Getting Started

All you need is a rectangle. Michael folded his first original origami butterfly for Alice Gray in 1978 from a discarded piece of pink office paper on the subway. You can generate many suitable rectangles just by folding in the opposite edges of a square.

These butterfly designs show both sides of the sheet, and you will find many kinds of paper that make beautiful butterflies. So-called “regular” origami paper has color on only one side (it’s white on the other). We folded with regular origami paper to demonstrate each project on the accompanying DVDs.

Origami paper now comes in a remarkable number of “Duo” color and print forms.

Play money and candy wrappers are transformed by origami.

Origami paper with two (non-white) colors is called “duo.” You can fold great looking butterflies from any two-colored paper: regular or duo origami papers, paper-backed foils, two-color (duo) foils, duo prints, or print / solid duo papers. Enjoy practicing with scraps of gift wrap, colorful junk mail, or even packaging such as candy wrappers.

If you want your butterflies to last without fading, turning yellow, or becoming brittle, then be sure to use premium fiber papers marked “archival,” or “acid free.” Papers that have been pigmented with colorfast artist-quality materials last the longest.

Foil gift wrap makes a stunning display when folded into origami butterflies, and will serve well as a substitute for a package bow.