How to Make a Paper Heart Origami

You can do a lot with just a piece of paper, as proven by the art of origami. Origami is the practice of folding paper to create sculptures both simple and complex. Some are functional---boxes or flying darts, for instance---while others are purely decorative, including birds, butterflies and flowers. Traditional origami, which was developed in Japan, uses no scissors or glue. Usually sculptures are made from square sheets of special origami paper, often printed with patterns or colors. If you don't have origami paper, cut a piece of lightweight paper into a square.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Square sheet of lightweight paper

1. Fold the paper down horizontally so that the resulting rectangle is twice as wide as it is tall.

2. 
   The prominent middle crease will serve as a folding guide.

   Fold the paper in half vertically so that a square results. Unfold it so you're again looking at the rectangle, a new vertical crease showing in the center.

3. Fold the bottom-left corner of the rectangle up so it meets the top of the center crease.

4. 
   The origami heart so far.

   Fold the bottom-right corner of the rectangle up so it meets the top of the center crease. You'll have formed a triangle. Turn the triangle over, holding it so that the point faces down.

5. 
   The correctly folded figure begins to create a diamond.

   Fold the right edge of the triangle to the center crease, also allowing the back to flare out as you do so. You will end up with a half-diamond shape on the right side.

6. 
   You've made a diamond.

   Fold the left side of the triangle as you did the right side. You'll end up with a diamond. Turn it over.

7. 
   Studying the figure now will help you correctly make the future folds.

   Study the result. You'll have two points at the top, a fold on the right side running from the bottom tip of the diamond to the middle of the top-right side, and the same kind of fold on the other side, running from the bottom tip to the middle of the top-left side. We will call the two folds the right fold and the left fold for now.

8. Fold the right point at the top down at a slant until the tip touches the right fold.

9. 
   The correct figure has dog-earred tips in position over the right and left folds.

   Fold the left point at the top down at a slant until the tip touches the left fold.

10. Study the result. Each top tip you folded down has two layers that form a pocket, with the opening of the pocket facing the outside of the figure. To the right of the folded right tip is a small segment of the right fold (the one traveling from the bottom to the center of the top-right side). We'll call that the right segment. The same situation is true on the left side, so we also have a left segment.

11. 
    The fold segments are tucked in nice and neat.

    Tuck the right segment into the right pocket and the left segment into the left pocket.

12. Turn the figure over. You'll see you almost have a heart, except something must be done about the points sticking out to the right and left.

13. 
    You're all done.

    Fold the right and left points back behind the figure so that a heart is formed.

Tips & Warnings

• Fold exactly. Make crisp folds.

References

• The Encyclopedia of Origami and Papercraft Techniques; Emma Callery, Ed.; 1995

Resources

• Origami-Instructions.com