How to Make an Origami Heart That's Cool

Use plain construction or origami paper to create a heart.

Origami is a type of paper folding that is thought to have originated in China or Japan after the invention of paper. This craft takes complicated paper folding techniques to make beautiful or useful pieces of art. You can use origami for letters, decoration or mathematical models. There are many varieties of hearts that you can fold into origami, but a particularly cool one is simple and looks slightly 3-D when completed.

Things You'll Need

• Square sheet of paper (plain or decorative)

Instructions

1. Fold your piece of paper in half. Unfold the paper. Fold the paper in half the opposite direction and unfold. You should have four boxes on your piece of paper. Fold the top of the paper to the center line. Repeat with the bottom edge of the paper.

2. Fold each bottom corner to the center top of the paper and unfold. Fold the top corners to the bottom center of the paper and unfold. This will create 12 small triangles on your piece of paper. Fold the left edge of the paper straight to the point of the first triangle and unfold. Repeat with the right edge of the paper.

3. Fold each corner of the paper into the creases that you just created. Hold the piece of paper by the folded corners and bring the outside edges towards each other to create the basic heart shape.

4. Lay the paper on the table. Fold each top corner diagonally into the first crease on the top of the paper and unfold. Fold these creases to the back of the heart. Fold the top flaps down and the tips inward. You can fold back these triangles to create your finished heart.

References

• K's Origami: History of Origami
• Origami Fun: Origami Heart