okra: Gift Cranes

I was enlisted by my mom to make some origami jewelry for my cousins as Christmas gifts. I had a really good time making these and I'm super pleased with how they turned out. I got some new origami paper that I'm loving; the colors and patterns aren't particularly unusual, but still endearing.

{My new origami paper. Also in the package were the cutest folded figures of kimono wearing girls. I'm now obsessively analyzing them. I, too, will make kimono girls!}

{Earrings in progress. }

{A pair of the finished crane earrings.}

{I folded little gift boxes with lids to put the cranes in. Here's the the pale pink set in its box.}

{The other two sets, in their boxes, and then all three of them tied up with twine and labeled with tiny gift tags.}

I don't know my cousins very well. I've considered that perhaps it's silly to be so excited about the earrings, considering there is a good chance the recipients won't be as excited about receiving them as I am about giving them. I hope that my cousins at least sort of like them (since that would be the main objective of a gift). But, even if they do not, that's ok. The little cranes and boxes were fun to make and they were meant to be thoughtful; that's good enough for me! ;)

On a related note, I thought that this article about gift giving from the New Yorker conveys a very interesting point. There is a lot of wasteful spending associated with gift giving. And adding my own two cents, simple homemade gifts are a good replacement for aimless spending.