I’m finally starting to work on my Easter decorations, which means, I’m finally going to take down my Christmas wreath. Â (Yes, it’s true, it’s still hanging up there on my mantel, but I’ve also learned an important lesson through my laziness. Â I had weaved some boughs from my long-dead Christmas tree into the wreath, and they are still green! Â Maybe not vibrant green, but definitely not brown and dead.)
I really want my Easter mantel to cost as little as possible, but still look interesting and fresh, so I put together a little something called a Dodecahedron. Â I used to make these when I was little, and had completely forgotten about it. Â And now that I’m an adult, I’ve learned that there is a name for my folding paper madness – modular origami. Â Who knew? Â Basically, it means multiple pieces of the same shape are assembled together to create a polyhedron of some sort. Â Today’s polyhedron is a 12-sided “sphere”, with each side shaped like a pentagon.
Want one yourself? Â It’s a great lap project to work on while numbing your brains with Weeds (addicting show, that. Â Pun intended!), and they look beautiful hung up in a nursery or a child’s room.
Instructions:
You’ll need 30 pieces of paper to build this model. Â I used some cute green scrapbook paper for a “spring” feel.
1. Each piece should be in a 3 to 4 ratio -> [3 in x 4 in], or [4.5 in x 6 in], or [6 in x 8 in], etc.
2. Fold the paper into thirds using a z-fold. Â Now you have a strip of paper that is 1 in x 4 in.
3. Fold each corner up, and make a crease from one inside corner to the other. Â It sounds complicated and I know I didn’t explain it well, but hopefully the pictures show what I’m talking about.
4. Repeat, 30 times.
Again, I have no idea how to explain this using words, but the end fold of one piece gets tucked into the long fold of another piece. Â The third piece has its end fold tucked into the long fold of the second piece, with the first piece being tucked into the third piece. Â Oy vay. Â Still with me? Â Well, best get yourself a fun drink at this point!
Now you just keep adding pieces by tucking the end folds into the gaps of an adjacent long fold. Â I try to use 3 different patterns on each corner, but that’s just aesthetics. Â When you finish the 30th piece, you will have a complete dodecahedra ball!
I recommend watching some fun tv while doing this, with the fun drink on standby.  Our household has been surviving on Weeds, The League, and pina coladas 🙂
Stay tuned for some more Easter fun! Â I tried my hand at word art, and bought some plastic eggs to pimp out. Â You can follow my craziness on Pinterest and Facebook!
That looks really cool.
I’ve never seen one of those. I think maybe I could manage that, maybe… with a pina colada I’m sure I could : )
I’ve wanted to try some of this modular origami, but never quite got around to it. Maybe now’s a good time to try!
I’ll get my boyfriend on that stat! I love the paper you used!
Very cute but I wonder if I would finish it by the time I finish a snazzy drink!
That looks so cool! Thanks so much for sharing such a unique idea at Shine on Fridays!!
Wow – what a statement piece – love it!
Very cool! I love it!
Very exciting and I want to try it. i hope I don’t mess up. I’m following you also. Linda
http://twosucculentsisters.blogspot.com/
Thanks for linking to Take-A-Look Tuesday – you were featured today!!
–Mandy, http://www.SugarBeeCrafts.com
Very cool! Definitely going to try it!
This is so cool looking! Just pinned. Thanks for sharing at Terrific Tuesdays. Rachel
adventuresofadiymom.blogspot.com
Hooray – math + crafty!
I used to make a different type of origami dodecahedron. Mine were stellated though – each face was actually a spike. I also figured out that by adding the same pieces a little differently, I could make bigger (and more awesome!) polyhedra. Wonder if you could do that with these?
Love the patterned papers you use – great color for easter 🙂