Adhesives & Glues

Let’s face it: no one wants a piece of jewelry to fall apart, and so the use of glue is absolutely acceptable when making origami jewelry.

The best choice depends upon the type of paper you are using. Read the label carefully to determine its suitability, and always follow the printed usage, safety, and cleanup instructions.

Some papers are coated with plastic or other substances that may resist bonding with certain adhesives. Formulations being developed for the artist are constantly changing, so please try any adhesive first on a scrap of the paper that you want to use. Will it make the paper’s colors bleed, or stain the surrounding materials? Is it visible when dry? Keep the samples on a window sill, and then examine them after they age in the sunlight. Does the adhesive go brittle, turn yellow, or flake off?

Generally, we use polyvinyl acetate (PVA), available as an archival, water emulsion adhesive. It is strong, not water-reversible when dry, sometimes available as pH neutral, dries clear, and it does not get brittle with age. It adheres well to paper, wood, metal, some plastics, and fabric.

A Word of Caution About Intellectual Property Infringement

Accomplished folders know that most new origami designs are the intellectual property of the designers, and recognize that when the authors share their designs for non-commercial use, their art may not be used for commercial purposes without license and payment of a design royalty.

The designs diagrammed in this book are different because we know that when one folds origami jewelry, it makes no sense to purchase an expensive piece of paper to make a small corner into just one necklace, pin, or pair of earrings, and so we hereby offer all of the “jewel” designs presented in this book to the public for their unrestricted use, without obtaining any commercial use license or design royalty. PLEASE DO feel free to make several pieces of jewelry at a time! PLEASE DO fold some for your friends, or for sale on your website, at your local charity, or at a craft bazaar!

Designs such as the traditional Lily are in the public domain and are therefor fair game for your commercial use.

However, when you incorporate any of our other original and non-traditional designs (found in our many other books, DVDs, and kits) for any commercial purposes, you must first ask for, and obtain a proper written license (permission), and then pay a modest, negotiated-use royalty to Origamido, Inc. Only in this way can we be able to continue to share our designs with the public for their personal education and enjoyment.

These designs, and those like them found in our other books and kits, are the intellectual property of Origamido, Inc. Feel free to make all the jewelry you like for your personal and non-commercial gift-giving use, but please contact us at info@origamido.com before offering these items for sale, or use in any other commercial manner.