Kaleidoscope of Kabuto

After countless folds and creases, I finally finished this custom order.  Despite being tedious (I never want to see foil paper again!), this was a really fun project and I am absolutely thrilled with how it came out.  The challenge was to make fifty unique origami kabuto and hakama.  The outfits are made from various chiyogami papers (a great excuse to use some of the smaller sheets I had lying around) with matching foil helmets for a card-maker.  After the outfits were finished and assembled, I had to attach the little helmets to each.  After they were finished, they had to lie inside of a book overnight to make sure the creases stayed crisp and the model remained flat.  When all fifty were done, I spread them over my kitchen table to admire my work.  They looked like a crazy kaleidoscope of color and pattern glimmering in the afternoon sun!  I was almost a little sad to ship them off.  They would have made beautiful bookmarks or magnets to decorate my own fridge!  I was considering making some more and selling them in sets of five for those interested in using them for similar projects.

The kabuto are very easy to fold if you would like to give it a try.  Here is the easy version I used because I was using small paper, and here is a slightly more complicated version that looks gorgeous with double-sided paper.  If doing the project with kids, you can make big ones with newspaper to wear!

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Happy Girl's Day! Hina Matsuri 2010

Happy Girl's Day Everyone!  March 3rd is the date of "Girl's Day" in Japan (also known as "Hina Matsuri" or Doll Festival  and "Momo no Sekku" or Peach Blossom Festival).  I thought it was especially appropriate to celebrate the holiday here considering the fact that making dolls compromises a large part of my business!  (Edit: One of my dolls, Ichigo, was featured in the Etsy Storque today in an issue about Hina Matsuri!)

On this day families with young daughters celebrate this event at home to ensure their daughter's future happiness. That is, they decorate hina-Ningyo (special, beautiful dolls which are replicas of an ancient emperor and empress and their subordinates).

The dolls are not the everyday dolls usually played with but are ceremonial dolls, a heritage of the household, handed down, many of them, from generation to generation. They are displayed for a few days in the best room of the house at this festival time, after which they are carefully boxed and put away until the next year. Parents who are able to do so buy new sets of dolls for a girl baby born since the preceding festival, and relatives and friends make gifts of dolls.

Peach blossoms, symbolizing a happy marriage, are indispensable decorations of this festival day. The blossoms signify the feminine traits - of gentility, composure and tranquility.

A set of Hina-dolls usually consists of at least 15 dolls, all in the ancient costumes. The display also includes miniature household articles which often are exquisite artistic productions. The dolls most highly valued are the Dairi-sama, which represent the Emperor and Empress in resplendent court costumes of silk. They are attended by their two ministers, three kanjo (court ladies), and five court musicians. All are displayed on a tier of steps, usually five, from 3 to 6 ft. long and covered with bright red cloth. This stand is specially set up in the home only on this day.

The Imperial couple occupy the top step, the Emperor at the left of the Empress. Court ladies and banquet trays and dishes occupy the second tier; the other dolls are arranged on the lower tiers. (Quoted from Ginkoya.com)

I celebrated my first Hina Matsuri while living in Japan in 2005-06.  The dorm parents at my friend's dormitory (@metal_wings) had a beautiful display of dolls they had collected.  I spent a lot of time photographing each one so I could remember them all!  We all got together on Girl's Day to celebrate and it is a memory that I will never forget.

So, whether you are in Japan or any other part of the world, Happy Girl's Day!  Have a cup of shirozake and celebrate!

10% off EVERYTHING in my Zibbet Store for today only!