Art Fun Cheap

I often use inexpensive square note paper as origami paper. It comes in many colors, and even the white paper can be easily decorated in a thousand different ways.

The common 3 1/2 by 3 1/2-inch memo cube paper is exactly the right size for folding small cranes, for example, to fit on artist trading cards (ATCs), which are 2 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches. Any fairly simple origami piece that uses square paper will work.

I often simply make irregular diagonal stripes with colored gel pens on the white note paper. Sometimes I add a clear or colored glaze or glitter glue, either alone or on top of stripes. Fine plaid or check patterns made with metallic gel pens look great on black note paper. (You can also use the paper in collages.)

Memo cube paper tends to be crisp and easy to fold. I did find a cheap block of many colors of paper that was a bit soft and required careful folding to keep it from tearing. The colors were beautiful, so it was worth a little extra care. Reinforcing it with paper glaze helped.

Be sure to check that the “cube” is actually square. I have one that is 3 1/2 x 3 1/4, not quite actually square, and did not work well for origami.

Dollar stores (and 99-cent stores) often sell memo cubes in pastel colors for one dollar or less. I have occasionally found black memo cubes at drugstores.

CVS Pharmacies and some other stores sell a 500-sheet memo cube (loose sheets, not a tablet) in assorted layers of glorious tropical colors for about $4.00. The paper is cut precisely square and folds crisply. It looks great plain or with glitter.

If you reinforce the paper with acrylic medium or dip the finished origami pieces in acrylic varnish, you can make all sorts of sturdy holiday ornaments. You can also decorate finished origami pieces with glitter glue or dimensional paint after folding.