Arts & Crafts News

News: Your Perfect Snowflake Soulmate

No two snowflakes are alike. The same goes for people. But a snowflake can easily compliment one's own individual charm, although finding your perfect soulmate snowflake is quite a challenge. Or... it was.

Fastidious Book Art: Cut or Folded?

Amazing paper art books by Isaac Salazar. As a bibliophile... I can't help it, I really hate to see pages cut. I can't tell. Are the pages only creased or were small cuts necessary to achieve some of the finer dimensions?

News: Paper Planes Launched from the Edge of Space

What's the difference between a paper plane and a paper space plane? Altitude! About 125,000 feet to be precise:

News: Make Abe Lincoln Look Like a B-Boy ($5-Dollar Bill Origami)

Dollar, dollar, dollar, dollar, dollar bill, y'all! If you've got five dollars and spindly appendages with which to fold, then there's nothing standing between you and your very own Cap Lincoln. Just follow the bouncing bill:

News: Obsessively Intricate Paper Anatomy

Artist Sarah Yakawonis uses a technique called quilling to craft complex anatomy art with paper. Quilling, as defined by Wikipedia: "The use of strips of paper that are rolled, shaped, and glued together to create decorative designs. The paper is wound around a quill to create a basic coil shape. The paper is glued at the tip and the coil shaped, these shaped coils are arranged to form flowers, leaves, and various ornamental patterns similar to ironwork."

News: Engineer By Day, Origami Master By Night

Brian Chan is an engineer who creates beautifully folded origami. Some of the pieces are incredibly complex; view a selection of his work below, click through for more.

News: Painstakingly Crafted 3D Paper Art

Korean artist Cheong-ah Hwang creates three-dimensional paper art by layering pieces of cut paper upon pieces, decoupage-style. The paper bird is fantastic, as well as her Obi Wan Kenobi & more. Scroll down for process photos.

News: A Ski Mask Unfit For Pillaging

It won't be much trouble getting a decent police sketch if Andrew Salomone decides to knock off a liquor store.

News: Blow Into a Straw, Knit a Sock

Showcased at Mediamatic, the "Untitled Sock Project" is a knitting machine hack by Luís Brandaõ, Fábio Costa, Sean Follmer, and Pol Pla:

News: Knitting is For Pus****

Polish artist Agata Olek loves to crochet.

News: Massive Origami Boat Floats Down the Thames

Everybody has some kind of calling in life and it looks like artist Frank Bölter's is the construction of life-sized origami boats. He's done it before, and he's at it again. His latest creation recently set sail on the Thames as a part of London's Drift10 art exhibition.

Friday Fresh: Make Katy Perry's Cupcake Boobs & More

This week, we're taking a look at all that's sweet and spicy about Halloween. The time is almost here, and you've got to perfect your look and your treats. Make them something special that anyone will remember!

News: Super Low-Cal, Paper Light Breakfast

You don't have to worry about packing on the pounds with a breakfast like this. Have all the donuts you like... as long as they're papercraft. Created by Paper Donut.

News: Who Says Owning Fine Jewelry Means an Empty Wallet?

P.S.- I Made This offers resourceful, crafty tutorials that stretch the imagination. With projects ranging from jewelry to accessories to clothing, founder and creator, Erica Domesek has been featured in Teen Vogue, Glamour, Vogue Nippon, Domino, GQ, InStyle, and Marie Claire. Her brief tutorials also include collaborations with both Helmut Lang and Who What Wear.

News: Jewelry From Hell

California native Joji Kojima's jewelry belongs in a Freddy Krueger nightmare. Evocative of death, violence and a macabre fetishism, these accessories aren't for the soft-natured.

News: Clockwork + Knitwork = Artwork

Lock up your grandfather clocks; there's a new lady on the scene. Meet "365" by German designer Siren Elise Wilhelmsen, an electric grandmother clock that completes a two-meter (or six-and-a-half-foot) knitted scarf once every 52 weeks.

News: OCD Math Freak Spends Years on Intricately Hand-Cut Polyhedra

Here at WonderHowTo we're overflowing with top-notch origami tutorials. However, when it comes to the lesser known art of kirigami, we could always use a couple more enthusiasts. Kirigami is a form of origami that (unlike origami) involves making intricate cuts, and the results are often incredible.

News: Armless Woman Becomes Embroidery Guru

If you are born without any arms, you will figure it out. Somehow, I doubt Ren Jiemei needed sewing tutorials on how to thread a needle with her feet. But here it is.

News: West African Boogie Monsters

Here's a little inspiration for the aspiring fashion designers out there. Having majored in textile design (printing and weaving), I am totally stunned by these West African ritual garments.

News: 50 FREE Papercraft Robot Downloads

One of the greatest things about the internet? Free papercraft downloads. Enjoy Botropolis' collection of 50 fun robots. Just download, print, and assemble. My top ten favorites below. Wall-E. Robocop. Optimus Prime. R2-D2. The Terminator. Poseable Toy Robot. Retro Bot. Godzilla. Poco Bot with 6 rotation points. Robot Owl.

News: Oh-So-Elegant Paper Wigs

Atlanta based designers Amy Flurry and Nikki Salk collaborate on some fantastic paper installations, which are “fueled by a love of fashion and an appreciation of grace and nuance of this humble material.”

News: I Want One. Paper-Made John, Paul, Ringo & George

To this day, the magnitude of Beatles mania is vast. For much of the world, the fabulous four are downright magical. Here on WonderHowTo we also enjoy the fine art of papercraft. So, why not combine the elaborate practice of paper construction with some good 'ol rock 'n' roll?

News: Psychedelic Math Makes for Some Trippy Origami-Art

Flickr user fdecomite showcases his beautiful portfolio of geometry-inspired papercraft. His dedication to the craft is astounding. Get ready to take a journey down the rabbit hole cuz this work gets trippy.

News: Hands-Off Knitting Machine Powered by Wind

Royal College of the Arts student Merel Karhof has come up with an innovative way to harness natural resources: a wind knitting factory. Merel's device is a mechanical wind-powered knitting machine that sustainably produces long tubes of knitted material. Nice. I'd let the wind knit my scarves.

News: Tough-As-Nails Tattoed Truckers Knit, Too

So why not join the party? (Oh, plus they also happen to quilt, as well). Via WSJ,

News: Gameboy Goes Papercraft

Papercraft video game art by French design duo Zim and Zou. The insertable cartridge is particularly awesome. Don't miss the Tetris (all the way at the bottom).

News: Microscopic Origami

Wowee, origami artist Mui-Ling Teh has the skills of a DaVinci Robot. To view more of her work, check out her artist profile on Red Bubble. Inspired? Scroll all the way down for a demonstration on the folding of a teeny, tiny origami crane.

News: Whaddya Know? An Old Tie Makes the Perfect Thong

There's something undeniably naughty about upcycling your boyfriend's old tie into a thong. Japanese site Panty Hanty offers a library of free sewing patterns in the art of underwear-making.

News: Giant Collection of Free Japanese Origami Tutorials

Hundreds upon hundreds of free origami diagrams and animations are available at the Origami Club. I caught Design Sponge's recent post on some late night folding (I like how they spelled out their name), and recalled WonderHowTo's old favorite.

News: Elegantly Crafted Paper Chandeliers

There's a lot of paper-art, paper-craft, paper-design on the web, but rarely do you see something that truly transcends the material. Stunning paper chandeliers by Dutch artist Paula Arntzen.

News: 1,000,000 Spiders Weave Rare Silk

A rare textile woven from the silk of more than one million spiders is currently on display at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The incredible textile measures 11 by four feet, and is the largest piece of spider-woven textile in the world.

Fold-It-Yourself: Paper Space Scale Models

Papercraft website, AXM Paper Space Scale Models, offers a whole library of incredibly detailed, realistic space shuttle paper models. Some free, some pay. Perfect weekend activity for the outer space lovin' geek.

News: Paper Airplane Guru Sets New World Record

Takuo Toda broke his previous Guinness World record of 27.9 seconds in flight this past Sunday. The paper airplane virtuoso, head of the Japan Origami Airplane Association, aimed to reach a 30 second long flight with his 10-centimeter-long paper aircraft. Unfortunately, he didn't quite make it.

News: Larger Than Life Origami Boat

Artist Frank Bölter created a life-sized origami boat to sail up the Elbe. The boat cost £110 to construct back in '97 (today's conversion rate would put that at $175). The boat is 30 feet long, and weighs 55 pounds. It took 2 hours to construct, using a 170 square meter sheet of paper.

News: The Art of Moneygami

Amazing moneygami (the art of bill folding) by Hasegawa Yousuke. Inspired? Start small, with good ole' George Washington.

News: Jewelry Made With Hair and Dead People

No exaggeration in today's headline, design student Anna Schwamborn has actually designed a jewelry line made from the hair and cremated ashes of dead loved ones. Human hair sure makes a nice accent to the black bone china (note the word "bone" - human ashes are mixed in).

News: Knit Your Food

Knitted delectable delights from Ed Bing Lee. Inspired? Gotta start somewhere. Previously, Crocheters Like to Party, Too.

4 Years in the Making: Insane Papercraft City

Tokyo art student, Wataru Itou, spent four long years crafting his meticulous paper city, entitled "A Castle On the Ocean".  The miniature papercraft city was constructed with "basic knives, scissors, hole punches and modeling glue." The structure has a "spectrum-spanning colored lighting system" and motorized paper trains.

News: Knit the Periodic Table

Science geeks everywhere: the ultimate knitting pattern. Creator apinnick made this amazing sweater displaying the Periodic Table of Elements for her husband, a microbiologist working in the pharmaceutical industry. Click through to her blog for her periodic table knitting chart, to learn how to knit-it-yourself.

News: Retro Electronics Papercraft For the Brazil '66 Crowd

Dan McPharlin has created some super-sweet retro electronics papercraft models. Click through to Dan's Flickr page to view the entire collection.