6. Origami Tree at the American Museum of Natural History
This year’s theme for the American Museum of Natural History‘s origami tree is Proboscideans on Parade, inspired by the museum’s new exhibition, The Secret World of Elephants. A colorful garland of hundreds of elephants wraps around the tree where you’ll also find paper versions of a woolly mammoth, the iconic Blue Whale, a T-Rex, and many more. Each ornament is hand-folded by local, national, and international origami artists. The 13-foot Christmas holds over 1,000 pieces of origami!
In the 1970s, Museum entomologist Alice Gray began creating paper models of insects based on the Museum’s collections. Those models made their way onto a small holiday tree in one of the scientific offices, and a new tradition was born. You can spot iconic museum attractions like the Blue Whale, Tyrannosaurus rex, and Titanosaur hanging on the tree.
