DETAILS
Materials: handmade yuzen origami paper, golden thread, golden bead, paper card, European crystal heart
"Paper Crane, I will write peace on your wings and you will fly all over the world."
Sadako Sasaki, Age 12

This is a beautiful "Gold Tracery Teal" origami peace crane ornament, inspired by the Japanese tradition of folding one thousand paper cranes as a prayer for peace, prosperity, health, and good fortune. This design really consists of deep blue, light blue, white, pink, green AND teal colors, all enhanced with sparkling gold tracery. It's rich color and flower ornamentation is stunning, especially when seen in bright sunlight. The crane is strung on golden thread with a golden bead and a crystal heart.

Our special paper is crafted by Japanese artisans who make each sheet by hand from renewable plant fibers. The paper is called Yuzen paper and the designs are hand screened on large sheets that we then cut into precise squares for folding. The patterns have beautiful jewel like colors and gold and are really impossible to fully capture in a photograph! Because the squares we fold are cut from a large piece of paper, placement of the pattern on individual cranes may vary.

The cranes come packaged flat with a card that shows how to pop them open and contains the story of Sadako. They measure 4 and 1/2 by 2 and 1/4 inches and are perfect for slipping into a card to send to a friend. The opened cranes measure 3 inches high, 2 and 1/2 inches deep and about 3 to 4 inches from wingtip to wingtip, depending how wide you open them. The golden thread is about 9 inches long (including the crane).

What do people do with these beautiful cranes? We see them a lot hanging from rearview mirrors in their cars, and they are stunning hanging from Christmas trees. They make wonderful holiday gifts for any holiday and in their flat packages you can pop them into a card and into the mail! But one of the most common and moving uses we know of is as a gift for someone who is ill or injured, and we see them hanging in hospital rooms where they catch the light and bring a bright splash of color. They are also very popular for weddings and celebrations of every kind, and many times they have been used in memorial services.

"This is our cry, this is our prayer; Peace in the world"
Hiroshima Peace Park