Ayumi Shibata Paper Cutout Sculptures
I'm calling Ayumi Shibata's paper cutouts sculpture, but it would be more accurate to say what the Japanese master of kirigami creates is paper cutout worlds. I don't think I've been so in awe of the effects of sharp blades on wood pulp since my first grade teacher taught me how to make a turkey from my own handprint!
While I believe kirigami technically entails folding and making cuts in a single piece of paper, Shibata brings her sweeping landscapes to life using many layers of paper. Some of her fairytale pieces fit in the palm of your hand - or the bottom of a tea kettle - while others are life-size installations you can walk through and feel fully immersed in.
In addition to the physical layers of paper, Shibata builds additional layers of depth in her cutouts with the addition of light, and in turn shadow and movement, to her finished pieces.
Cut My Head Off Necklace
The irony is, whomever you present this little trinket of awesome to is going to rip your head off as soon as the meaning sets in. Still, it's so flippin' clever and amusing, the resultant shouting match, firing, divorce...
/nymphaea-3d-wood-cutout-magic-51464.jpg?mode=crop "Nymphaea 3D Wood Cutout Magic Eye Art")
Nymphaea 3D Wood Cutout Magic Eye Art
Nostalgic art meets contemporary techniques - and DIY - in the woodworking plans for the Nymphaea 3D Wood Cutout. Who remembers the Magic Eye craze of the 90s? (Sit down, Gen Z.) These books of 3D optical illusions...
/life-size-cardboard-cutout-36077.jpg?mode=crop "Life-Size Cardboard Cutout Christmas Decor")
Life-Size Cardboard Cutout Christmas Decor
Deck the halls with...life-size cardboard cutouts of characters from your favorite Christmas movies! Plus a few more generic options with empty faces primed and ready for your holiday party photo ops...
/big-head-cutouts-35587.jpg?mode=crop "Big Head Cutouts")
Big Head Cutouts
Big Head custom cardboard face cutouts could be lively decorations for a big party - birthday, office holiday, bachelorette, here's-the-face-of-the-ex-you-never-have-to-see-again breakup. They could be used as props for...
/frank-lloyd-wright-kirigami-48692.jpg?mode=crop "Frank Lloyd Wright Kirigami Paper Models")
Frank Lloyd Wright Kirigami Paper Models
This collection of Frank Lloyd Wright kirigami paper models includes templates for 14 of the architect's masterpieces, ranging from Fallingwater to the National Life Insurance Building. If you try your hand at one, think...
/paper-animal-head-trophy-kits-22249.jpg "Paper Animal Head Trophy Kits")
Paper Animal Head Trophy Kits
Rather than designer animal kills from sub-Saharan Africa, Tristan Sopp is into killer animal designs from his own head. The 10 exotic head trophies Sopp has conceived and developed for his Resident Design Co. shop are...
Polygon - 4-in-1 Origami Measuring Spoons
A flat spoon. Isn't that about as useful as a holey bucket? Or decaf? Under normal circumstances, indeed, but under the origami folds of Polygons, spoons that lay smooth and straight as a nun's ruler aren't just useful...
/florigami-animal-sculptures-59232.jpg?mode=crop "Florigami Animal Sculptures")
Florigami Animal Sculptures
I know. All these expertly crafted origami animal sculptures should be called Faunigami, not Florigami. But there is more than rhyming behind the play on the words. This bestial collection of Japanese papercraft is all...
/bookniture-furniture-in-a-24207.jpg "Bookniture - Furniture in a Book")
Bookniture - Furniture in a Book
You don't need to know how to read to dig in to this book. Open the pages of Bookniture, and where you might normally find a Tolkien story you'll instead encounter an entire stool or side table Gandalf-ed into existence...
/origami-pocket-knife-27522.jpg?mode=crop "Origami Pocket Knife")
Origami Pocket Knife
You won't be able to fold the Origami Pocket Knife into a crane, but you will be able to use Bre & Co.'s 440C stainless blade to slice out the perfect neck and wings from the crane you're struggling to make from origami...
/dicecal-rpg-dice-desk-calendar-24999.jpg "Dicecal RPG Dice Desk Calendar")
Dicecal RPG Dice Desk Calendar
Never miss a day as you roll through 2017 with a dodecahedron on your desktop. Andrea Kis has won multiple design awards for her Dicecal desk calendar, a superbly geeky (and decidedly practical!) tribute to RPG gamers...