Visiting Thailand, one is amazed by how much Buddhism is part of the society. Chiang Mai, the second city, about 700 km North of Bangkok is known to be the city of temples with over a thousand ones within the city walls and in the surroundings.
Buddhist temples are always bright and colourful. Many decorations contribute to that, including paper flags, cut by the monks and usually gathered into bunches.
They are quite easy to make. Just follow the steps described below.
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| Fold 1 |
Use a square colourful sheet of tissue paper, about 30 x 30 cm. Fold it into 2, following a diagonal.
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| Fold2 |
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| Fold 3 |
The next fold is done along the height of the triangle you've just obtained. Use the height coming from the right angle. Repeat this action
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| Final shape |
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| Fold 4 |
For the forth fold, don't follow the same height. Instead, use one of the other heights
Cut really thin triangles along the dotted lines to form a zigzag.
In the top part of the final shape, the uncut part, cut out some shapes. Be creative but keep it simple.
Unfold everything but be careful as it is quite fragile. You should get something looking like the square displayed on the left. The blue cross shows where you should attach a string. In Thailand, people sometimes then attach this string to a wooden stick, but quite often, especially in temples, the kites are just attached together without using wood. If you do wish to use a wooden stick, don't make the string too long. Once attached, gently push the corners down to form some sort of tube. Your kite is ready.
This is the one I made just before writing this post.
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