Compiled by Janet Hamilton
From the OrigamiUSA Newsletter Issue 72, December 2000
If you have an origami lover on your shopping list, but they already own every origami book in print, check out the following list of origami sightings in consumer products for some unique gift ideas.
It may sound like an origami site, but http://www.thousandcranes.com/ sells loose leaf tea. The”About Us” page has a short history of the symbolism of the crane as representing health and long life.
Evans and Wong carries "dinner party", a gift-boxed set of 6 satin cotton dinner napkins each printed with different folding instructions for creating ornamental napkin displays. http://www.eandw.com/vol1no6/product.php?sid=Mnd3ls3C68uf6sNB&ID=6
The Sewing Workshop offers a sewing pattern for an “Origami Skirt”, an asymmetrical skirt/pant with uneven leg openings. http://www.sewingworkshop.com/origamiskirt.htm. They also have an “Origami Shirt”, a folded drape-front blouse, at http://www.sewingworkshop.com/origamishirt.htm. If you would rather not sew, a number of clothing designers are creating origami clothing lines. Patricio Sarmiento has an origami wool skirt with elaborate folds on the front (http://www.sowear.com/editorials/rico1/rico1_02.html), BoomersKids.com carries an “Tea Party” dress with an origami hemline (http://www.boomerskids.com/infant.html), Walking Man carries an origami coat that includes folding instructions (http://www.walkingman.com/origami.html), Ellen Morriss makes a mohair origami sweater “folded and wrapped so it falls on the bias” (http://store.yahoo.com/americancraftsonline/turblublacmo.html), and Isabel Toledo explores the relationship between origami design and clothing design (http://dept.kent.edu/museum/anne/KSUM/toledo/Origami.html).
Suzanne Perry creates Origami Clocks from recycled book
jackets and crushed car bodies. http://www.eco-artware.com/ctlg_html/wasteNots.shtml.
Dansk carries an “Origami” line of flatware,
dinnerware, and giftware designed by Carrie Harper.
The contemporary designs feature "wave-like" contouring, also
described as resembling the result of pleating a triangle. http://www.dansk.com/flatware/origami.cfm
, http://www.dansk.com/dinnerware/origami.cfm
, http://www.dansk.com/metal_gifts/origami.cfm
.
The "Easy Origami: 2001 Daily Calendar", ISBN 1-57939-055-2, by Margaret Van Sicklen is a boxed calendar containing 288 models ranging from simple to low intermediate. The concept is to use yesterday's page to fold today’s model. The publisher is Accord Publishing Ltd. (http://www.accordpublishing.com). Other sources for the calendar include http://store.yahoo.com/toys-n-games/easor20folca.html and http://www.calendars.com/.
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, carries a hanging ornament of the traditional origami crane folded from washi, with a crystal bead on the bottom and a gold hanging cord. The cranes are sent flat in a plastic sleeve, with a card that explains how to open the crane. http://store.yahoo.com/mfa/562266.html
For someone with long hair, there’s Hairagami – flexible rods for “folding hair” into various styles. http://www.bbahneycomm.com/longhairlovers/gami_main.html.
Hanko Designs carries a rubber stamp with the image of linked origami cranes. http://www.hankodesigns.com/.
A rose called "Origami". It's an American hybrid introduced in 1986 by
Carruth/Christensen growers. The
description states, “Perhaps the particularly perfect form of each flower
could remind you of the folded-paper sculptures of the Japanese art
form—Origami. But the floral sculptures produced by this vigorous plant hold
up much better than paper to changes in weather. The fresh color of pure pastel
pink blushes to a cool coral displayed atop large reddish-green leaves.”
http://www.michaelsrose.com/main.cfm?do=detail&productid=663&categoryid=53
[Floribunda – Pure pink blushing coral. Height
& Habit: Medium, slightly spreading and bushy.
Bloom & Size: Medium-large, double.
Petal count: 25 to 30. Parentage: Coquette
x Zorina. Fragrance:
Light tea. Hybridizer:
Carruth/Christensen – 1986. Comments:
Needs a little heat to give the best color. http://home.earthlink.net/~jchristensen/list.html]
If you have trouble growing the real thing, a variety of web sites offer origami flower arrangements. For example, http://www.bloom4ever.com/ and http://www.justpaperroses.com/.
Yakpak has an Origami line of pocketbooks and backpacks,
including the Emperor and Empress with 5 flaps, the Princess with 3 flaps and
the Pinwheel with 4. http://www.yakpak.com/dept.asp?dept%5Fid=40
