Dodecahedron

As a supplement to their math textbook, my high school students are working from Thomas Hull's Project Origami. We are using his PHiZZ units to produce geometric objects. To show them how the units lock together, I made this dodecahedron out of wrapping paper scraps I had at home. I am thrilled with how it came out! The colors kept reminding me of something from childhood, and I finally remembered that these are the colors of the wallpaper of my room when I was little.

This is a beautiful object to hold and turn. I can't help it; I am going to build the buckyball structure next. The students are planning to build something even bigger.

Houseplants

Today was one of those rare days when I had a totally free schedule. No obligations, nowhere I had to be, just a free day. And it was beautiful outside!

I am slowly rebuilding a houseplant collection since our move. It just doesn't feel like home without plants all around.

I started today with three new violets. I love African violets! The flowers are gorgeous. My new plants are next to a dodecahedron made from Ekaterina Lukasheva's model, "Hypnose." Two of my favorite things: modular origami and African violets!

I spent the rest of the afternoon washing pots, shoveling potting soil, and repotting plants.

The weather is changing, and we'll soon have the windows shut tightly against the cold. I hope to have a head start on the indoor forest by then. Real plants in a home are living, growing things, and can bring joy and happiness to our lives. Taking care of them is a fun hobby, too, and we are rewarded many times over for the small effort they require. I think houseplants are vastly under appreciated.

90 units, or How Not to Make an Origami Model

I should subtitle this: Do not attempt to do this the way that I did it.

At least, please heed the advice of those who say not to attempt to assemble a 90 unit dodecahedron in two 45 unit parts. This was a real learning experience for me.

Good thing the battle scars are not too visible in this picture. It's not pretty! There are damaged units and glue spots.

I learned:

-listen to all of the modular origami experts, and assemble this in one piece, not two halves. It is really, really hard to get the two halves together. It ended with my building a construction stand out of a giant spool, a wooden block, a Styrofoam ball, poster putty, and a dowel. You know it's gotten out of hand when the cashier at the craft store says, "This is the oddest combination of items I've ever seen!" Yes, it is.

-don't use gift wrap for something this massive. It will begin to collapse. I had to use the aforementioned Styrofoam ball as an internal structural support.

- I am probably the hardest-headed person on the planet for not throwing the entire thing in the trash as I fought with this for months.

So... I post this as a warning. If you make a 90 unit model, don't be tempted to make two 45 unit halves, thinking that you can easily fit them together. It will be a nightmare. Use heavy paper. And remember that origami is usually relaxing. If you are ready to throw your model out the window, something has gone horribly wrong! I think my next project will be a nice, 6 unit cube!

And now, I can get back to painting!

Dodecahedron, continued!

Still waiting on the wildflower to start my journal.  It should be soon! I hope...

In the meantime, the modular origami using Sonobe units continues. Remember when I mentioned the 90 unit dodecahedron? It is taking months to finish. I put it aside to work on the journals, and am only now picking it back up. Here is what it looks like right now.

This is the bottom section, assembled. Imagine another *big* section like it, inverted over the top. That's kind of how it will look when it is finished. Once I get to this point in the assembly, it is exciting to see how it's coming together. I think the half-finished model is pretty in its own way, too.

You can see a bone folder on the side, on top of the pile of gift wrap squares, and some individual Sonobe units piled up. The bone folder takes some time to get used to, but it really will help you get the creases sharp. The finished model will be prettier.

Anyhow, I don't think I've shown how Sonobe units can form a cube, too. Here's a picture of how six of them can fit together to form a cube.

This cube only lasted long enough to take a picture... those six units are needed for the 90-unit dodecahedron!

I also made a rhombidodecahedron using Thomas Hull's bouncy units. He has instructions on his YouTube channel that show how to make this. It required 24 bouncy units.

Notice the shape of the interior holes. This model came out squishy and bouncy, just as he said. We were surprised at how much fun it is to hold. Again, I made this from gift wrap. It might be a little sturdier made from different paper, but I enjoyed how he designed the bounce into the units, and it worked well enough with gift wrap.


Enough origami for now... Happy Fourth of July!

Clear Modular Origami

One last origami post, for now! I would only suggest attempting this if you are curious, or stubborn, or both. 


This is another Toshie's jewel folded from three Sonobe units. It is made from clear giftwrap, the kind you would use to wrap baskets.



 

 

I found that to make this model, it's easiest to use a bone folder to get sharp creases. Also, use a grid underneath, so you can see through the wrap and fold along the lines.



Sonobe Unit Models

I can't remember when it was that I bumped into modular origami. I do know that when I found it, I was fascinated. It is the perfect blend of art and geometry. Sonobe units were the first units I discovered while doing an internet search. From a flat square of paper, you can fold many different geometric solids.

This photo shows a basic sonobe unit- the small, winged square in the front center. To the left is a triangle made from three of these units, called a Toshie's Jewel. Above that is an octahedron made from 12 units, and on the right, an icosahedron made from 30 units. The octahedron is a variation of the basic sonobe unit by Meenakshi Mukerji, from her book Marvelous Modular Origami. You can see that all of the peaks are white. This is accomplished by a variation in folding the basic sonobe unit, described in her book, which is wonderful, by the way.

The Sonobe unit above was folded from a 4" square of giftwrap. I love using the kind with squares printed on the reverse. I can get beautiful colors, and the measuring is easy! I have learned that with many types of giftwrap, if the paper is slick, the first few units will need a touch of glue. I use a basic white school glue, and put a very small drop, before locking the units together. Later, as I complete the model, I may or may not need to keep using the glue. It all depends on the model and the kind of paper. And if others will be handling the models, sometimes it is just good insurance to use a bit of glue.

To show how the units go together, here is the beginning of a 90 unit dodecahedron that I have started. 90 units seems like a tremendous amount of folding, but these units fold very quickly, and I usually fold them while watching tv with my family. I can get quite a few folded during a football or baseball game. :)

The ability to make beautiful geometric solids out of humble squares of gift wrap and other papers has not lost its wonder for me, even though I have been playing around with this for a few years now. It seems to me that origami, and modular origami in particular, uses both sides of the brain. It has elements of math, in its geometric form, and art, in the infinite possibilities of color and patterning of the models.  And it is just pure fun, and makes a great decoration for a writing desk.