How to make a paper Christmas Tree

These paper Christmas trees make beautiful decorations and can be made with just one square sheet of paper and a pair of scissors. It is best to use any paper between 70 - 100 gsm such as computer paper, wrapping paper or magazines – whatever you have around the house.

You can even add a little string or ribbon to hang them from your Christmas tree. I used a mix of green origami papers and white computer paper for a little collection of trees at different heights. They are lovely for decorating presents or as table decorations for your Christmas meal. The cutting and folding technique used to make the shape is called kirigami.

To make a Christmas tree of your own, watch the little Zoom recording below or download the PDF which has step by step instructions. Merry Christmas!

Download the PDF - How to make your own paper Christmas tree

Kyla taught this shape on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch.

Christmas Origami Workshops

This year Foldability is running fun and festive origami workshops online for brands, organisations and private events. It feels like summer was not that long ago but Christmas season is already underway with our online Christmas origami workshops in full swing!

Here are some images below from last Christmas when Kyla ran origami workshops for the Little Greene Paint Company and installed paper art windows in their London and Munich showrooms. It seems like a life time ago but hopefully it won’t be too long before we can safely do workshops in person again. In the meantime, Kyla will be busy teaching origami online and helping people fill their homes with festive origami shapes!

We still have some workshop slots available in December, so if you are interested in learning the shapes below or would like to find out more about our online Christmas origami workshops for groups/businesses please get in touch. More details about our online origami workshops can be found here.

* Studio Update *

Foldability has been closed since mid March due to the pandemic but will be open and taking on new projects from July 1st. Throughout March and April, Kyla and her partner Flo have been volunteering to make and donate visors. We donated approximately 4,000 visors to care workers across the UK through our initiative Visors Please: www.visorsplease.co.uk

If you happen to be a UK based sewer and are looking for a way to help, please have a look at ‘For the Love of Scrubs’ on Facebook who are sewing scrubs and bags for NHS workers. Or if you are just looking for something heart-warming to cheer you up, it’s a lovely place to visit. There are over 50,000 volunteers, in regional groups across the UK, pooling resources to make scrubs for NHS staff on the frontline. There is a great blog post here by Lucy & Yak which lists all the regional groups and tells you a bit more about the project.

Thanks so much to everyone who has donated through our GoFundMe to make this visor making mission possible! Also a big thanks to Nikki from Kreis design and Claire from Glasgow Print Studio for helping cut the plastic for the visors and to Pentonville Rubber for volunteering their time to cut the foam. Most importantly, a huge thanks to all the NHS staff and key workers.

Foldability x adidas

I will be running a drop-in workshop at the adidas Fitness and Lifestyle Studio in London on Saturday 7th December 2019 from 9am - 1pm. The adidas space on Brick Lane is a free fitness and lifestyle studio for women which brings together fitness classes and creative workshops under one roof. I will be running drop-in workshops where participants can learn how to make origami Christmas decorations. All classes are free and you can book a place online via adidas Facebook messenger here.

Location: adidas Fitness and Lifestyle Studio, 152 Brick Lane. London, E1 6RU

Time: Drop-in between 9am - 1pm

Book: Via adidas Facebook Messenger

San Miguel Rich List

I'm super chuffed to have been included in this years San Miguel Rich List! Before you skip ahead - I'm not a secret billionaire... the list features people with "a different kind of wealth." If you are in London, you can see the feature in today's Evening Standard Magazine. There are stories from all sorts of people including treehouse makers, surfboard carvers and maze builders. Thanks to Francesca Jones for the nice photography.

Sharp Lines - Behind the Scenes

Foldability created a series of paper set design pieces for a test shoot in collaboration with photographer Matthew Pull. Below are some outtakes and behind the scenes images from the shoot which feature products from Ted Baker's AW16 collection. The shots were created using hand folded sheets of pre-perforated paper, some of which were painted by hand. To view the final images from the project please click here. If you are interested in commissioning some folded set design for a photo shoot or window display, please get in touch.

Story in Port Magazine

Founder of Foldability, Kyla McCallum, was recently interviewed by Port Magazine about how her business began.

"Founded in 2013, Foldability is the product of a competition. It was the kind of entrepreneurial challenge you see advertised all over east London – ‘pitch a brilliant business plan to win £10,000’. Although Scottish designer Kyla McCallum didn’t win the funding, the award gave her the impetus to set up Foldability – a design studio that creates geometric, origami-inspired products. Since then, the designer has worked for Burberry, been commissioned by ELLE Decoration for an origami-inspired cover, and created over 2000 hand-folded flowers for H&M’s flagship store. Here, we chat to London’s ‘Queen of Origami’ about her age-old craft."

To read the full interview please click here. To learn more about Foldability, please visit our about page.

Origami Installation for Plinth

Kyla McCallum of Foldability is currently working on ‘Refraction,' an immersive origami installation for Plinth, made using over 200 folded paper panels. In total, the space will include over 52,000 hand folded lines. Visitors will be encouraged to view the space through kaleidoscopes, discovering new shapes and combinations of geometric lines, shapes and shadows. Layer upon layer of origami will be growing up the walls and slinking across the ceiling, creating an array of detailed patterns. ‘Refraction' aims to take the viewer on a playful geometric journey, emerging from the space with a smile. Please see below a sneak preview of work in progress. Also on display will be works from Raw Edges, Jacques Nimki and Fishbar collective.

Plinth, 10a Thurloe Place (opposite the V&A), South Kensington, London SW7 2RZ

16th September - 23rd October 2016

Origami Window Display for Desso

Foldability was commissioned to design a window installation for the Desso showroom during Clerkenwell Design Week to celebrate their award winning Transitions Collection. Below are some behind the scenes images from the project. To see the finished origami window display please click here.

Photography by Ross Fraser McLean.

Plinth Pop-up Gallery

Foldability is taking part in a new pop-up gallery run by Plinth in collaboration with Ikon gallery. The space will display a carefully curated selection of products and limited editions by leading contemporary artists. Pieces by David Shrigley, Cornelia Parker, Beatriz Milhazes, Richard Deacon, Richard Wilson and Ding Yi will feature, and proceeds from the sale of these limited editions will support Ikon’s 50th Anniversary Investment Fund.

Plinth have transformed a listed Georgian house which dates back to 1710, situated directly across the road from the British Museum. The building spans over four floors and has lots of interesting nooks and crannies to explore. In the court yard gallery there will be talks by leading artists and the space features a collection of Foldability Leah pendant lights.

The Plinth pop-up gallery opens this Friday 12th February until 19th March, Monday to Saturday 10am - 6pm at 44 Great Russell Street, London, WC1B 3PA.

Images of the space can be seen below and you can find out more about Plinth here: http://plinth.uk.com

Set Design for ELLE Decoration

Foldability collaborated with ELLE Decoration to create the set design for the cover of their December issue. Two variations of the design were made, one in lighter tones and one with a darker theme and interior setting. In total, 70 snowflakes were made and each one was folded by hand using a luxurious pearlescent paper from Fedrigoni. The ELLE logo was also made entirely from paper and laid out very precisely by hand. Please find below some behind the scenes images from the shoot along with videos of the cover being made. Art Direction by Tony Peters and photography by Nick Rochowski. The snowflake designs are now available to buy as Christmas Decorations from our shop.

Origami Textile Design

Foldability was recently invited to Germany by a company who manufacture textiles globally for the automotive industry. I was asked to present research and exploration into folding and examples of how it can be applied within textile design. Behind the scenes I've been working a lot on folding experiments, researching and testing different materials and production techniques. See below some images I took of folded fabric at the pleating factory. If you are interested in using geometry or folding within a project and would like to find out more about Foldability's design consultancy service, please get in touch.

Foldability Launches in the USA

I am delighted to be working with Ameico, a US distributor who are launching the Petra and Maya Pendant at NY Now in New York. They represent some great design brands including &Tradition, Santa & Cole and Punkt. If you're based in the US and interested in stocking these products please get in touch with Ameico or visit them at NY Now at Accent on Design, booth #4020. The products will also be on show in May at ICFF in New York.

Peek Inside the Foldability Studio

Foldability was recently featured in a video about the New Creative Markets Programme, an organisation who offer advice and support to London based artists and designers. Every 6 months they take in a new group of people who are offered workshops and 1-2-1 mentoring sessions with industry professionals and advisors. They've recently brought out a video to promote what they do which includes a little peek inside my studio. The film can be seen here.

Grand Designs Live Australia

The Sonobe Collection is being showcased in Australia! The origami lighting designs will be featured in the Tech Box space at Grand Designs Live Melbourne from the 17 - 19 October and in Sydney from the 24 - 26 October. The Petra pendant has also been selected by Kevin McCloud to be featured in the Green Heroes space at Grand Designs Live at the NEC in Birmingham from the 9 - 12 October 2014. Below is a little paragraph that Kevin wrote about the products and some pictures from the show.

John Lewis Campaign

The Chloe pendant that I designed for the the 150th anniversary of John Lewis is up on the London underground! The design has featured in a nationwide campaign called 'The Edit' which is very exciting. Very surreal to pull up to a tube stop and see my design on a billboard! To see more about this design take a look at the project for John Lewis here.

Foldability on Domus

The new Equi Collection has been featured online by Domus. The article tells a little bit about the thought process behind the new collection, the metallic fabrics used and my collaboration with the pleating manufacturer. The article can be read here.

Perforated Paper Experiments

This month, Foldability has been working with Protopaper to develop concepts and folding ideas. Currently, it is only available in white but they have kindly let me test a range of colours using paper from Fedrigoni. It's a very exciting method as it allows me to fold things very quickly and precisely. Some images of my ongoing experiments can be found below.