Klutz Fashion Origami Review and Giveaway

The Pea got started with origami when she was in first grade. Her amazing first-grade teacher realized all the educational benefits of origami -- it helps students with mathematical reasoning, spacial reasoning, following sequences, fractions, geometry, as well as enhancing fine motor skills, patience and attention to detail -- so not a week went by that The Pea went home with some origami creation or another. She's got quite an origami repertoire now, but even though she has a couple of origami books she hasn't really gotten back into it -- until we were invited to review Klutz's new craft book, Fashion Origami. Now she has a book that shows her how to fold dresses, purses, shoes and more, she's on fire!


The Basics
Klutz's Fashion Origami book lets girls create beautiful fashion items using the Japanese art of paper folding, origami. The book contains step-by-step instructions, beautifully printed origami paper, sequins, ribbon and glue.

Here's how Klutz describes Fashion Origami:
Turn single sheets of paper into sassy fashions that are anything but flat. Super-clear, step-by-step instructions show how to fold ten unique pieces, from party dresses to pajamas. The results are cute, cool, and uniquely dimensional. Custom-designed origami paper in an array of bold and bright patterns gives each project an up-to-date look — a fabulous fusion of fresh style and timeless craft. The included sequins, ribbon, and glue make it easy to add your own flair.

The Bongga
What a great concept for a Klutz book! I've seen origami books that provide instructions for animals (and Klutz already has a great Origami book), but this book really goes right to the heart of many girls' interests -- fashion. The projects in Fashion Origami are adorable, which means every girl is going to want to create one, and they're far more likely to keep using it.

The book takes things one step further by providing sequins, ribbon and glue, which The Pea loves since she can really bling her creations out. The results are nothing short of amazing:

I really think The Pea has me beat on this one; I really couldn't do any better. She's enjoys folding and decorating dresses and purses much more than she ever enjoyed folding rabbits and stars and cranes, and it makes me feel good that all the while she's folding, she's also learning, learning, learning. And she can keep using Origami Fashions even after the origami paper is gone. We can always buy more paper, but this book is irreplacable!


The Blah
The Pea had quite a difficult time with folding those shoes, and she said she would have liked it if each project had included a difficulty rating (i.e. 5 stars for expert folders, 1 star for beginners, etc..). To be fair, the origami shoe project did say that it was a difficult project, but I agree with The Pea: a star rating would be an easy, visual way for kids to know which projects they are comfortable attempting.


The Bottom Line
Klutz Fashions Origami combines girls' love of fashion with the exquisite art of origami. It's a wonderful way to occupy their time and develop crucial math, fine motor, behavioral skills. Parents will love the way this book exercises their daughter's creativity and sparks her imagination!


Enjoy a Free Origami Craft from Klutz!


Here's a fun, free project to get you started with fashion origami. Click here to download and print everything you need to fold a beautiful origami coat: step-by-step illustrated instructions and patterned paper included!


Win It!
One lucky Bonggamom Finds Reader will be chosen to receive a copy of Fashion Origami by Klutz! To enter, simply visit the Klutz website, then come back here and tell me which other Klutz books would catch your child's fancy (this is the required entry and must be completed for any extra entries to count).

For extra entries, you can do any or all of the following (please leave a separate comment for each extra entry):

1) Sign up to be a Klutz Insider and leave a comment here telling me the email address you used to sign up.

2) Become a fan of Bonggamom Finds on Facebook (leave a comment with your FB id).

3) Follow Bonggamom Finds on Blogger(leave a comment with your Blogger profile name).

4) Tweet this giveaway (leave a comment with a link to your tweet). Here is a sample tweet you can copy and paste:

Win a Klutz Origami Fashions book from @bonggafinds! http://ow.ly/1pqHm #giveaway

Maximum of 5 entries per person. This giveaway ends at midnight PST on April 6, 2010; I will draw a winner at random on April 7 and post the winner's name as soon as the winner confirms acceptance. For additional giveaway rules, click here. Good luck!

Disclosure: I received a complimentary product sample, but was not paid to review the product or give my opinions. Unless clearly stated, the views and opinions expressed here are my own.