by Megan Marquart

Created on: July 20, 2009   Last Updated: July 21, 2009

Practice is essential to the improvement of any skill. If you want to fold the perfect crane, for example, fold hundreds, fold thousands, until you are satisfied.

The key to beautiful origami creations is precise folds. Take the time to match the edges and corners of your paper. Washi paper - soft handmade, and beautiful - is a bit forgiving and you can usually fix a poorly made fold. But when using kami paper (the cheapest and most readily available paper) a fold is forever. Don't crease the sheet until you are sure you are sure of the edges are even. The first fold you make is the most important. I line up a corner, slide my finger along the edge to line it up, and then hold it tightly with one hand while gliding my other palm backward, eventually making the crease. Once its in place, slide your fingers across it several times to make it sharp and permanent.

If you need to make small squares out of larger sheets, I suggest tearing the paper instead of cutting it unless you have an industrial paper cutter at your disposal. It's much easier to create perfect squares this way. Nothing ruins an origami project quicker than an uneven square. Make a precise book fold, according to the technique described above, and then dampen it carefully (I simply lick my finer and run it along the edge), reverse the fold, enforce the edge, and damped the opposite side. Flatten the sheet and tear carefully. Repeat the process with the two rectangles you created and you should have four perfect squares.

So go ahead and invoke the memory of Sadako Sasaki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadako_Sasaki), the young Japanese girl who, inspired by legend and dying of Lukemia following the bombing of Hiroshima, tried to fold one thousand cranes in order to obtain a single wish. Start folding today. Use Kami paper while you practice and once you feel confident buy some washi paper and keep going! A wonderful source for paper is Kim's Crane - http://www.kimscrane.com/. Make gorgeous crane garlands by stringing them together, or search the web or library for new patterns and inspirations. Some incredible things have been made from a single piece of paper, like this award winning dragon: http://www.neatorama.com/2006/09/03/extreme-origami/ . Modular origami is another addictive challenge (http://www.origami-resource-center.com/modular.html) . In whatever direction your creativity takes you, it's entirely too easy to fold your day merrily away.

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