Chinese New Year, Year of the Rat

This week’s national day is not really a national day but a holiday. This week we are focusing on Chinese New Year which we usually do each year.

We are sharing with you a cute rat, since it is the year of the rat, craft. The craft we have chosen is super simple and quick and very cute looking. We are making origami rat corner bookmarks.

To make these bookmarks, you will need coloured paper (we are using regular paper along with construction paper in red, grey, and light pink), a glue stick, a black marker, scissors, and a pencil.

First of all, cut your coloured paper or construction paper into a square. We are using 8.5x11 inch paper. We are making two versions so one has a grey body and the other a red one to celebrate the New Year. One of the squares is 15cmx15cm so that would fit your average book and we also are making a slightly bigger one at 20cmx20cm as well.

Now fold the paper to make a triangle.

Fold the bottom right corner up to the top and then fold the bottom left corner up to the top to create a diamond.

Now unfold it. 

Take the top corner and bring it down to the bottom. 

Take the bottom right corner and fold along the previous fold line and then tuck into the pocket. Do the same to the other side.

You should have a rat body now.

Attach some ears and a tail and then draw on some whiskers, eyes, and a nose and you’re all done.

Use on the corners of your books to keep your place or make them for your friends and family.

 *Take a look at where we got our inspiration from...
https://www.redtedart.com/easy-mouse-corner-bookmark/

Origami Hearts

With less than a month before Valentine’s Day, we are going to start our Valentine themed posts. We’ve got some cute crafts and some yummy recipes to try out for you so we hope you enjoy them!

This week we are going to try something a little different. We are going to make heart shaped origami creations that you can hand out to your friends, family, and sweetie or you can just use them as little decorations.

Nicole is the origami pro so she is going to do all of the folding.

You will need a square piece of origami paper or thinner paper. Cardstock is a bit too thick so you probably don't want to use it for this type of project. We’ve picked a piece of origami paper that you can buy in a pack from the craft store; it is a 5 7/8 inch square but it doesn’t matter what size you use as long as it’s square. Use a smaller piece if you want to make a smaller heart or larger to make a larger one.

1. Take your piece of origami paper and fold in half and unfold, so you have a centre line.

2. Fold the top two corners down to the centre line. Flip over.
     Your paper now looks like a triangle on top of a rectangle.

3. Fold the bottom of the paper, up to meet the bottom of the triangle portion. Flip over.

4. Fold both sides in to the centre line. Unfold.

5. This part is a bit tricky to explain. Fold the two sides in again, however, the triangle portion on the top needs to be folded 'inside-out'. Do this by opening the top corner and folding in the bottom portion first, then folding the top in. Some of the folds on the top will be opposite from the original fold, but on the same line.

6. Flip over. Fold the top point down to meet the bottom edge. Flip over again.

7. Open the flaps at the top, and flatten the sides in.

8. Fold the inner corners down to make to points at the top. Fold the points down a bit to create flat tops.

9. Flip over.

10. Lift up the bottom of the heart to find a little pocket.

Now you have a cute origami heart! You can leave it as it, or write a little message and put it inside the little pocket  to give to someone special, or you can even use it as a little Valentine card and write a “to and from” note on the front.