Review: Star Wars Origami

I'm scared of origami.

I've looked longingly at the beautiful sheets of origami paper in Little Tokyo and at craft stores and wondered what I could create with them - but I know myself. I know I am not patient and that making tons of tiny folds would probably be more like torture than fun. At least, that's what I told myself. When Star Wars Origami came along though, I couldn't resist. Maybe I could build Yoda or R2-D2 or a bantha!

It's funny. I knew origami wasn't easy, yet I expected to sit down with the book and be able to absorb the information in no time. Hardly any craft works that way, I know, but that's the frame of mind I was in when I first flipped through the pages. I scanned over the projects, drooled over all the awesome Star Wars themed paper in the back, and read the beginning sections that covered origami symbols, basic folds, and bases. The way the folds are drawn gave me flashbacks to high school geometry so I put the book down for a minute. This was going to take some effort.

I took a deep breath and flipped to the back of the book where a page lists the projects in order from easiest to hardest. There was no question that I had to start at the Youngling level. I chose to build the Death Star. I'm not going to lie. I sucked. I puzzled over what the arrows and bases and folds meant. I folded this way, realized it was wrong, and folded it back. It didn't go well, but as it was my first time folding origami anything, I wasn't surprised (but I still felt dumb).

I kept at it, and it hasn't got easier yet. I get frustrated easily, but that's because I'm new to the craft and I think I'd learn better if I could watch someone else do it first. Though I've taught myself how to do a few crafts from books, origami clearly isn't going to be one of them. That said, it's no fault of the book.

Chris Alexander laid out a fantastic book with 36 projects that have clear instructions. Anyone who already speaks the origami language will surely find the steps of each project easy to follow. I like that they cover characters across the trilogy from Yoda to Taun We and that there are plenty of projects for ships. The paper that is provided is perfect for the projects and easy to fold. It creases nicely (good for when you make correct folds, which I haven't done a lot of yet), and you get two sheets per project so you can share with friends.

Star Wars Origami is great for anyone who has basic knowledge of the craft already or anyone who doesn't know anything but is good at learning from books rather than hands-on demonstrations. I plan to pull my copy of the book out at an upcoming craft day to see if any of my friends can help me out!

You can order a copy of Star Wars Origami on Amazon.

This book was sent to me for review by Workman Publishing.