There's always something new to learn on the crafting horizon and the technique called Iris Folding is one of them. I learned it from my mom's friend, who learned it from her friend, and you get how people learn it! Now I'm passing it on to you. However, it is sort of hard to describe and sounds more complicated than it really is, so I recommend checking out (or buying) a book on it. The two books that our library had on the subject proved very useful, with patterns and instructions: Iris Folding by Michelle Powell and Iris Folding Compendium by Maruscha Gaasenbeek and Tine Beauveser.
Instructions on Iris Folding:
You will need: thin sheet colored and patterned papers (scrapbook paper or origami paper), regular scotch tape or double sided sticky tape for scrapbooking, clear acetate sheets, thin line permanent marker, an iris folding book with patterns, blank cards and embellishments.
Iris folding may look like origami, but all it is, is folded strips of thin paper that are taped down in a certain order, starting at the outer edge of a pattern until you reach the middle. The middle looks sort of like an iris, that is, the middle part of an eye. Hence the name. You may be able to find detailed instructions online, but I do recommend using a book. Almost all the cards below use a commercially available pattern, from those two books and at least two other books that belong to my mom's friend. The only one that does not is the first, which is a pattern I made and is a Dala horse.
All of the cards are Christmas themed because that was when we made them. There are many other designs for all sorts of holidays/seasons/events! It is a great craft to learn and relatively inexpensive and has the real WOW factor of looking oh-so-hard but being really easy to make, in actuality. I hope this inspires you to learn the joys of iris folding!
