How To | Origami Crane Box

Simplicity is Beauty. Origami is the Japanese papercraft of folding delicate pieces of colored paper to create various objects simply by folding it. This tutorial is how to fold a crane box, as seen in my last post. OK, so after looking at all these steps, you may say "hey! I don't know about you, but some of those steps don't look so simple" and you would be right. But it's made out of one piece of paper! Entertainment that ends with a fancy box doesn't get any simpler than that.

Origami Container

I recently found a book that teaches you how to fold delicate and beautiful boxes out of colorful Origami paper. This crane was the perfect size for konpeito, a traditional Japanese rock candy. How cute would this be with a tea set, the konpeito instead of sugar cubes!

Thick or Thin?

If you asked me before, I would have told you that there was nothing better than a chewy, thick crust pizza with a pint of a local brew, but I'm starting to really like this thin-crust business in New York, NY. 

But who are we kidding? I just like pizza in general. 

Except pizza in Japan. 

Nothing makes mayo on teriayki pizza acceptable.

Started Knitting Again

After reading Erica's post on an amazing cowl she crocheted recently and finding myself browsing through knitting books in bookstores, I decided to pick up my knitting needles and give knitting a whirl. Why not crochet? For the simple reason that there weren't any crochet hooks stashed away in the back of a drawer at the place I'm staying. I feel lucky that there were knitting needles at all since the people I'm staying with right now don't knit. I've heard of some pretty hilarious attempts, though.

Inspired by Erica's cowl, I wanted to make one myself and started knitting a simple purl stitch, but found that the knitted portions curled- a lot. After a quick google search, I found that this was due to the stitch, so I undid everything I'd done and re-knitted this, with a simple pattern using just the purl stitch. Is it obvious that this is the only stitch I can manage?

I just finished knitting all the yarn I had, but hopefully I'll be able to show you a completed cowl soon.
Or I'll give up and turn it into a bag. I have a weird habit of turning everything into bags, like when I turned this part of my halloween costume into a pouch I now use to store charging cables when I travel or, more recently, this pencil pouch made out of a place mat.

Do you have any crafting habits?

the Direction of 2013

While I have come up with some New Year's Resolutions to jump on the bandwagon, my resolutions are always similar, especially in regard to their never being accomplished. The only one I managed to accomplish was "floss more," but I think that was more out of a fear of getting a cavity in Japan than it was determination to live the phrase "new year, new you." 

I may not have high hopes for accomplishing these (I know, I really believe in myself), but I did try to think of what direction I would like to take in 2013 to hep me think of (hopefully) more realistic resolutions, which are:

• Have better posture
• Stop eating when I'm full
• Buy less, Spend more

Have better posture: I don't have a problem with my posture when I'm standing or walking, but the second that I sit down, my shoulders round, leading to really cramped shoulders and headaches. Typing on a computer, using my smart phone, and even reading doesn't help. It just looks better to have better posture, too. 

Stop eating when full: We've all been there. You're not stuffed, but you're full... but that cookie just looks so good. Just one more can't hurt... and then we get into what I've been doing since I was a child, trying to convince my parents to read just one more bedtime story. Dieting's great, but learning when you have enough is probably more effective and a better habit than overeating and then trying to run it off. At least it's more efficient. 

Buy less, Spend more: In a consumerist society, it's hard to not want new things. That's also how we ended up with shows like "hoarders." After traveling and living in a different country for a bit, I've come to realize just how little I can survive off of. I found myself wanting, but then not, as I found a way to tweak what I already had to fulfill the role of the wanted item, or would find myself surviving just fine without. On the other hand, the things that I constantly find myself packing to take are my sturdier items, which often times comes with a higher price tag. While more money does not always mean it's a higher quality product, I'm going to make sure that this year, I treat all purchases like an investment. We've all heard of "investment" pieces, right? What if all of our pieces were investment pieces? 

Are you someone who likes to make new year's resolutions?

What are some of yours?

Silly (& slightly nerdy) Book

Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas! I have a silly story for you today to help you recover from all the food, the unwrapping of presents and too-tight and too-long hugs from aunts and grandmothers who smell of potpourri.

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There are still many bookstores in Japan. Thus, a really good way to fill some time is by perusing the titles. I was in Shinjuku in Tokyo with about 30 minutes to spare before I was supposed to meet up with a friend so I went to Lumine, a nice department store connected to the station, to check out some books. This bookstore covers almost the whole floor and has a Starbucks attached to it. It's a floor of books. Mostly of the fashion and art type. I found some really cool books on architecture around the world as well as many how-to books pertaining to photography.

After wandering about for a big, flipping pages here and there, I found myself in the children's section of this rather fancy bookstore. There, I found the Japanese translation of The Giving Tree. Having just come off a ship interpreting/translating for 86 straight days, I was wondering how this book that I had loved so much as a child was translated. What I had conveniently (or not) forgotten was that this book also makes me cry every time. The translation was amazing. It definitely wasn't a direct translation of all the words and phrases used. I don't think that a strict, direct translation would have made me cry in the middle of a fancy bookstore inside a fancy department store in the middle of Tokyo. 

In an attempt to hide my now red eyes all filled up with tears, I picked up the closest book that I could pretend to read. I picked up...

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Needless to say, I had, even through the blurry vision of looking through tears, selected the perfect book to get myself out of this slightly embarrassing state. I was in a new embarrassing state of giggling to myself in no time. The best part? That I wasn't reading what was pictured above. I was reading this

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You know what makes silly books even sillier? 

When they're in Japanese. 

Organic Ginger Peach White Tea

My tea obsession grows stronger as I travel. I have always liked green tea, but it probably wasn't until moving to Japan that I could tell the difference between tea leaf qualities and in some cases, origins. Going to India and England made me absolutely obsessed with black teas, a love only rivaled by my love of scones. Now? Well, I'm finally starting to get into herb, floral, and fruit teas.

My recent find is this one from a trip to Trader Joe's:

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The balance between the ginger, pear and white tea is delicate enough so that none of them overpower the others. Though I usually associate most peach and other fruit teas with summer (and not winter), this is perfect for winter as well because the ginger adds a hint of spice, keeping you warm, while giving you a break from all the nutmeg and cinnamon you've inevitably been ingesting this season.

Do you have any recent tea finds? 

I'd love to try out some new teas!