The OZ Cube

This origami cube is made from a single square sheet of paper.  It was originally developed by Kazuo Haga and Kunihiko Kasahara.  It is called the HK cube and there is a diagram of it in Kasahara's book Origami for the Connoisseur.

 Anyway, as I was drinking my TAZO tea one morning and wondering what I could do with the tea sachet envelope, a little light bulb went on inside my head.  If you are new to origami, you may want to try this out on some larger copy or printer paper first, maybe even some paper with color on one side and white on the other, as you might not get it right on the first attempt.  Just be certain you start with a square sheet of paper.

NOTE:  I've just posted diagrams for Jun Maekawa's Dodecahedron Unit...Here is the link:
https://www.facebook.com/krapphace.onphacebooque#!/notes/krapphace-onphacebooque/jun-maekawas-dodecahedron-unit/585708408123220

Here is a list of what you will need:

1. an elementary knowledge of origami...ie; how to read a diagram...just the basics...mountain fold, valley fold...etc;  nothing very complex...if you don't have that knowledge already, you can pick up some of the basics at www.fishgoth.com/origami/basics1.html.




2.  some Tazo tea bag envelopes...not the tea bags, but the nice colorful paper that the tea bags come in.

3.  an exacto knife or a box cutter...either one will do....my box cutter works fine on this paper which is sort of waxy/plasticky on one side

4.  a non slip ruler that shows millimetres.   You will need to be fairly precise in your measurements

5.  a cutting mat, and obviously a table or something with some light.  duh

When opening your tea bag envelopes  to let the tea bag out, you will need to be careful not to mar the word" tazo", as it is the star of the show...it is at the top...I use scissors to open the envelopes.

Once the tea bag is out of the envelope, you will need to carefully peel the envelope apart down the sides...you will then have a rectangular piece of paper....spread flat, and remove any detritus that might have seeped out from the tea bags....some of the specialty teas are a little sticky.

Measure the width of the envelope...it will probably be around 66mm...then measure down 66mm the other way and cut to make a square...

Here follows my something crude attempts at making a set of origami instructions on line...I hope it's not too confusing.  I could not put all the written instructions on the drawings, so I'm putting them here...

Page 1.  Make valley folds as indicated...Fold/unfold.. the color side of the paper should be down...also the word "tazo" should be along the bottom edge of the paper on the back side.

Page 2.  Make valley folds on diagonals as indicated.  Then turn the paper over.

Page 3.  Make valley folds as indicated...then, turn the paper over.

Page 4.  Make certain your paper is in the right position and that all the creases you've just made match the creases in the drawing.  We're about to go 3D so it gets a little tricky after this.

Page 5.  Make the mountain and valley folds as indicated, then drag the creased point down to meet the corner.  Your model is now a 3D piece looking sort of  like one corner of a larger cube.

Page 6. Make creases as indicated, bringing down the top right corner and adjacent row.

Page 7.  Pull up left hand row while bringing forward the diagonal. 

Page 8.  Pinch the diagonal on the left together.  While tucking it in between the layers below, bring down the back of the cube and press it flat w. your finger tips.  This is a good time to tidy up inside as there are still openings for your fingers...it might take a little squishing to make it look crisp.

Page 9.. Turn the model around so that it looks like this.  Notice it isn't in the tightest position yet... you need to squoosh it a little.  Make mountain fold to the right, pinching the corner and drawing the back of the cube forward...

Page 10.  Tuck in flaps...