ORIGAMI FOR BEGINNERS
Click here for beginners archive page


This model is very beautiful ofcourse:  
Origami Unicorn by Roman Diaz
But if you've never folded before, it's not a very good model to start with.
                                                               

Advanced models aren't necessary more beautiful
You might think that advanced Origami models are automatically more beautiful
than simple models, but that's not always the case:
       
Many of my Origami flowers look pretty difficult / advanced, but most of them are not very hard
to fold yourself, because they're made of seperate parts (flowers, leafs and stems).



There are many videos and sites with origami instructions on the internet nowadays.
These instructions vary from very easy to almost impossible to fold,
This is a good site for beginners:     www.origami-club.com

It contains instructions for these kind of origami models:
           
Dices                      Watch                Dress       Panda


You Tube or Facebook are also a great sites to find easy models.
Just search for 'easy origami' or 'easy origami bird'
and you'll get a long list of videos with nice instructions.
I placed some of my easiest Origami models on Twitter


If you don't even know the difference between a valley-fold and a mountain-fold,
click here for a short explanation about basic folds (at my own site)


Next to basic folds you have basic shapes. These are shapes which you fold before the
details of the model are folded.

A good example is the bird base:

Many different types of models can be folded out of this bird base, a bird for example.......



EASY and CHEAP

You could buy special expensive origami paper for folding your models, but
packs of coloured a4 papers or wrapping papers are also fine for folding nice models.
I folded these bags and table skirt from gift wrapping papers, for example:
       
Shopping bag                   Flower bag                       Paper table skirt



And these are some models which I folded from colored a4 papers:

                                 
      Crown                                     Daisy with cutting, so                 3D Card with Tulip
                                                      even more easier

Newspapers are also great for making easy Origami models,
this vase and newspaper doll dress are two good eamples:

                 
      Newspaper vase                                   Dress folded out of a newspaper
 
If you do have beautiful and/or expensive papers, it's smart to practice a model
with cheap white papers first. I design most of my models using white papers,
before making it with special textured papers. 


You also don't need to buy expensive books to get instructions for good models,
almost all of these instructions are on the internet too nowadays. Books are
still great to give as a present ofcourse, or just to have something special for yourself.
More and more newer books go with a pack of origami papers which are special
designed for the models of that book. These books can be even cheaper than
buying a pack of 'real' origami paper.


PATIENCE
Learning Origami is the same as any other craft, just by practicing and experimenting
a lot. Spending a few hours each week for about one year is enough for most people
to become an experienced folder.
Folding models as fast as you can is pretty much useless, because the folding lines
have to be well set and placed very precise for most models.
Origami is not a craft for people who like to have things done yesterday.
I strongly recommand these kind of people to find another hobby.




These are some more fun beginner-models of myself:

                 
    Origami bug                 Helicopter                     Origami bangle            Origami sugar

                   
    Origami Goldfish          French Fries                 Candy                            Hearts



And these are some videos with nice beginner-models:

Origami Tree - Easy to fold tree out of two paper squares

Origami Tree
This is how to fold an Origami tree out of two paper squares. It's real easy to fold and great for making a complete forest. pic.twitter.com/wCrtPw8CHk

— Joost Langeveld (@LangeveldJoost) May 20, 2020

Origami Umbrella - Just a little difficult, but a real nice umbrella to fold


Origami High School Skirt - Fold an Origami skirt with pleats

                                               
Sometimes when I'm designing a real difficult model,
I still feel a complete beginner too.