Makigami: Recycle Newspaper Into Beautiful Jewelry

Makigami: Recycle Newspaper into Beautiful Jewelry teaches how to turn newspaper into amazingly complex braided jewelry.
131 pages filled with 14 videos in high definition ensure your success! photos and diagrams with detailed stepby-step instructions.
Detailed planning guide for earrings, pendants, rings, and much more! Make gifts that friends and family will rave about for years to come!
M A K I G A M I: Recycle Newspaper into beautiful Jewelry
Copyright 2011 Benjamin John Coleman, All Rights Reserved.
Special thanks to my cousin Gretchen Anderson who helped develop the makigami rolling solution presented in this book, and also to Helen Coleman for teaching me how to braid.
Thank you Mops and Pops for proofing, editing and contributing to this book.
Copyright 2011 Benjamin John Coleman
Table of Contents
Introduction Learning to Braid Learning to Make Makigami Braided Jewelry Working with Color Clip On Designs Working with Grayscales Project Reference Guide i 1 18 39 57 74 104 111
Introduction
Introduction
A Short History of Braiding
Ask the average person about braids and theyll probably respond with references to hair braiding. Interestingly, thats probably not the first material humans braided. Like just about everything we do, braids were invented by early humans to solve a problem. What that problem was isnt known, however the solution, braiding, was widely adopted all over our planet thousands of years before electronic communication. That all these early peoples invented, developed, and taught subsequent generations how to braid is testament to its usefulness. Whats particularly interesting about a braid is how it strengthens the materials from which it is made. If you pick three stems of tall grass, line them up in parallel, grab the ends with your hands, and pull, youll find the grass pulls apart quite easily. Collect three more stems of tall grass, braid them, and apply the same pulling pressure and youll find something else happens. Instead of immediately breaking, the braid tightens! If the grass is strong enough you may be unable to break the braided piece. Braiding becomes particularly advantageous when pulled and then pushed. These forces are similar to those applied to a leash when a dog is attached to it; alternating hard pulls and relaxations quickly weaken three unbraided stems of grass. Three braided stems retain their strength despite these additional forces. When you consider a key element of early human development; domestication of animals, the need for braided rope becomes clear. How else could a small early human control, without killing, a large beast like a cow or horse? According to Deborah Harding, collection manager at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, braiding is an ancient craft. A waterlogged braid from somewhere between 6,000 and 4,000 BCE has been found in Windover, Florida, USA, she said. However she added that because braids are made i|Page Copyright 2011 Benjamin John Coleman
Introduction
from natural materials, like grasses, braiding probably began much, much earlier. We wont find evidence of these ancient braids because they have biodegraded. According to Harding, braiding is defined as interlacing a number of elements (strands) on a diagonal. The smallest number of elements that can be braided is three. Three is also the most common braid found, used to braid everything from hair to rope. Braids allowed early humans to quickly make strong cord from fragile materials, like grasses. Braids are made up of multiple strands in opposition to each other so they can stand being twisted without breaking or falling apart, she said. While braided cords were useful to early humans, braids were also used as a decoration. Traditional groups are still using decorative braids on clothing trim today, she said, braiding is world-wide.
What Makigami Is
In 2009 I had just completed my first book Origami Bonsai (Tuttle, 2010). The book describes how to attach origami flowers and leaves to real tree branches to make botanical sculptures. As most authors do, I fantasized about the book becoming popular. My fantasy didnt end with fast cars and big houses. Instead I imagined urban parks stripped of tree branches - an inner-city environmental disaster, and an author being criticized for his work. I immediately set out to develop a way to make branches. I wanted to make the branches from paper so Id have an elegant paper solution for making sculptures. This was no small task because tree branches taper. How could I make a paper branch with taper? It seemed impossible. I began experimenting with ink jet paper but it didnt behave the way I needed it to. Eventually I discovered that newspaper was the perfect solution, and developed makigami, a material made by Copyright 2011 Benjamin John Coleman ii | P a g e
M A K I G A M I: Recycle Newspaper into beautiful Jewelry saturating newspaper with a liquid, rolling it tightly, shaping it and then curing it in a car in the hot sun. Makigami was the perfect solution to my paper branch problem. Not only was I recycling the mornings newspaper, but I was also creating a biodegradable work of art. I knew almost immediately that makigami had tremendous potential for other applications.
Introduction
Makigami and Braiding

I first braided Makigami during the summer of 2010. My niece Helen, then 12 years old, laughed at me when I told her I needed to learn how to braid. She couldnt believe I didnt know how. I rolled three strips of makigami and then she braided them. My jaw dropped when I saw what she produced. The braided makigami was intricate. It had a fractal pattern, or more accurately a tessellated pattern, almost like that of a pine cone. Highly visually stimulating, the piece was still flexible enough to be molded. This was truly a eureka moment. I soon began experimenting with how taper affected the braid and discovered new intricate shapes I had never seen before. The combination of makigami, taper, braiding, color, and molding creates new, uniquely shaped patterns that have yet to be explored. Through this combination we make highly complex intricate jewelry that looks as if it took many hours to create. With practice, you will develop skills that allow you to create this type of jewelry in a matter of minutes.
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Introduction
Keeping it Green
While this art form is earth friendly, there are a few things you can do to make it even more so. At first glance one would think that all of our byproducts, like bits of rolled makigami, failed projects and scraps of paper are recyclable. For a better understanding of what is and isnt recyclable, I spoke to Marcel Lussier who sells processed recycled materials to the recycling industry for the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation. According to Lussier, The buyers of recycled paper will at some point have to convert it into pulp to make new paper. Lussier further explained that the paper is sorted and sold as different grades. Scraps of newspaper will go through this sorting process and be recycled, but hardened pieces of makigami will be sorted out and thrown away as contaminants. He also said any paper that is treated in some way, especially treatments that strengthen like posters, blueprints and laminations, will not break down in the pulping process. In other words, if you put makigami in your recycling bin youll actually be reducing the efficiency of the recycling process.
Do not recycle any newspaper that has been exposed to makigami rolling solution. Copyright 2011 Benjamin John Coleman vi | P a g e
Introduction
How to Clean and Reuse Latex Gloves

You dont need to use gloves to make makigami, but it saves an awful lot of time, and avoids much of the mess. Here is a method for cleaning and reusing gloves. Most gloves last at least eight sessions, but some last as many as 20.
1. When you finish a project dont take off your gloves. Wash them while theyre still on, using a soft sponge to remove any dried paint or rolling solution.
2. Allow the gloves to dry overnight. They will be inside-out. Its okay to leave them that way.
3. When youre ready to use them again, blow them up like a balloon. Sometimes the fingers tend to get stuck, so pull or twist them until they fill with air.
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Introduction
4. Turn the glove right-side-out.
5. Blow the glove up again. It is ready to wear.
Additional Tips for Reusing Gloves

I keep an inventory of both new and used gloves. Never try to put on a wet pair of gloves. Its almost impossible. Applying talcum powder to your hands makes putting gloves on easier. Discard any glove that has a hole in it.
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Chapter 1: Learning to Braid
1 Learning to Braid
Braiding is amazingly easy to do if you already know how to do it. If you dont, it seems amazingly complex. These statements seem to contradict each other. The simple truth is, there is a secret to braiding that makes it amazingly simple. Once you know the secret youll be able to braid anything anytime anywhere. You can practice braiding with string, shoelaces, yarn, or just about anything narrow and flexible. Youll figure out how to braid quickly, so you dont need to find three different color strands. Look at the pictures on the following pages and then begin to practice. Before you begin your first project you should be able to braid without referring to this book.
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We begin with the simplest of braids, the three-strand braid.
1. Separate the strands, one to the upper left and two to the upper right.
2. Move the top right strand (red) to the lower left.
3. Move the top left strand (blue) to the lower right.
4. Move the top right strand (yellow) to the lower left.
5. Move the top left strand (red) to the lower right.
6. Move the top right strand (blue) to the lower left.
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7. Move the top left strand (yellow) to the lower right.
8. Return to step 2 and repeat the steps.
As you completed the steps you should have noticed a pattern. The top strand of the side with the most strands always moves to the lowest position on the opposite side. This is the secret to braiding, and it works for any odd number of strands. You should also notice that the pattern repeats. Look at the pictures in step 2 and step 8. The configuration of the loose ends of the strands is exactly the same. Red is the furthest up (in the picture), followed by blue on the opposite side and then yellow on the same side. When we braid, all we do is repeat this pattern over and over again.
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Lets see if we can braid five strands using the same technique:
1. Separate the strands, two to the upper left and three to the upper right.
2.
Move the top right strand (red) to the lower left.
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3. Move the top left strand (blue) to the lower right.
4.
Move the top right strand (green) to the lower left.
5. Move the top left strand (white) to the lower right.
6. Move the top right strand (yellow) to the lower left.
7. Move the top left strand (red) to the lower right.
8. Move the top right strand (blue) to the lower left.
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9. Move the top left strand (green) to the lower right.
10. Move the top right strand (white) to the lower left.
11. Move the top left strand (yellow) to the lower right.
12. Return to step 2 and repeat the steps.
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First, notice that the same technique we used with a three strand braid also worked with a five strand braid. All we did is move the highest strand to the lowest position on the opposite side. Also notice that the configuration of the loose ends of the strands in step 12 is exactly the same as in step 2, just like steps 8 and 2 in the 3-strand braid. Take a look at the pictures below. The left image shows the 3-strand braid we made at the beginning of this chapter; the right shows the 5-strand we just completed. Notice the differences in the patterns. The 5-strand braid has longer angled segments, whereas the 3-strand braid has shorter segments. In the 3-strand each strand is constantly changing direction, in the 5 strand each strand becomes a straight line as it crosses the top of the braid. These differences may be useful to you in your designs.
The 3-strand braid we made at the beginning of this chapter.
The 5-strand braid we just completed.
Take a look at the following pages to see what happens as we braid with pairs and triplets of strands rather than single strands. This is where braiding starts to gets really interesting.
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Practice before you begin a project:
We want to simulate braiding makigami strips as closely as possible, so its time to build a braiding clamp. I use parts of a nifty helping hand tool I bought some years ago, along with a wide clip. I use this configuration because I dont have a lot of space.
Another option is to clamp a wide clip to the bottom of your work surface.
Its easy to practice braiding. All youll need is three shoelaces, or something similar like strands of yarn, string, or ribbon. Clamp the strands in your wide clip as shown. Set up the laces so that only a small amount protrudes from the wide clip.
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While makigami strips are not particularly delicate, their surfaces are. Even the slightest abrasion can cause unsightly tears in the surface. To avoid this, practice braiding by touching only as necessary to complete the braid. When you braid, make sure you are only touching where you need to. Do not run your fingers down the laces to avoid knots. If you get knots on the unbraided side of the laces it means youve got too much protruding from the clamp.
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3-Strand Braid made with Pairs
Notice that our finished pattern is of alternating colors. This braid looks amazing when three shades of the same color are used.
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5 Strand Braid made with Pairs
Notice that blue dominates the left; yellow the middle and red the right. This is a wonderful braid either with shades of the same color or using five different colors.
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3-Strand Braid made with Alternating Pairs
At first glance you might not notice a pattern, but in fact this is a powerful braid. Yellow, which is the leftmost strand above, dominates the left side of the finished braid. Red, the rightmost stand above, dominates the right side. This is a highly useful braid. Two shades of the same color create a sort of highlight, or direction. Using two vastly different colors creates a finished work that looks completely different depending on the angle from which it is viewed.
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5 Strand Braid made with Alternating Pairs
Notice that this braid is very similar to the 3 strand with alternating pairs. Long straight lengths of each strand are visible across the top of the braid. Yellow dominates the left side, and red the right. This is a wide braid and should only be attempted once youve mastered the five strand braid.
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3-Strand Braid made with Triplets
This braid creates a very wide, dramatic piece. I recommend using three shades of the same color.
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5 Strand Braid made with Triplets
Notice that blue dominates the left; yellow the middle and red the right. This is a wonderful braid either with shades of the same color or using three different colors.
This is an extremely wide braid and should only be attempted once you have mastered the five strand braid with pairs
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3-Strand Braid made with Alternating Triplets
Notice that blue dominates the left; yellow the middle and red the right. This is a wonderful braid either with shades of the same color or using three different colors.
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5 Strand Braid made with Alternating Triplets
In this, the most complicated of the braids I present in this book, blue dominates the left side, red the right, and yellow is the predominant color in the middle. This braid is extremely difficult to make and should only be attempted after mastering the five strand braid with pairs.
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M A K I G A M I: Recycle Newspaper into beautiful Jewelry 10. Set up your workspace.
Chapter 2: Learning to Make Makigami
The workspace pictured above is set up for a right-handed person. If youre left-handed, youll want your makigami rolling solution on the left side. Be vigilant! Keep your container of rolling solution a good distance away from you so you dont tip it over when you roll a strip.
11. Put on a pair of latex gloves. Use your paintbrush to apply a liberal amount of rolling solution to the pan. Cover an area that is roughly the same size as the pieces of newspaper you cut in step 6.
Reuse your Gloves

If you take care of a pair of latex gloves they will last between five and ten uses. I like using gloves because they reduce clean up time and keep fingerprints off my work. After completing a project, I wash my hands with the gloves on. When I take them off they turn inside out. I leave them to dry overnight. The next day Ill reuse the same pair, first blowing them up, like a balloon, and then turning them right side out and putting them on.
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Chapter 3: Braided Jewelry
Finishing an Earrings and Pendant Set with Medium Taper
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Chapter 3: Braided Jewelry
7. The underside of your bangle bracelet should look similar to this.
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Chapter 4: Working with Color
4 Working with Color
In this chapter you will learn how to make makigami rolling solutions of different colors. Varying the color of your rolling solution allows you to create works that look far more complex than single colors afford. These techniques will also allow you to express your artistic vision more dramatically. Color gradients, that is, adjusting the shade of one color by adding small amounts of another, create amazingly complex looking assemblies. We begin by mixing makigami rolling solution in the three primary colors, red, yellow and blue. We also mix white and black makigami rolling solutions so we can adjust the brightness of a color. This allows us to create virtually any color in any shade we might desire.
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I use empty jelly jars for my colored makigami rolling solution.
Youll also need some wide, shallow cups to hold makigami rolling solution. When we do gradients, we dont want to work directly from our solution reserve. Instead we pour smaller amounts into these cups and work with them, discarding unused solution when were done. The cups shown here contained granola that came with some yogurt I bought.
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Adding a Brightly Colored Finish

By now youve probably realized that you can mix makigami rolling solution in any color. You may also have noticed that colors in our finished assemblies tend to be subdued. To obtain more vibrant color, you can paint your assemblies after they have cured. It is best to use white makigami rolling solution if you plan to paint your work. Other colors can be painted, but may require more coats of paint to achieve the desired color. If you do plan to paint your work, consider painting a more dilute, but different color as your second coat. You can obtain some beautiful finishes by combining colors in this way. You can even simulate wood tones.
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1. Cure your assemblies and finish them just as you did on Page 45. To obtain a bright solid color, mix equal parts wood glue and acrylic paint in a small cup along with a small amount of water. I mixed equal parts white and red to create pink.
2. I wear a glove on the hand I use to hold the earring. This keeps my fingerprints from getting impressed into the finish. Carefully paint the earrings making sure your paint gets in all the cracks and crevices. Dont forget to paint the inside and underside of the earring.
3. Allow the first coat of paint to dry and then add a second, much more dilute coat of the same color, or a different color. In this example I mixed part acrylic white and part acrylic blue paint, with 1 part wood glue and 10 parts water. The resultant mixture should be about as thick as whole milk.
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4. Apply liberal amounts of the mixture to the earring.
5. Work the mixture into the cracks and crevices of the earring. This type of finish benefits from buildups that occur in the cracks.
6. Here are our finished earrings. If you look closely youll see that the finish varies and looks quite interesting.
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I obtained this color by painting a mixture of equal parts acrylic yellow paint and wood glue along with a small amount of water. Then I painted a second coat of equal parts dark brown acrylic paint and wood glue along with about 10 parts water. The overall color varies from yellow to dark brown and reminds me of oak finishes I have seen.
This pendant has a reflective green finish. I painted it with one coat of part acrylic green paint and part acrylic shiny gold paint mixed with one part wood glue and a small amount of water.
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Gradient Colored Makigami

Braided makigami is visually complex. Part of this complexity comes from color. We cant control all the colors we work with because some of them come from the original newspaper we used. For example, consider an advertisement that includes a picture of red marbles. If we use blue makigami rolling solution, those red marbles will appear as areas of purple color in our finished assembly. This variation is desirable. Even better is the ability to control the variation by changing the color of our makigami solution. The techniques described on the following pages will allow you to add controlled color variation to your projects.
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Three Step Gradient from White to Blue
1. Before beginning any project, you need to do some planning. First, decide what type of project youd like to make from chapter 7. In this example, Im going to make a three strand earrings and pendant set from page 112. That means Im going to need six short makigami strands and three long ones. Next, consider how much taper youd like.
2. Because Im doing a gradient, two short and one long strand will be white, two short and one long strand will be light blue, and two short and one long strand will be blue. I separate my pieces of newspaper into three groups. Notice that I have opted to make a highly tapered set.
3. When performing a gradient color shift, always start with the lightest color first. Pour small amounts of each color youll be using into shallow cups. For this gradient, I begin with equal amounts of white and blue.
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4. Roll two short and one long strip in the white makigami rolling solution.
5. Clean any excess rolling solution left behind in your rolling pan. If you dont clean the excess it will lighten the color of your finished strands.
6. Dip your brush in the blue makigami solution and add it to the white solution. Do this several times until youre happy with the change in color.
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7. Roll two short and one long strand in the light blue makigami rolling solution.
8. As in step 5, wipe up excess solution so it doesnt dilute the next color.
9. Roll your remaining strips in the dark blue makigami rolling solution. Carefully wash your hands with the gloves on. This is to ensure that dried chips of paint dont end up on your finished assembly.
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10. Braid and finish your project as described on pages 32 through 34.
11. After being braided and cured our gradient looks like this.
Heres the same gradient color, but in a more complex braid similar to the one presented on page 117.
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Clear Coat Color Shitfs

Clear coats allow us to shift the overall color of a project while at the same time maintaining the variation in color we achieved when we rolled our strands in gradient color. Clear coats are easy to do, but should be carefully considered. A clear coat will either bring out the complexity of your braid and leave you awestruck, or it will yield results you didnt expect, and might not like. Its important to remember fundamental rules of color mixing. A beautiful lavender braid will turn into a beautiful brown braid if a clear coat of yellow is added. Because they are highly diluted with water, clear coats could also be called dilute coats. Your ratio of paint to glue is always equal. Your ratio of paint to water is variable and depends on the difference in color of the strands youre painting. If the strands are similar in color (in the same color family like peach and tangerine are both oranges), one part paint, one part glue and ten parts water are the ratios I recommend. If your colors are in different color families, like black and white, you can use as many as five parts paint, five parts glue and 10 parts water.
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This is the original pendant and earrings set that we will modify by adding a clear coat of color. Notice that the colors are similar, blue, light blue and white.
1. Mix 10 parts water with 1 part paint and 1 part wood glue. In this example I used part yellow and part blue to 10 parts water and
2. Apply a liberal amount of the mixture to your assembly. Work the paint into all cracks and crevices. Do not allow the mixture to pool; remove excess paint with a dry brush.
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3. The finished set is pictured right. Notice the color shift between this and the original picture on the opposite page.
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More Examples of Clear Coat Color Shifts
Application of a green clear coat. Because there isnt a much color variation between the light blue and white makigami strips in this set, our clear coat must be mixed thinly. A ratio of 10 parts water to 1 part paint and 1 part wood glue is appropriate. Notice how the green color shifted the original colors. After application of a green clear coat, light gray has become light green, light blue becomes blue green, and dark blue becomes turquoise.
Application of a yellow clear coat. In this example, notice that the original colors are fairly close in shade. If the clear coat were too thick we would have lost this difference in color. After application of a clear coat of yellow, we obtain two shades of yellowish green. The appropriate ratio is 10 parts water to 1 part paint and 1 part wood glue.
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Application of a blue clear coat. Before the blue clear coat, the assembly looks a little bit hap-hazard. After the clear coat it looks more deliberate, more like the colors belong together. Im not sure which I prefer. A 10 parts water to 2 parts paint and 2 parts wood glue was used for the clear coat.
Application of a thicker purple clear coat. In this example, the pendant pictured above-left is made from two colors of makigami. The pendants color variation is large, between light gray and black, therefore we can mix a thicker clear coat and obtain a more richly colored finished piece. A mixture of 10 parts water to 4 parts paint and 4 parts wood glue was used. There is more information on this technique in chapter 7.
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This pendant has a finish that looks a lot like fish scales. The original colors were similar to those obtained in the 5 Step Gradient video on page 63 (peach/tangerine). After it cured I painted it with one coat of a mixture of part yellow acrylic and part shiny gold acrylic paint, one part wood glue and 10 parts water.
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Chapter 5: Clip On Designs
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M A K I G A M I: Recycle Newspaper into beautiful Jewelry The same technique used to braid a doll can also be used to braid animals.
I began this lizard-like creature the same way I began the doll, by braiding two legs. I then added a seventh strand of makigami to represent the tail. The body is made up of seven braided strands, three become the head, and four the arms.
Pictured at left is the underside of the creature depicted above. Notice how the tail becomes incorporated in the seven-strand braid which represents the body.
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How to make a Butterfly

Heres a fun project that looks nice. The butterfly is an assembly of two pendants, two earrings and a five strand slip-on clip. The clip, which forms the body, also incorporates antennae. In this example, my butterflys wings are all three-strand braids. That means I need six pieces of newspaper for the two larger wings, and six for the two smaller wings. The body, including the antennae, is made from a five strand braid. Strands for the smaller wings began as pieces of newspaper that measured 4 inches long by 2 inches at their widest (11.4 x 6.4 cm). Pieces of newspaper that make up the larger wings measured 9 inches long by 3 inches at their widest (24 x 9.5 cm). The body was made from pieces of newspaper that measured 11 inches long by 3 inches at their widest.
1. Cut 6 long pieces for the bigger wings, 6 shorter pieces for the smaller wings, and 5 extra long pieces for the body. Notice that the pieces representing wings are more highly tapered than those representing the body of the insect.
2. Roll the strips for the body of your insect first. I rolled the five longest strips in black makigami rolling solution. This gives the butterfly a very dark colored body.
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3. Insert the strips into a clamp and then braid approximately one half of the total length.
4. Now braid only the middle three strands for their entire length.
5. Your assembly should look like this. The two outer stands will form antennae.
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6. Remove the assembly from the clip. Fold it to create a slide-on clip, just forward of the point where you switched from five strand braiding to three strand braiding. Insert an isolator (from page 75), and use a clothes pin to secure the assembly while it dries.
7. Curl each antenna as shown, and then release it. This creates a friendly-looking butterfly with graceful, curling antennae.
8. Allow the body to cure.
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9. Roll the strips which represent the wings of your butterfly. I rolled mine in a three-step gradient, from yellow to red.
10. Braid each of the wings with three strands. Use one of each color strand for each wing.
11. Overlap the narrow ends.
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12. Use a clothespin to hold the ends in place.
13. Shape each wing.
14. Carefully compare the wing shapes. They should exactly mirror each other.
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15. Allow the wings to cure before proceeding to the next step.
16. Trim the tail of the butterflys body.
17. Trim the unbraided makigami from each wing, leaving a flat tab.
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18. Assemble your butterfly without glue. Look at how the wings align to the body. Experiment with the angles until youre happy with the overall look.
19. Attach a clothes pin to the body to hold the clip open.
20. Paint a generous amount of glue onto the body of the butterfly. Do not add any glue to the clip side.
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21. Apply a generous amount of glue to each wings tab.
22. Assemble the butterfly beginning with the larger wings. Notice that my left hand is pinching the clip. This helps keep the wings in place.
23. Add the smaller wings. Notice that my left hand is still pinching the clip.
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Copyright 2011 Benjamin John
24. Flip the butterfly and slide a plastic insulator between the wings and the clip.
25. Use a clothes pin to secure the wings while the glue sets. Allow the butterfly to dry for at least four hours.
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Here are some butterflies and a dragonfly Ive made.
Chapter 6: Working with Grayscales
6 Working with Grayscales

The coloring techniques we learned in chapter 5 created more softly colored, natural looking jewelry. In this chapter we steer a different course. Now you will learn how to make makigami jewelry with richer, brighter colors while at the same time maintaining variable color. This allows us to create highly complex-looking work in relatively little time.
A simple rule helps us achieve these dramatic results. Humans perceive the color of an object based on how light reflects off it. The way light bounces off black is very different than the way it bounces off of white. Basically, we screw up the way light bounces off our braided makigami by using black, or more accurately, shades of black otherwise known as grayscales.
We use a combination of techniques to create brightly colored makigami. First, we roll our strips in calibrated shades of gray makigami rolling solution. That means youre going to mix makigami rolling solution so it matches a specific shade of gray in this book. For a three grayscale project youll mix white, 50/50 gray and black makigami solutions. The white and black solutions are easy to mix, but youll need to confirm that your gray solution matches the color swatch on page 106. You can also download a sheet of printable swatches from www.tobedetermined.com.
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Were also going to use color families, or colors that are related in our projects. A family of colors is related through mixing. For example, yellow, green and blue are a family of colors because green is made by combining yellow and blue. Well paint a thick, first coat of yellow followed by a thin coat of blue thereby obtaining shades of green in our finished work. An example is pictured at right. We can make any project by relating colors in this manner. The first, thicker layer of color is called the base color. In the example just given, our finished project will be shades of light green.
If we began by painting a thick first coat of blue, and then painted a thinner yellow coat, wed end up with shades of blue-green. Our base color would be blue and our overall color would be shades of turquoise. This all sounds complicated, but in practice its fairly simple. Lighter base coats yield greater color variation, but wont look as rich. Darker base coats yield less variation, but tend to look richer. You can counteract the likelihood that a base coat will override your color variation by mixing it with more water; however this will result in a less-rich looking final color. An example of a more dilute base coat of blue followed by yellow is pictured at left. 105 | P a g e Coleman Copyright 2011 Benjamin John
Gray Scale Swatches

For best results, mix your makigami rolling solution and then compare the gray color with these swatches. A printable document with these swatches can be downloaded at www.bookwebsite.com.
3 Gray Scale
Mix white and then black makigami rolling solutions. Pour some of the white solution into a third container. Add small amounts of the black rolling solution until the gray color matches the center color of the swatch pictured at right.
5 Gray Scale
Mix white and black makigami rolling solutions. Pour white solution into three additional containers. Add black to each container of white until they match the swatches pictured at left.
Important note: Using five gray scales is labor intensive. It is strongly recommended that you work with three gray scales until you have mastered the painting process.
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Mixing 3 Scale Makigami Rolling Solution

NOTE: You should do all mixing in your sink so spills are easy to clean up.
Combine 1 part white with 1 part black makigami rolling solution. Confirm that the color is correct by comparing it to the 3 color swatch. Add small amounts of white or black to adjust the color.
Mixing 5 Scale Makigami Rolling Solution
1. Begin by pouring gray 3-scale makigami rolling solution into two cups.
2. Work on the lighter shade first. Dip a clean brush into the white reservoir and then mix it into the gray solution. Compare the color to the 2nd row of grayscale on page 106. If it matches, youre done. If not, clean your brush, and then dip it in the white reservoir again. Repeat until the color matches.
3. Do the same procedure with the fourth grayscale, except that youll be adding black makigami rolling solution instead of white.
108 | P a g e
A Tale of Two Pendants
Heres a 9 strand pendant and earrings I made in 3-gray scale makigami.
Heres another 9 strand pendant I made in 3-gray scale makigami.
I painted this set with a base coat of 10 parts water, 4 parts blue acrylic paint and 4 parts wood glue.
I painted this pendant with a base coat of 10 parts water, 2 parts blue acrylic paint and 2 parts wood glue.
I then painted this set with a final coat of 10 parts water, 1 part yellow acrylic paint and 1 part wood glue. 109 | P a g e Coleman
I then painted this pendant with a final coat of 10 parts water, 1 part yellow acrylic paint and 1 part wood glue.
Notice the differences between these two pendants. The pendant on the left (with earrings) has a much deeper, richer color. There is some color variation, but its limited. The pendant is mostly dark blue with some hues of dark blue/turquoise. I think it is beautiful. The pendant on the right has more color variation. It is lighter in color, and if you look closely it has a brushed, sort of rough-looking finish. I think it is also beautiful. Basically, the point Im trying to get across is that youve got to be dynamic in terms of your approach to color. There are tradeoffs. Either youre going to get rich, deep color and not much variation, or youre going to get lots of variation and a less-rich color. Both styles are beautiful.
110 | P a g e
Chapter 7: Project Reference Guide
7 Project Reference Guide
On the pages that follow youll see a picture of a project along with tables of measurements. These measurements correspond to lengths C and D pictured above. Each measurement given is a range of values, so you can opt to make your project either larger or smaller than the example shown. The actual measurements for the project are also given in the column on the far right of the table. A, B and E are not given. Here are some general rules for their lengths: A has no minimum or maximum value. If A is zero, then your strip has no taper. If A is large, your strip will have a lot of taper. B should always be a minimum of inch (1.3 cm). The longer your B the thicker your makigami strand will be. E should be a minimum of inch (1.3 cm). Note: As I wrote this book I did measure my pieces of newspaper, but only after I had already cut them. When Im working I dont measure, I estimate. Measurements of finished pieces are not given. This is because the size of the finished piece is dependent upon the type and tightness of braid. As a general rule, expect to lose at least a third of the length (D) of your original piece of newspaper. 111 | P a g e Copyright 2011 Benjamin John Coleman
3 Single Strands - Earrings and Pendant Set
Earrings
C D US (inches) 0 to 5 2 to 8 6 strips make two earrings Metric (cm) 0 to 13 5 to 20 As Shown (inches/cm) 2/5 4/10
Pendant
C D US (inches) 0 to 12 2 to 24 3 strips make one pendant Metric (cm) 0 to 30 5 to 60 As Shown (inches/cm) 3.5/9 11/28
This project takes approximately 20 minutes to complete. Copyright 2011 Benjamin John Coleman 112 | P a g e
5 Single Strands - Earrings and Pendant Set
Earrings
C D US (inches) 0 to 5 3 to 9 10 strips make two earrings Metric (cm) 0 to 13 7.5 to 23 As Shown (inches/cm) 3.5/9 4.5/11.5
Pendant
This project takes approximately 30 minutes to complete. 113 | P a g e Copyright 2011 Benjamin John Coleman
3 Pairs of Strands - Earrings and Pendant Set
Earrings
C D US (inches) 0 to 5 2 to 8 12 strips make two earrings Metric (cm) 0 to 13 5 to 20 As Shown (inches/cm) 3/7.6 6/15
Pendant
This project takes approximately 40 minutes to complete. Copyright 2011 Benjamin John Coleman 114 | P a g e
5 Pairs of Strands Pendant
Pendant
C D US (inches) 0 to 12 2 to 24 10 strips make one pendant Metric (cm) 0 to 30 5 to 60 As Shown (inches/cm) 6/15 11/28
This project takes approximately 30 minutes to complete.
115 | P a g e
3 Triplets of Strands Pendant
Pendant
C D US (inches) 0 to 12 2 to 24 9 strips make one pendant Metric (cm) 0 to 30 5 to 60 As Shown (inches/cm) 3.5/9 11.75/30
116 | P a g e
3 Braided Sets of 3 Strands Pendant
Pendant
C D US (inches) 0 to 8 5 to 24 9 strips make one pendant Metric (cm) 0 to 20 13 to 60 As Shown (inches/cm) 2/5 9.5/24
This pendant is made from three sets of three braided strands. I braid each set of three strands, and then braid the braided assemblies. As you can see, it creates a highly complex pendant. This project takes approximately 40 minutes to complete.
117 | P a g e
3 Braided Sets of Five Strands Pendant
Pendant
C D US (inches) 0 to 8 5 to 24 15 strips make one pendant Metric (cm) 0 to 20 13 to 60 As Shown (inches/cm) 2/5 9.5/24
This pendant is made from three sets of five braided strands. I braid each set of five strands, and then braid the braided assemblies. The finished pendant is quite different from the one on the previous page, but also quite beautiful. This project takes approximately 50 minutes to complete.
118 | P a g e
5 Pairs of Strands Bangle Bracelet
Bangle Bracelet
C D US (inches) 0 to 8 8 to 24 10 strips make one bangle bracelet Metric (cm) 0 to 20 20 to 60 As Shown (inches/cm) 3/7.5 11.75/30
119 | P a g e
3 Triplets of Strands Hair Pin
Hair Pin
C D US (inches) 0 to 8 5 to 24 9 strips make one hair pin Metric (cm) 0 to 20 13 to 60 As Shown (inches/cm) 3/7.6 11.5/29
The hair pin also requires that you make a thick, tapered shaft of paper. See page 55 for details. This project takes approximately 40 minutes to complete.
120 | P a g e
Rings
3 Strand Ring
C D 3 strips make one ring. A longer D creates overlap. US (inches) Metric (cm) 0 to 5 0 to 13 2 to 8 5 to 20 Little Taper vs. Lots of Taper As Shown (inches/cm) 1.5/4 vs. 3/7.6 4.5/11.4
5 Strand Ring
C D US (inches) 0 to 5 2 to 8 5 strips make one ring Metric (cm) 0 to 13 5 to 20 As Shown (inches/cm) 2.25/6 7/18
These projects take approximately 10 minutes to complete. 121 | P a g e Copyright 2011 Benjamin John Coleman

Makigami: Recycle Newspaper Into Beautiful Jewelry

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Makigami: Recycle Newspaper into Beautiful Jewelry teaches how to turn newspaper into amazingly complex braided jewelry.

M A K I G A M I: Recycle Newspaper into beautiful Jewelry

Copyright 2011 Benjamin John Coleman, All Rights Reserved.

Copyright 2011 Benjamin John Coleman

M A K I G A M I: Recycle Newspaper into beautiful Jewelry

Copyright 2011 Benjamin John Coleman

M A K I G A M I: Recycle Newspaper into beautiful Jewelry

M A K I G A M I: Recycle Newspaper into beautiful Jewelry

Makigami and Braiding

Copyright 2011 Benjamin John Coleman

M A K I G A M I: Recycle Newspaper into beautiful Jewelry

M A K I G A M I: Recycle Newspaper into beautiful Jewelry

How to Clean and Reuse Latex Gloves

Copyright 2011 Benjamin John Coleman

M A K I G A M I: Recycle Newspaper into beautiful Jewelry

4. Turn the glove right-side-out.

5. Blow the glove up again. It is ready to wear.

Additional Tips for Reusing Gloves

Copyright 2011 Benjamin John Coleman

M A K I G A M I: Recycle Newspaper into beautiful Jewelry

Chapter 1: Learning to Braid

Copyright 2011 Benjamin John Coleman

M A K I G A M I: Recycle Newspaper into beautiful Jewelry

Chapter 1: Learning to Braid

We begin with the simplest of braids, the three-strand braid.

2. Move the top right strand (red) to the lower left.

3. Move the top left strand (blue) to the lower right.

4. Move the top right strand (yellow) to the lower left.

5. Move the top left strand (red) to the lower right.

6. Move the top right strand (blue) to the lower left.

Copyright 2011 Benjamin John Coleman

M A K I G A M I: Recycle Newspaper into beautiful Jewelry

Chapter 1: Learning to Braid

7. Move the top left strand (yellow) to the lower right.

8. Return to step 2 and repeat the steps.

Copyright 2011 Benjamin John Coleman

M A K I G A M I: Recycle Newspaper into beautiful Jewelry

Chapter 1: Learning to Braid

Move the top right strand (red) to the lower left.

Copyright 2011 Benjamin John Coleman

M A K I G A M I: Recycle Newspaper into beautiful Jewelry

Chapter 1: Learning to Braid

3. Move the top left strand (blue) to the lower right.

Move the top right strand (green) to the lower left.

5. Move the top left strand (white) to the lower right.

6. Move the top right strand (yellow) to the lower left.

7. Move the top left strand (red) to the lower right.

8. Move the top right strand (blue) to the lower left.

Copyright 2011 Benjamin John Coleman

M A K I G A M I: Recycle Newspaper into beautiful Jewelry

Chapter 1: Learning to Braid

9. Move the top left strand (green) to the lower right.

12. Return to step 2 and repeat the steps.

Copyright 2011 Benjamin John Coleman

M A K I G A M I: Recycle Newspaper into beautiful Jewelry

Chapter 1: Learning to Braid

The 3-strand braid we made at the beginning of this chapter.

The 5-strand braid we just completed.

Copyright 2011 Benjamin John Coleman

M A K I G A M I: Recycle Newspaper into beautiful Jewelry

Chapter 1: Learning to Braid

Practice before you begin a project:

Copyright 2011 Benjamin John Coleman