Tea bag folding is a paper craft also known as Miniature Kaleidoscopic Origami. It was created by a woman named Tiny van der Plaas, in Holland. According to the story, she was in need of a unique and decorative birthday card. As she sat thinking, she began absently folding a tea bag envelope that was on the table. Voila! Tea bag folding was born.
Unlike more traditional origami, tea bag folding is used to create symmetrical designs and medallions. These crafts are then used to decorate other items such as greeting cards, scrapbooks, photo albums, picture frames and whatever else your imagination comes up with. Take a look through the sites listed at right for some great photos and examples.
As this new craft grew in popularity, the use of actual tea bag envelopes diminished and people began offering special craft papers in a variety of designs and colours. The more traditional tea bag folders out there still use the envelopes.
So, this may not have a lot to do with tea, but maybe now you have a use for all those tea bag envelopes you are forever throwing away.
