How to make a ball out of kusudama? Kusudama: ball and other origami, schemes

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:46

Kusudama is translated from Japanese as "medicine ball". Even in ancient times, the art of kusudama appeared and was used mainly by doctors and healers. A ball made using this technology was filled with a mixture of he althy, natural incense and healing herbs, after which it was hung over the bed of a sick person. In the modern world, these paper crafts are used as an unusual decoration, consisting of a large number of individual modules.

Amazing Art

It's hard to believe, but the magic balls of Kusudama are based on simple square sheets, folded in a special way. In almost all models, the modules are stylized images of real flowers. Separate parts are interconnected using ordinary threads or glue. Kusudama paper balls are quite often decorated with a pretty tassel, attaching it at the bottom of the structure. Bottom linepainstaking work will be a “flower” composition, suitable for decorating a private house, apartment or an exquisite cafe, boutique or handicraft shop. Learning original Japanese art will be interesting for children, parents and experienced craftsmen.

The difference between kusudama and origami

The amazing, harmonious art of folding beautiful flowers from pieces of paper is a wonderful meditative activity. But how to distinguish kusudama magic balls from similar origami products? The difference is very simple: in the first case, glue or threads are used to fasten the parts, and in the second, the modules are simply nested into each other. Also, scissors are not used in origami - every detail, any composition is created from one colored or white sheet of paper. However, one should not think that the kusudama ball will be more difficult than its counterpart from an earlier tradition. The basis of working with paper is patience, accuracy and a sense of color.

Kusudama "Flower Ball"

You can decorate your interior with such a ball if you provide the product with a stand - you can put it on a shelf or table, or you can just hang it from the ceiling. Kusudama is a fairly light product, so it is easy to stick it on tape or pin it with a pin. It will also be a great gift for any woman: on the eighth of March, birthday or mother's day. The preparatory stage for work includes the search and collection of the necessary materials and tools. Paper is best to take thin, designed for origami. Kusudama balls will be greatlook if you use several contrasting colors. It is worth adding a thread of the same shade to the tassel as the product itself.

Materials

Kusudama "Flower ball" requires a little preparation. You need to take the following materials and tools:

• special paper for origami or ordinary children's colored paper "for creativity" or even office paper, but in different shades;
• glue: it is advisable to use a gluing pencil, as the traditional "PVA" impregnates the paper very strongly and warps it;
• sharp scissors that won't "chew" the edge of the sheet;
• decorative cord, ribbon or twisted floss;
• a few beads of different sizes and rhinestones - for decoration, you can use a variety of sequins, miniature butterflies, birds, or leave kusudama without additions;
• you definitely need to be patient - there is not much work, but it is quite painstaking.

Production of the module

Asking how to make a ball out of kusudama, needlewomen are afraid of a large number of details. However, you need to learn how to make only one module. From a large number of identical elements, then it will be possible to create the entire structure. The production of the module takes place in several stages:

1. From the selected colored paper you need to cut sixty identical squares. Each such element should have a side of seven centimeters. It should be noted here that the size of the future ball will depend on the size of the squares.
2. One module consists ofseveral individual petals. Each flower will require five separate parts, they are glued or sewn together. Thus, the needlewoman will get twelve identical elements, from which the kusudama ball will be assembled.

Fold petal

So, to make paper kusudama, a magic ball is assembled from flowers. One petal is created in the following way:

• one square with a side of seven centimeters is turned upside down, laying it in the form of a rhombus;
• bend the bottom corners up to the left and right;
• now the upper ponytails of the rhombus need to be bent to make a "lily";
• unfold the halves, in the middle there should be a rhombus, narrowed down;
• bend the corners of the turns protruding beyond the contour and wrap the lapels in their original place along the line of the inner fold;
• should again get a rhombus with equal sides;
• lubricate the inner small folded part with glue and press firmly against the second side of the rhombus;
• should get a kind of beveled cone with "stamens" of folded corners in the middle. See the photo for an example.

Sixty of these petals need to be prepared, then glue them in the form of flowers. The ball itself is already being made from twelve large parts.

Assembling the Kusudama structure

Take all twelve elements and glue them into a magic flower ball. It will be more convenient to fasten sixmodules, and then connect two large parts together. Before gluing the halves of the ball, a ribbon or decorative cord is inserted inside. To do this, take the prepared braid, fold it in half, so a loop is created on which the structure will hang. At the bottom, beads, tassels, miniature cells with birds, butterflies and much more are attached to the ribbon. The resulting decorated cord is inserted into the middle of the half of the ball, the parts are smeared with glue and fastened together. The middle of the flowers can be additionally decorated with rhinestones, bright sparkles, or "planted" on some modules of tiny insects, such as common ladybugs made of wood. Everything, the flower kusudama (ball) is ready.

Paper module constructor

Some kusudama look unusual, they do not resemble flower balls, but are created to emphasize the beauty of geometry. For the manufacture of such models, special modules will be required, which are called the “constructor part”. All lines of these elements are clear, even, as befits geometric shapes. However, kusudamas from them resemble sea corals, bunches of dugouts and many other representatives of flora and fauna.

To make a construction kit, you will need a sheet of paper, naturally square, like all blanks for kusudam. Follow the description below:

1. Bend the sheet in the middle, creating a vertical rectangle.
2. Unbend the workpiece, then you need to bend each half in the middle. When we straighten the sheet, we get a surface,divided into four equal rectangles.
3. Now the sheet is folded diagonally, after which it is unfolded again.
4. The top and bottom sides of our square need to be bent towards the diagonal. It should look like a rectangle stretched around the corners in different directions, but in fact it is a rhombus.
5. Now we do not expand anything, but bend along the lines that we got in point number two. That is, you need to bend the left and right sides to the middle of the module. You will get a beveled rhombus with two protruding corners beyond the edge line.
6. In the middle there will be a small corner that will act on the soulmate. It needs to be refueled inside.
7. Bend both sides along the center line, which turned out in the first step.
8. The protruding part of the module must be folded in such a direction that the edges of the lower and upper layers must coincide.
9. A protruding corner will appear again, we traditionally bend it.
10. Turn the product over to the other side and bend it exactly as indicated in paragraphs eight and nine.

Corners and pockets

Each resulting constructor module will have two edge types. One of them resembles a small pocket, and the second has only a corner. There are two ways to connect these constructor modules. The first involves assembly towards the common center of the future structure. And the second method is designed to connect parts in a circle. From such modules, you can create kusudama from six, twelve, thirty orsixty elements. The main rule: the number of parts must always be a multiple of six. This is required by the rules of geometry and ancient Japanese art.

Amazing crafts in the interior

We already figured out how to assemble a kusudama ball, but how to use it so that it does not look like a cheap craft of a kindergarten kid? This is where advice from professional designers comes in handy. First, you need to choose paper responsibly. To make it easier to bend, you need a sufficiently strong material. Also, the paper should be thin and as bright as possible. This does not mean that white or delicate colors and shades will not work. The dull, gray color of the products will give the impression that the whole structure is either very old and dusty, or made of low-quality, cheap paper.

Some craftsmen prefer to cover kusudama with varnish so that it attracts less home dirt and shines in the sun. If you want to try this method, you will need a professional coating agent. In needlework stores, you can often find decoupage varnish in a spray can. It is easy to apply and does not warp paper products. For maximum strength of the composition, if it was made from a denser material, you can use proven PVA glue. It is applied in a thin layer over the entire surface and after drying, the kusudama becomes slightly rubberized. The glue must be fresh and sufficiently liquid, and the construction must be made of thick paper, otherwise such a “reinforcement” can warp the entire ball and spoil the color.