I’m not crafty. Not even remotely. Not in the “masterminding a historic Las Vegas casino heist with my World War II buddies” clever sense. Not in the “concocting a working cold fusion reactor from a USB cable, sweet potato and titanium spork” improvisational-and-inventive sense. I can’t make an “egg” from typing paper ala Pee Wee Herman without paper-cutting my digits to ribbons. But that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate someone making a great ape’s likeness from something in my gym bag.
I had never imagined such a thing as origami towels until an impromptu Barnes & Noble expedition last week. But there it was, right beside coffee-table book odes to Alberto Vargas and Lucille Ball (two enduring symbols of our Head Geektress, Scarlett): a book devoted to folding folding towel animals and more. If EVER anything was an ethereal “make a Geek Gem of this NAO!” signal, it was that. To my utter shock, there wasn’t just one title devoted to this. So please, before you go prepping your bath towels in the drier, let me give you a few options …
What can I say about this 80-page title that the book’s synopsis doesn’t: “Towel meets T-rex and lives to tell about it.”
Boasting 15 unique prehistoric designs from former fashion designer and origami artiste Alison Jenkins, this book has virtually limitless crossover appeal. Show me a late-20s or early-30s moviegoer who wasn’t pee-pants excited about seeing Jurassic Park in theaters, or a kid who doesn’t dig prehistoric giant reptiles, and I’ll show you someone who looks sexy in samurai underwear. They don’t exist. Trust me.
Whether you make this a fascinating coffee table book that lets your guests curiously eye-ball the cool designs, or you actually impress family and friends alike by making a few yourself, you can’t deny this is a conversation starter. And bonus: this is one of the few remaining unique housewarming gift ideas left under the sun.
This 64-page book offers up much more than just towel origami instructions and photo examples for creating 12 more recent, still-roaming-the-land-and-sea species such as polar bears, lobsters, monkeys, frogs and elephants. This kit actually throws in the raw materials, including two packs of wobbly eyes and even the towels themselves. One customer review describes the kit as “fun for adults, a challenge for children.”
Suddenly, I want a wobbly-eyed towel monkey. I think I just want to start calling people “wobbly-eyed towel monkeys.” ;)
For the record, Jenkins has authored five books about origami towels. Think she’s found a niche? It was this very book that stared back at me from betwixt Ms. Ball and a Vargas muse. Or rather, it was the terry-cloth King Kong on the front cover.
Fitting, since this is the giant of the bunch: 224 pages that can teach you the ways of folding 50-plus towel sculptures in the likenesses of Kong himself, the Empire State Building, a bear, a leopard, a cupcake and … Elvis? I might buy this book just to fold a towel Elvis and perch him atop my toilet. Hey, I said I’m not crafty. I never said that couldn’t change!
