I came across this little craft idea the other day and it really intrigued me. It is called, as you can guess, Tea Bag Folding and it is kind of like a cross between origami and tessellations. Apparently the art has been around for some time, but it has recently been revived and given the name of tea bag folding by some women who used the decorative papers that their tea came wrapped in to make the art. The thing I love most about this project is how green it is! It encourages people to recycle and re-use all different types of paper that they come across every day and throw away without thinking twice about it. I did this project using the printing on the inside of the security envelopes that my bills come in. Some people have suggested that if you do want to buy paper for this craft, then go to the dollar store and buy the cheap printed notepads that are meant to be hung on the fridge or put by the phone. They have designs that are great for this and are way more bang for your buck than expensive scrapbooking paper. Plus they are thinner and easier to fold.
The basic idea behind tea bag folding is to take squares of printed paper and fold them up into "tiles" that can then be arranged into beautiful designs called "medallions". They are great for paper crafts like cards, gift tags, or you can frame them and turn them into wall art. They are also super easy for beginner craftsters like me! This pretty star was made using sticky notes. The paper had some text on it, but that just added to the design.
The basic idea behind tea bag folding is to take squares of printed paper and fold them up into "tiles" that can then be arranged into beautiful designs called "medallions". They are great for paper crafts like cards, gift tags, or you can frame them and turn them into wall art. They are also super easy for beginner craftsters like me! This pretty star was made using sticky notes. The paper had some text on it, but that just added to the design.
My Experience: As mentioned, I decided to take an old security envelope and cut it up to do this craft and see how it turned out.
I followed instructions for a very simple pattern and these are the tiles I came up with.
I simply laid them side-by-side in a square arrangement. To me the security envelope print ended up looking quite masculine, which I was actually really pleased with. I have a hard time finding crafty things I can do and give to guys, but this seemed perfect. I ended up using these to make a card for my father-in-law's birthday. Perfect. You'll notice in the pics that some of the red printing that was on the outside of the envelope (now on the inside of the tiles) was visible, so I just glued the pieces down so it couldn't be seen. 
I simply laid them side-by-side in a square arrangement. To me the security envelope print ended up looking quite masculine, which I was actually really pleased with. I have a hard time finding crafty things I can do and give to guys, but this seemed perfect. I ended up using these to make a card for my father-in-law's birthday. Perfect. You'll notice in the pics that some of the red printing that was on the outside of the envelope (now on the inside of the tiles) was visible, so I just glued the pieces down so it couldn't be seen. 
For all kinds of instructions and more information about this fun craft visit http://www.squidoo.com/teabagfolding
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