25 Days of Paper 2016, Day 13

Indigo Petal Cascade Necklace: Brass and abaca paper indigo petals, ombre dyed, on a sterling silver chain.

Editor’s correction: Yesterday, I forgot to include the discount code for Verso’s lovely jewelry. Please click here to view Verso’s Etsy shop and enter papermaker to receive a 20% discount on your purchase!

These Tessellating Tyvek Lanterns are the June project in the Twelve Months of Paper calendar. Tyvek is one of those wonder materials. It acts like paper, but is water resistant and virtually tear-proof. It folds really well too.

It comes in white and black (I bought a discounted roll here) and you can stain it with acrylic paint, watercolor or ink. As you can see, I stained both sides of the Tyvek for these lanterns.

Do you know how to fold an accordion? I made a short video (this video shows the technique, although not with the actual paper for this project).

Here you can see the many possibilities of this structure. Vary the shape, punch holes through each accordion, or alter the tessellating folds. I’ve used double-sided tape, glue or velcro dots to bind the seam (the velcro dots make the lanterns reversible).