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How To Fold A Japanese Paper Ball (Kusudama)

video How To Fold A Japanese Paper Ball (Kusudama)

Learn how to fold a beautiful Japanese paper ball (Kusudama). Paper balls make excellent decorations or Christmas tree ornaments.

40 comments

Mar 2, 2010. 4:22 AMsergio leo says:

co0ol cool cool LOL :0

Jan 20, 2010. 11:31 AMjnicovic says:

This can also be done out of paper shreds

Dec 15, 2009. 6:10 PMali208 says:

Im having issues with the end of it. I have tucked... and folded in every possible way and it doesn't look anything like the end of the video. I did find a way to end up with four yellow visble sections and 4 white alternating... but they don't look like a petal as it does in the video. can anyone explain in detail whats going on in the end of the video.... I really wanna make one of these.

Dec 13, 2009. 10:13 AMJupitane says:

How would i fire retard this?

Dec 7, 2009. 2:39 PMoriginalwynne says:

i made one as a mid term project, very relaxing =) but for some reason mine took around 46, dunno why.. anyhoo i gave it to my nan for her bithday and she hung it up with thin string, so if the light shines on it, it looks like its just floating =)

Nov 27, 2009. 2:27 PMMike McGill says:

I like the look of this, and would like to try it, but am I the only one who does not get the final third of the video? It just gets to the unfold bit and then cuts out.

Nov 28, 2009. 12:58 AMJennifer F. (author) says:

Hi, if you are having trouble viewing the video, you can find my video elsewhere on the internet too, perhaps
this link will work for you.

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/374320/how_to_fold_a_japanese_paper_ball_kusudama/

Nov 10, 2009. 11:10 PMmurex00 says:

hhaha i made one... hahah.. i get my nerve freak out. hahhaha but i made it hahahahahaha

Aug 27, 2009. 12:30 PMHimeNoHana says:

These can be extremely beautiful and longer lasting if you make them out of fabric. Just starch the fabric first before folding

Aug 17, 2009. 5:43 AMtaffy1031 says:

you keep covering the pictures i can't see anything that your doing'

Aug 9, 2009. 6:41 AMR3dJ0k3r says:

jeez man no offense but no one will be able to do this cause the last step in folding can not be seen

May 18, 2009. 3:17 PMdobbylvr says:

i know that you've gotten a lot of comments about this, but it really is a problem... your hands just make it too hard to figure out what you are doing in the last two steps, I got the whole way without any problems, until you unfolded it. great ible though

Mar 31, 2009. 3:56 PMtaralynnjane says:

I was right with you until the last part when you fold in and tuck...your fingers are in the way and I just cannot figure out what you did

Dec 29, 2008. 12:53 PMoriginalwynne says:

im gonna start now! il post a pic when im done (might be a while lol =P)

Dec 23, 2008. 10:39 PMdiyus says:

Thank you for the instructions, I am going to start folding, hope that I can make it

Dec 4, 2008. 8:47 AM15zhangfra says:

this is nice, though i dont like glue, its something thtas wierd about me.

Dec 20, 2008. 2:36 AMShadowfury says:

I hate glue as well. I find it a pain to wait for it to dry, and it's too messy. I just use hot glue instead, it takes less than a minute to harden and it's much cleaner than ordinary glue.

Dec 4, 2008. 11:26 PMJennifer F. (author) says:

Traditionally these are sewn together at the point of each piece, which I found a total pain! So I used glue :D Sewing makes the whole ball "looser", as the pieces are free to move around a bit.

Dec 18, 2008. 10:43 PMsbrown says:

This is awesome, however I don't think I could find the time to fold 36 of these lol.

Dec 11, 2008. 9:27 AMSubvertia says:

I've been making Kusudama to give as ornaments using a different fold for the flowers. I absolutely love this fold, you can really use it alone as well! Great Job :)

Dec 12, 2008. 12:31 AMJennifer F. (author) says:

I've seen lots of different kinds of Kusudama patterns :) I think this is one of the more "standard" ones.

Dec 4, 2008. 7:44 PMyeah568 says:

This looks really cool. I want to try it, but seems to take a long time to make one. Cool none the less though!

Dec 2, 2008. 6:16 PMpls says:

Awesome! One of the best instructional videos I'v ever seen!

Dec 2, 2008. 10:49 PMJennifer F. (author) says:

Thanks! This one was quite popular over on Metacafe. I think it's just such a nice looking craft, so that helps.

Dec 3, 2008. 12:09 AMpls says:

Agreed :)

Nov 26, 2008. 4:39 PMpaulpcc says:

cool, many thanks :)

Nov 22, 2008. 9:15 PMthythy says:

I DONT GET IT!!! i dont get d last fold thinggy...hand in da way much....

Nov 9, 2008. 5:33 AMvianka99 says:

wow! so pretty! maybe ill try it

Oct 1, 2008. 10:14 AMTTSDA says:

bookmarked!

Sep 25, 2008. 4:07 PMstimps says:

This is great! I've done a few origami things that needed a lot of small pieces, and I just did a few at a time a day. Works the fingers out, and the brain, too. Thanks for sharing it! And I'm sorry, anyone calling origami and other thoughtful activities "time wasters" has a problem with their attention span.

Sep 25, 2008. 11:34 PMJennifer F. (author) says:

Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it. It's true, projects like this don't have to be completed all at once.

Jul 17, 2008. 9:17 AMSmalfrii says:

wow

Jun 11, 2008. 5:12 AMsnowmoonelk says:

beautiful, fiddly, and your fingers are IN THE WAY! (sorry)

Jun 9, 2008. 2:23 AMichigo100% says:

you really need to move your fingers as they are in the way

May 9, 2008. 9:20 PMJakub says:

MOVE YOUR FINGERS

Apr 24, 2008. 5:52 PMunbentcrayfish says:

nice dude/chick?... this will get me that girl... lol thanks you're a life saver!!

Mar 21, 2008. 8:09 PMrsk says:

Thanks for posting the video. I hate reading directions but picked it right up after watching your video. THANKS!! ;)

Feb 26, 2008. 1:19 AM

westfw says:

Pretty nice, but... Origami has developed wonderful standardized symbols and terms for explaining how to fold the different figures, and in general they work pretty well. Video seems to me to be an inefficient way of presenting such instructions. Now, what would be pretty neat is a video that went through the basic symbols and had a video example of each fold, perhaps including an example from the middle of one of the more complex models where the fold is used, as well as a simple example. I know I've gotten to points in models where the instructions say "reverse squash fold the point at A", and I'm like "huh?" Have you got anything like that in your metacafe collection?

Feb 26, 2008. 4:24 AMJennifer F. (author) says:

Hi, no I haven't got a video like that, but I think it might be a good idea to make one! Origami instructions are generally pretty easy to follow, but I think video is just a way of introducing the origami to a wider audience.