Kusudama Tutorial part 1
The Japanese kusudama is a paper ball made out of multiple identical origami shapes glued together. They were traditionally used as a ball for incense or potpourri but now we see them more for decoration or as a gift.
Today I am showing you part 1 on how to make the Japanese traditional shape. There are many different patterns to make a kusudama ball but I find this the easiest pattern to get started. This is also the pattern I used to make the pink flowers on the tree in the banner.
What you need for this tutorial is:
- 60 pieces of paper cut into squares. The pieces are each 7 x 7 cm or 3 inches square.
- Glue
Below I will show you how to make the basic shape, you need to make 60 of these. Every flower will then have 5 of these shapes or petals glued together, making a total of 12 flowers. I will explain how to glue them together in a tutorial later this week…, you can find part 2 here.
Fold the bottom corner to the top. This will make a triangle.
Fold the left and right corners up to the middle corner. This make a square.
Fold the same points down. The folded edge will line up exactly on top of the outside edge of the square.
Open up the flaps you have just created and flatten them.
Fold the top triangles towards you so they are level with the edges of the paper. (This will result in 3 little petals on the inside of your petal; if you fold the top triangles away from you, this will result in only 1 petal on the inside of the petal - see variation on pattern below.)
Fold the triangles back using the crease you made earlier and glue the outside triangles together.
Now make 5 more of these petals and glue them all together. Make sure you wait until the glue is dry after every petal and take your time. You will need 12 flowers to complete the kusudama ball; I will show you how to complete it later this week, you can find part 2 here.
We would love to see what you made using this tutorial so please post a pic to the Folding Trees Flickr group - it’s open to everybody. If you’d like to see some more original Folding Trees tutorials by Eve or June have a look here.
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Posted: November 3rd, 2008 under Folding Trees Tutorials, Origami, Ornaments & Decorations.
Comments: 43
Comments
Comment from MaBaker
Time: November 3, 2008, 3:12 pm
These are really cute, thanks for the tut 
Comment from BeckyKay
Time: November 4, 2008, 12:57 pm
These are lovely!!
Pingback from Folding Trees » Kusudama Tutorial part 2
Time: November 6, 2008, 3:33 am
[...] Today I am showing you part 2 of how to make a kusudama ball. You can find the first part here. [...]
Pingback from fresh:touch » Blog Archive » Folding Trees
Time: November 6, 2008, 1:56 pm
[...] (clic here for tutorial - part 1) [...]
Comment from CowtownBaby
Time: November 6, 2008, 4:59 pm
This is great! I just tried one, real quick at my desk during lunch it was so fast and easy. At the size they recommend, they would be great hanging in windows, or corners of rooms, and I thought, if I can make them small enough they would make wonerful christmas tree decorations. Thanks for the great tutorial! I see lots of paper folding in my future.
Comment from Fuji Mama
Time: November 6, 2008, 5:46 pm
Fabulous tutorial! I’ll definitely be making some of these to use as Christmas decorations. Thanks!
Pingback from DIY Alternative Pomander » Weddingbee » The Wedding Blog
Time: November 6, 2008, 7:05 pm
[...] out the 2 part tutorial here: Part 1 Part [...]
Comment from Howtoorigami
Time: November 7, 2008, 10:37 am
I love this one, cant wait to see the second part. I’m already having some good ideas.
Comment from monica
Time: November 7, 2008, 1:24 pm
Super cool! these are lovely, thanks for sharing
Comment from JoeGirl
Time: November 7, 2008, 7:13 pm
Absolutely beautiful! I could make a zillion of these flowers! Extraordinary! Thanks! Will return again and again!
Comment from Larissa
Time: November 7, 2008, 8:24 pm
Very easy tutorial. I used double sided sticky tape rather than glue for the individual petals and to put the flowers together
Comment from Romana
Time: November 8, 2008, 7:28 am
It’s so beautiful, I love paper works, thanks!!
Comment from Jean Saporito
Time: November 9, 2008, 4:07 pm
This looks like a great rainy day project for me to do. Thanks for sharing.
Jean
Pingback from Kusudama: imparate a fare i fiori di carta giapponesi come decorazioni natalizie « qui trovi tutte le feste………..
Time: November 10, 2008, 6:38 pm
[...] SuFolding Trees, invece, ho trovato un tutorial (qui c’è la seconda parte) per costruire dei fiori di carta piegati e legati assieme con la colla. Modelli differenti dalla classica palla ma sembra un pattern facile per iniziare e realizzare delle deliziose decorazioni natalizie. [...]
Comment from highblood
Time: November 10, 2008, 6:54 pm
AWESOME!! Thanks for sharing! =D
Pingback from D.I.Y.: Kusudama Pomanders « Anne Bowman
Time: November 10, 2008, 9:28 pm
[...] Part 1 [...]
Pingback from Folding Trees » Readers’ Pics
Time: November 13, 2008, 6:01 am
[...] work! If you’d like to make a kusudama, take a look at Part 1 and Part 2 of the [...]
Comment from Shannon
Time: November 13, 2008, 3:14 pm
Hey - I just wanna let you know that these work really well when you use Super-Sticky Post-it Notes! (I’ve been making them at work.)
That way you don’t have to use glue… but they are VERY fragile. lol
Comment from bubblesikea
Time: November 13, 2008, 7:33 pm
I’ve been doing this in an assembly line system and before I knew it, I’m almost done with a second ball. Doing the cutting and folding while watching TV made it go so fast. Thanks for sharing this project…it was fun!!
Pingback from IL NATALE E’ ALLE PORTE…Ingegnamoci « IL PUNTO DI SVOLTA
Time: November 14, 2008, 5:16 am
[...] che quest’anno sarà in stile esotico. Il tutorial, per immagini, è diviso in due parti Parte 1 Parte [...]
Comment from thekeybunch
Time: November 14, 2008, 9:24 am
Lovely, they are quick and easy, I just posted a link back to this site on my blog. Will make one and post a picture too. - Rekha
Comment from Emerald
Time: November 15, 2008, 2:17 pm
These are adorable! I’m totally going to make a whole bunch of them and use them as little toppers for christmas gifts
Comment from lowrahk
Time: November 16, 2008, 2:10 pm
When I glue the individual petals, and when I am gluing the flower together, I use paperclips to hold the pieces together.
Recycled paper, like magazine pages, gives great texture and unexpected patterns.
Pingback from Kusudama Tutorial by Folding Trees
Time: November 19, 2008, 10:19 am
[...] these into my holiday decor or adding them as a finishing touch to wrapped gifts. Check out parts one and two of this terrific tutorial and get started making your [...]
Comment from Lisa
Time: November 20, 2008, 12:38 am
These are pretty - they would make great wedding decorations. Can I repost to my blog?
Pingback from Origami
Time: November 22, 2008, 1:52 am
[...] O tutorial, esta’ dividido em duas partes: Primeira parte [...]
Comment from stacy
Time: November 22, 2008, 1:50 pm
This is just beautiful. I’m not sure I have the patience for it right now, but I’ll definitely keep your tutorial in mind for the future.
Comment from ashly
Time: November 23, 2008, 2:45 am
i work with wire making chain mail as a hobby, i saw these flowers and loved the way they look, and decided to build a little wire tree to display them.
Comment from Megzok
Time: November 23, 2008, 12:41 pm
this is amazing… great tutorial… spent an sunday afternoon trying this out when i should’ve been revising for my GCSE mock exams
Pingback from DIY Christmas Decor « Green Is My Name
Time: November 24, 2008, 9:02 pm
[...] Kusudama Tutorial I am in love with these (as I like to call them) “flowers”. I made them from an old Smithsonian magazine that was in my office’s waiting room and they look amazing. They are so simple and easy to make. Ive been making a few each night on auto pilot as the BF and I watch episodes of Star Trek: Voyager on DVD. I think that these will also store very well for next year, as they are pretty darn sturdy. I tried making some out of an old calendar last night (thicker paper) and I had a little trouble getting them to stay glued. [...]
Pingback from Japanese Folded Paper Flowers : paper goodness!
Time: November 25, 2008, 12:16 am
[...] Trees has the tutorial. Filed Under: Papercrafting Projects, Scrap [...]
Comment from Jill
Time: November 27, 2008, 12:08 pm
Kusudama flowers. Thank you so much for a wonderful tutorial. I have a scalloped 3” square punch which I used
and they look so pretty.
Pingback from Ancora decorazioni con la carta - Caputo’s blog - Informatica, tecnologia, programmazione, fai da te, papercraft e papertoy
Time: November 30, 2008, 7:38 am
[...] TUTORIAL1 [...]
Pingback from Kusudama « Quem Vai Dizer Tchau?
Time: December 2, 2008, 5:34 pm
[...] E se você quiser se aventurar pelas dobraduras e fazer um igual tem o tutorial no Folding Trees. [...]
Comment from GWEN WHATEVER
Time: December 7, 2008, 3:26 pm
THIS LOOKS VERY NEAT AND I AM GOING TO HAVE TO TRY AND MAKE SOME,PLEASE WISH ME LUCK.
Comment from Gail
Time: December 10, 2008, 11:05 am
I love your tutorial and can’t wait to make this.Thanks for sharing your talent.
Comment from Nancy Wars
Time: December 11, 2008, 11:07 pm
Hi!
Today I posted an entry on my blog with a link to this tutorial.
Would you let me know if that’s OK?
Thanks,
Nancy Ward
Comment from nesrin
Time: December 15, 2008, 11:38 am
hmm.good idea.thanks:)
Pingback from I wonder[lust] what decorations we can come up with… - Grad Show Bulletin Board 09
Time: December 17, 2008, 12:19 pm
[...] * This one uses paper (of which we have an unlimited supply at our disposal). but i was thinking, in the spirit of sustainability we could use our old process work to make them, which might look kinda cool. http://foldingtrees.com/2008/11/kusudama-tutorial-part-1/ [...]
Pingback from Crafting with paper « The annotated life
Time: December 18, 2008, 9:44 am
[...] is an origami paper ball, kind of. Read all about it and learn how to make one in Folding Trees - there are two parts and you can find the link for the final one in the end of the post. (via [...]
Pingback from Let me try and figure this thing out « Create something every day!
Time: December 18, 2008, 9:12 pm
[...] So anyway, I haven’t posted in a while so I have a few things to share and unfortunately I’ve posted most of this on my personal blog already and I think several of you have already, kindly commented on them over there, so this maybe all repeat stuff for you, and I apologize. On with the stuff I’ve been making. Above is a recycled paper ornament. I tore up an old catalog and my boyfriend, matt, and I worked our buns off for about 3 hours putting it together. Innitially, I thought we would be able to make a handful of them in that amount of time. Nu, uh. It’s time consuming, but looks very pretty, dontcha think? This is where I got the pattern to make it. [...]
Comment from misbah
Time: December 22, 2008, 5:58 am
marvellous!
i made it in white and going to dip it in liquid colour to give it double shade.
Comment from sanjana
Time: December 30, 2008, 10:10 am
superb flower,sure i’l try dis…..
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