Chennaiites Weave Xmas Decor Into The Folds

Adorn your home with eco-friendly, safe and easy-to-make origami decor for this festive season

All set to decorate your house for the festive season? Then go the origami way. From stars to bells, from Santa Claus to reindeer — it’s possible to make them all out of paper. The ancient art seems to have caught namma makkal’s fancy.

Philip Sathyaraj, a freelance artist, agrees that decorating one’s house and the traditional tree with origami décor is a one-of-a-kind experience. Though he has been into origami for over three years, Philip says that this year is special. “I always buy the usual décor to adorn my tree. But this year, I created my own décor,” he says, showing us reindeer made of paper. He adds that the art is “tricky. I learnt this in one day and it took me 30 minutes to make one. The Santa Claus is simple to make and can be made with just one sheet — red on one side, and white on the other,” he says.

What does one require to do good origami? “You must have a lot of patience and a very good memory to come out with a proper shape. You need to follow the steps carefully, or you will get stuck,” he shares. While the required raw materials are cheap, the labour involved makes these pieces expensive.

Sangeetha Ramkumar, an IT professional and origami enthusiast shares her tryst with origami every Christmas. “I started doing origami in the winter of 2012 when my sister gifted me origami paper. I haven’t looked back since,” she shares. Three years of experimenting with various models, she has even conducted workshops for children.

Does she have any tips to make origami Christmas decor? “A beautiful thing about origami is that simple models can be made from things at home, like flyers, glitter paper,  strings and glue.”

Sangeetha says she made a Christmas tree out of flyers and cardboard. From a child to an adult — anyone can try origami. “It is eco-friendly and you can learn how to make simple models from the internet and YouTube,” she adds.

Sruthakeerthi Mohan Ram, an entrepreneur, launched a label, Simply Square, exclusively for origami. The classic five-pointed star, assembled with five units interlocked to form a 3D origami star, Santa Claus, traditional gift boxes for trees, origami teardrop,  and traditional stockings are some of the décor that will be available as part of her exclusive collection for Christmas.

Here are a few pointers she gives while buying origami sheets? “Ensure the sheets are actual squares. Sometimes you might need to trim the sheets accordingly. Fold with clean hands, and grow your nails to deal with thick paper,” she shares. The Christmas collection at Simply Square is priced from `180 onwards. Visit her Facebook page Simply Square for details.

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