Branches, Ships

It is one of my more long-term goals to be able to suddenly and discreetly fold good pieces of origami, mostly to delight fussy or especially pleasant children that cross my path. Conjuring small treasures from nothing but fingertips and paper always feels like magic to me. I've perfected the easy stuff--cranes and boats and hats and stars, and boxes to put them all in. The frog is a pleaser, for it hops, but I always get a little caught somewhere in the middle. The paper balloon is undoubtedly next.

For Christmas day in the morning, threesomes of tiny origami ships sailed onto doorknobs. A colorful fleet festooned my itty rosemary tree. These sorts of physical meditations--on the nature of paper boats, say--never fail to delight my rule-loving, anal-retentive soul.

For your own folding pleasure, paper boat instructions here. Just remember to coat the bottoms with wax if you wish them to float in anything but branches and wind. A solid scribbling of crayon should do the trick.




{Photos, Me}