books but which appear here accompanied by English text. As always Miss Fuse's boxes are beautifully finished both inside and out and choosing the correct paper can add a great deal to the quality of the finished product. These little boxes consist of a number of sheets of paper slotted together to form each part and some are really not that easy to do. The flower box and some of the other decorative tops are quite tricky to figure out and absolute accuracy is required in the folding. Having said this I have made most of the boxes in the book and the instructions are in Miss Fuse's clear and easy to follow style. All of the boxes are made up and photographed clearly in the book, both in a separate sumptuous gallery section and in black and white photographs alongside the instructions. I would not recommend this book for a complete beginner but someone who has done some folding and has mastered the basic models should be able to manage and enjoy making most of the items in it.

I have a passion for boxes of almost any kind. As a kid I even treasured shoe boxes and old cigar boxes. When I found Fuse's book Origami boxes I bought it immediately and have enjoyed some of the delightful patterns in it. This year when the hospital auxillary had its craft and bake sale to raise money for its various charitable projects, it requested that donated baked goods be in "containers that don't have to be returned." I used Fuse's square, triangular and hexagonal boxes shapes, done in Christmas wrapping paper for the tops and sturdy white craft paper for the bottoms, with which to package my contribution. When I stopped by the sale to see how it was going and to make my own purchases, every single box I had donated had already been purchased. Although my cookies are pretty good, I still think it was Fuse's clever boxes that made the items so salable. I purchased Fabulous Origami Boxes to add to my collection, and I must say the lady has outdone herself. I was curious to see if she could possibly come up with new shapes, and she has. Her lamp-shaped bowl and her party plates are both new to me. I can certainly see where the latter would make novel serving dishes for chips or other dry snacks for parties. More than this, however, Fuse has embellished her simple square box pattern in several novel ways that, with change in paper choice, could yield an infinite variety of styles suitable for any occasion. My favorites are the box decorated with four folded lilies, the one with the origami rabbit, and the one with the paper heart. All would make charming gift boxes. In fact, I'm planning on starting after the New Year with my new project for next Christmas' craft and bake sale. Dozens of origami gift boxes in every conceivable size, shape and paper! Am I going to have fun or what?

This is my third acquisition of Tomoko Fuse's books on unit origami. This book is best suited for the intermediate to advanced folder. If you are a beginner, I would direct you instead to Fuse's "easy" books or book-paper-kits. As with all her other books, the procedures are well-illustrated. The results of many of the folds are quite literally "fabulous" particularly if you use some of the finer papers. Samples of each fold are shown in full color pages. Although paper-bound, this book would equally be suited to sit on your coffee-table.

Got this book about 2 months ago and I'm still not done playing with it. The boxes in here will almost upstage anything you put in 'em. Folding them can be very addictive, so beware! :-)