The Colorful History of Papercraft

We've visited the world of colorful paper sculpture before, but previously we focused on larger scale projects meant to widen the eye and drop the jaw. We'd all like to be able to produce such stunning work, but let's face it -- not everyone has the time to pop out such paper miracles, especially when it comes to scope and grandeur. What if you'd like to enjoy some folding therapy on a simpler scale? Perhaps, projects that take less than ten minutes?

Well, we can share some of those with you, but first, let's look back at the history of papercraft for a moment. As you may already know, paper folding traces as far back as Europe  from the year 1440. Origami is a traditional folding art which focuses on the use of colorful paper, and while many people associate it with Japan, there is evidence that the art form popped up in China, Germany and Spain as well.

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Modern papercraft can range from simple three minutes projects to incredibly complex ones (Japanese fans in particular take the art form to crazy levels) , but if you prefer to keep your folding to small doses, we have quite a few solutions for you. Paperkraft is updated regularly and offers lots of simple projects that you can print out to decorate your desk with. Papercraft World also has a lot of options, ranging from simple to challenging. Another major favorite is Cubeecraft, which boasts over two hundred simple projects based on pop culture icons and more. Scroll down to enjoy even more links to great papercraft sites!

Paper Foldables | 3eyedbear | Shin Tanaka | Nintendo Papercraft | Papercraft Paradise | Paper Museum

[Header photo via Warm n' Fuzzy]