"Quick & Easy" Origami Christmas

Rating:
Summary: Nice; but not for young children
Review: I had a tough time deciding on a rating for "Quick & Easy Origami Chrismas". My final rating is: 5 stars for teens or adults with previous origami experience; & 2 stars for Elementary school children.

Positive Aspects: A nice supply of origami paper in red, yellow, light green, dark green, brown, and blue. A sturdy instruction booklet with cardboard pages & spiral binding that includes over 20 shapes. Several really nice Christmas origami shapes, such as santa, reindeer, stocking, holly leaves with berries, and a snow flake. Several nice non-Christmas origami shapes are included for variety, such as a pony, and a heart,

Negative Aspects: Instructions presume previous experience with origami. Shapes are not suitable for young children -- all were too complicated for my 8 year old daughter. Some of the instructions are difficult to follow. Mind you, the final shape is worth the effort but, still, it took me two tries to correctly make some of the shapes.

p.s., the holly leaves look much better if you cut the paper into quarters & work with the smaller squares.

Rating:
Summary: Fun and festive folding
Review: I had originally bought "Origami Christmas" to give as a Christmas present to my nieces and nephews, thinking it would be a fun activity for them, while sharing a little something about Japan. It quickly became apparent that I would need a copy for my own house, as the origami Santa, Sleigh and Reindeer where just too much fun to pass up!

"Quick and Easy" is what it says on the front cover, and I believe it. This set contains 23 origami designs with a holiday theme, as well as a decent load of origami paper to play with. The instruction book is a small, spiral bound volume that is sturdy and easy to spread out while making the creations. The instructions are visual and well laid-out, and there is enough origami paper included for a learning curve's worth of failures. Everything you need is here to spread some origami Christmas cheer.

While some of the design's festive themes are stretching it a bit, (I'm not sure a Heart and a Pinwheel can really be called "Christmas") the are more than enough outstanding designs to please. The aforementioned Santa set with Sleigh and Reindeer is really cool, as are the Christmas Tree, Candy Cane, Holly, Angel and Stocking. I wish the Snowman was a little better, but you can't have everything.

I am still giving a copy of this to my nieces and nephews, as I am not that much of a Scrooge! This would make a great gift for kids and their parents to do together. I could also see someone giving away some of the more complicated creations as presents as well. A fun and interesting set!