19 November, 2014

Video Tutorial: Origami collapsing box

2015-02-24T23:42:23-06:00Tutorials, Videos|2 Comments

In honor of Uncle Lester. This origami box was in a book that Lester gave my dad. My sister and I loved the book when we were kids and had to be very respectful and careful with it. This is the first origami project that I memorized. The thing I love about this box is that it starts with a rectangle and not a square. Which means you can make it with a piece of typing paper (or bright pink construction paper). Which is a very cool thing when you don’t have much allowance money to spend on fancy origami paper. (Leo makes a brief appearance and comment).

19 November, 2014

Halloween Behind the Scenes & The Paper Wizard

2014-11-19T21:53:55-06:00Everything Else|2 Comments

I love to do a little behind-the-scenes post about the annual Halloween photo to tell you a little about it and this year there is a neat story.  First some fun facts you might not know when you look at the photo.

  • There is only one half of the box.  We made 1 and took two photos of Andy to assemble the scene.  Much easier than actually sawing him in half.
  • There are no star decorations in the background.  We added them later because it needed a little more bling.  Andy also gave our glitter a little more oomph.
  • The saw is our Christmas tree saw that has now been painted gold and had jewels added.  We will be very styling for Christmas.

The neatest part of this photo is the tuxedo.

photo (20)I originally had a whole other plan for the Halloween theme, but then I got this tuxedo in the mail.  It belonged to my Uncle Lester (actually my great-great-uncle).  Lester Grimes, “The Paper Wizard”, was a magician in the 1920s and 30s.  He was known for tricks that involved paper and origami and performed one of the opening acts at the 1932 World’s Fair.  He was a friend and colleague of Harry Houdini and actually acquired Houdini’s collection of books about “spiritualism” after Houdini’s death.

Screen Shot 2014-11-19 at 3.09.44 PM

The tuxedo is one that he wore in one of his acts and family history says that it was made for him by the costumers at Radio City Music Hall.  I raise my coffee in a toast to those costumers because it is beautifully made and it amazing condition.  My dad found this in a box of old family treasures and decided that since I am the family expert in all things fabric that the tuxedo should come to me.  The minute I pulled it out of the box, I knew it would fit and I knew it had to be the Halloween theme.  The rest wrote itself.

 

 

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