The Origami Forum

I remember that at OUSA, there is a vendor who sold origami necklaces, broches, etc. I asked him how he did it, but I cannot remember now. Do you guys know what he used/may have used to coat them?

That is interesting. Did he make the jewelry entirely out of paper or just use origami pieces in otherwise normal jewelry?

I don't know how that particular person did it, but I've made origami jewelry before and dipped it in polycrylic. It's nice to work with because it's water-based and doesn't yellow. Someone might have better advice, though.

They were origami models, out of tissue foil, with pins or hooks atatched to them to make them into wearable jewlery. I think it may have been polyacrylic.

They were origami models, out of tissue foil, with pins or hooks atatched to them to make them into wearable jewlery. I think it may have been polyacrylic.

i made a few cranes for my sisters game she made one time. She dipped them in a special glue called mod podge and they became very hard and shiny

I remember seeing silver origami jewelry at one convention-I believe it was folded from sheets of silver foil.

I've seen silver jewelry online, too. I wonder if that is easy to make. If the foil is too thin I imagine it would be easy to crush and become distorted. But if the foil is thick enough to be durable, it must be difficult to fold...

Silver particles can be mixed with a special binder to make silver clay. It's available in sheets, although I'd imagine you have to fold really carefully not to break it. To finish the piece you fire it in a kiln to burn off the binder and leave the fused metal particles. Search for "silver clay origami" and/or PMC (precious metal clay) for more info.

What you are describing is created and sold by Mark Kennedy, though sometimes I wonder if because of his generosity he gives away more than he vends. He starts with foil or tissue foil, and does use some sort of varnish, though I can't say specifically what. His models are dipped in the stuff, which is vile, probably toxic, and probably shortening his life. mark is a good friend, and I have contact information for him if you want to get in touch. Just send me a PM.

Although not jewellery I've been using Matt Acrylic Varnish made by Liquitex to try and make things more durable but it can be tricky to apply on some folds without it looking like the paper got a little wet, you have to be careful to only lightly coat it. I'm sure it'd be fine on patterned paper but on the white side of two colour paper I've had some troubles. If you get it right though it is a nice finish.