3d Paper Crafts for the Origami Enthusiast

 

When the good people at Tuttle’s Publishing asked me to review their Mind-Blowing Paper Puzzles Kit a 3d papercraft, I was happy to do it. Tuttle’s Publishing features books and craft kits that focus on Asian cultures. They have a variety of craft books available which range from sewing to Japanese knitting, felting, paper quilling and more. If you love crafting and designing projects that have an Asian flair, you may want to check out Tuttle Publishing’s website.

 

 

 

The kit that I am reviewing features 3d paper puzzles. These easily assembled 3d puzzles are each composed of many identical pieces that fit together to become larger geometric shapes. The 3d paper crafts puzzle craft kit comes in a box with an instruction booklet and printed sheets to make 10 3d paper puzzles.  The sheets are labeled and perforated, so all you have to do is decide which puzzle you want to make, sort out the correct sheets according to the craft label printed on the upper left-hand side, and start punching out the pieces. You may need a Xacto knife if some of the perforations are giving you a bit of trouble to help cut them out.

 

I am a firm believer that if I am going to review a craft book or kit that I should try making at least one of the craft projects offered. I chose to make  3d bears that turn into a dodecahedron cube. As you can see in the photo above I cut out the shapes and am now ready to proceed to the next step.

 

 

 

I then used a ruler and stylus to score and fold the mountain and valley creases. After that, I started gluing the tabs as instructed. One mistake that I made was using a shish kabob skewer instead of a toothpick to apply the glue. The stick was just too large and I had a hard time controlling the glue. So for all of you folks out there, do as I say and not as I do 🙂

 

 

 

 

Each paper bear has a top piece and a bottom piece that is glued together. The two bears then (theoretically) will join together to form a dodecahedron cube. I myself had some difficulty getting a good fit, but I think it was because of my glue application problems. I believe that if I were to make a couple more 3D puzzles my technique would get better and the end results of the paper puzzles would look similar to the ones featured in the instruction booklet.

I gave the my 16 year old niece who has loved origami since the age of ten, the rest of the projects to work on, and she had no problems making the geometric puzzles.

 

 

 

All in all, I am pretty happy with the end results. Here is a photo of my paper bears. They are too cute, and I am displaying them on a shelf in my home.

 

Conclusion

Pros: This project is a good value for the money. I believe that people who enjoy origami would also enjoy making these 3d paper crafts. If you are planning to buy this kit as a present, it would be most appropriate for an older child or adult that has good manual dexterity skills. These paper puzzles take time and effort to make, and the paper crafter should have a fair amount of patience. The folding and gluing process can be a bit complicated.

Cons: Tuttle publishing should have video’s available for each of the paper puzzles available in the kit, not just a select few.