I’m a bit worried, though. I am making this to be sold or auctioned at the parish Christmas Fair, and I’m afraid people won’t know how to handle them. The figures are actually very delicate: not like porcelain – they won’t shatter if they fall – but the tissue foil they are made of is very malleable. If you hold the figures a bit too hard when you pick them up, they deform. If you put them in a box and squeeze them a bit when you close the lid, they will deform. If someone’s kid picks them up, they are likely to bend them out of shape. A cat at the owner’s home could easily (and joyfully) destroy them…
I have to consult the origami pros to find out if there is something I can do to harden the figures. Maybe some sort of an acid-free spray shellac… I know the famous (in the origami world) Mark Kennedy does something like this with his origami jewelry. The problem is, the Christmas Fair is the day after tomorrow. I have a vicariate meeting tomorrow, and a Sunday homily to write… I’m not sure I’ll have time to finish folding the last few figures (the baby Jesus and the crib) and apply a hardening solution on time.
The best thing to do is spray them with polyurethane, acrylic or shellac. Some people do laminate their creation, I’m not sure if that can be done with these models.. And at the end of it all, it depends in whose hands these delicate figures fall into.
All the very best for the Christmas Fair!
Beautiful! Now after Mary gives birth we’re all set.