DIY Metallic Origami Butterfly
Painting your origami crafts might seem daunting at first, but you can do it! With just a little practice, and these step-by-step instructions, you'll be covering your paper crafts in captivating colors and lifelike textures in no time at all.
Turn a simple origami butterfly into a tiny, metallic piece of art.
Supplies:
A square sheet of paper - preferably origami paper but regular copy paper will work, too
Brown-Black Tommy mineral paint
Gold Metallic Tommy paint
A bar of wax
A paintbrush
Water
Combine these with a little inspiration, and let’s start folding!
How to make your origami butterfly:
Fold the paper in half both ways. Then unfold and turn over.
Now fold the paper diagonally both ways.
Bring the corner edges of the first horizontal fold in and collapse into the base, creating a triangle.
On the upper layer only, fold the corners up to meet at the middle fold.
Turn over and flip upside down.
Fold the bottom corner so the tip is just past the edge of the triangle’s base.
Fold the tip over and behind the edge, being careful not to flatten the corners.
Fold upward along the center and...
...You’re finished!
Now it’s time to give your delicate butterfly the color it deserves!
How to paint your origami butterfly:
Begin by painting a base layer over the entire butterfly using the brown-black color.
Rub the wax along the edges and corners, leaving the larger middle portion untouched.
Wet your paintbrush with water and paint over the entire butterfly with the gold metallic paint.
Without dipping the brush in water, paint over the middle unwaxed areas with more gold metallic paint. Make sure to blend well with the thinner waxed areas.
Once the paint is completely dry, lightly sand the edges and corners where you rubbed on the wax for a textured finishing touch.
An easy and wonderful transformation!
One can apply this simple painting technique to other paper crafts. The freedom to choose one's own own colors and textured effects is what makes Tommy Art fun—there's almost nothing better for a papercrafter.
If you enjoyed this tutorial, try painting other origami and paper crafts and let us know how they turned out in the comments.