Origami Interlude: Crystallized Masu Boxes

A few days ago I briefly broke from the beading routine to try out my brand new Crystal Katana with a handful of Swarovski flatback crystals. Of all the different surfaces that I could bling out with crystals, I decided to first try it out on a trio of Masu origami boxes.

Working with Flatback Crystals

This was my first time working with the small, no-hole, sequin-shaped flatback crystals. But I was happy to find that the crystal katana is really easy to use. First you apply a dot of glue onto each point where you want to add a crystal (I used the precision glue bottle). Then you pick up the top of the crystal with the wax end of the katana, gently set it into the glue, and the crystal will transfer from the katana to the spot of glue. When you're done adding them, you can use the other end of the katana to set the crystals in place.

Crystallized Masu Boxes

I experimented with a few methods of adding crystals to the washi covers of my masu boxes. Since the yuzen washi used in these boxes already comes in so many gorgeous, detailed patterns, only a few crystals are needed to add just a little bit of extra bling. On this box, I added the crystals to the centers of the flowers:

The print on this box has an interesting floral-and-fan combination, so I added a few crystals to accentuate the fan-like shapes:

Finally, on this box I added the crystals into the negative spaces between the flowers. I think I like this one the best.

Many Possibilities

For this first attempt, I only crystallized three boxes, but there are as many possible crystal-and-origami combinations as there are prints of washi! I'll definitely be investigating this idea more in the future.

Thanks to Kellie the Crystal Ninja for inventing such a neat tool!

Check out some of my previous interludes into paper origami here.