Practical Origami for the Creative Correspondent

March 29, 2004 11:09 AM

Creative Envelope and Letter Folding
"...hand folding letters and envelopes is one of those rare intersections of decoration and practicality, where paper folding produces the satisfaction of making something useful and novel...."
posted by anastasiav (11 comments total)

thats really neat. a sort of practical origami. pair it up with this site and *ta da* instant hobby. i also love those wax seals that you use to keep envelopes closed. i imagine that would come in really handy here since i'm not sure how well some of these folding techniques would hold up against the postal system. as great as it is to get a letter like this, i'd hate to send one out only to have it unravel by the time it go to its destination.
posted by erisfree at 11:48 AM on March 29, 2004

Cute! And much more practical than an octopus made with dozens of leaves of expensive origami paper!
posted by Utilitaritron at 11:50 AM on March 29, 2004

I wish the folding diagrams were a little more clear.
posted by jennyb at 12:33 PM on March 29, 2004

I used to make envelopes out of National Geographic and other mags with nice visuals. Awesome for personal correspondance.
posted by o2b at 12:34 PM on March 29, 2004

Maybe I'm just stupid but those diagrams are impossible for me to follow.
posted by bz at 12:39 PM on March 29, 2004

Did you look at the "Origami Symbols" frame?
posted by Utilitaritron at 3:11 PM on March 29, 2004

A big part of the problem for me is that they seem to start in different places and follow different patterns for following the pictures. Some are circular, some zig back and forth down the page.

I found them completely baffling to just stare at, but getting out a piece of paper and actually following them was much easier.
posted by jacquilynne at 3:52 PM on March 29, 2004

I am experienced at Origami, but had the same experience initially following the diagrams without trying them. Once I pulled out my stack of misprinted scratch 8.5x11, it was all good. This was a GREAT find. Thanks, anastasiav.
posted by hurkle at 7:51 AM on March 30, 2004

Some of these, particularly the valentine envelope, would be subject to the $.12 surcharge for non-machinable mail. Just saying.
posted by faceonmars at 10:02 AM on March 30, 2004

Very nifty! Thanks, anastasiav.
posted by lobakgo at 6:09 PM on March 30, 2004

My friends and I used to use something very similar to the K letterfold when we passed notes in school. : )
posted by SisterHavana at 9:57 PM on March 30, 2004