What’s better than a delicious ice cream cone on a hot summer day? A calorie-free ice cream cone that can be enjoyed all year long!
You can also use origami ice cream cones as inexpensive decorations for a picnic, birthday party, or ice cream social.
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Choose Your Supplies
The origami ice cream cone is made with a single sheet of square origami paper. Both sides of the paper will show in the finished design, so a sheet of paper that is tan or brown on one side and white on the other side is ideal for this project. You can also use a sheet with a striped or cubed geometric pattern. The paper in this tutorial is from the 900 sheet Geo-Gami paper pack by Sterling Innovation.
If you do not have origami paper handy, you can color one side of a sheet of white copy paper brown before beginning the project or use a glue stick to paste together two different colored sheets of construction paper. Review our How to Make Square Origami Paper article for an easy way to turn a letter or legal sized sheet of paper into a perfect square.
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Make a Kite Base
The origami ice cream cone begins with a kite base form. This is a common origami base form used to make models such as the origami ghost and origami swan. It is often one of the first forms children learn when they begin studying the art of paper folding.
To make a kite base, start with the white side of the paper face up. Fold the paper in half along one of the diagonals to make a large triangle shape. Unfold. Fold the left and right corners in to meet the middle crease so you have a shape that resembles a kite.
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Tuck Behind
Tuck the flaps from the previous step behind the paper. This finishes the base of your origami ice cream cone.
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Decorate Your Origami Ice Cream Cone
Flip your paper over. If you're using solid colored paper, draw lines on the tan or brown part to make it resemble an ice cream cone. If you don’t want “vanilla” ice cream, use crayons, markers, or colored pencils to make the ice cream scoop the appropriate color. If desired, you can also add sprinkles to your ice cream cone using crayons, markers, colored pencils, or small self-adhesive rhinestones.
Your origami ice cream cone makes a cute decoration for a handmade birthday card or party invitation. String together several ice cream cones to make a party garland, use individual ice cream cones as place cards that tell each guest where to sit, or use a decorated ice cream cone as a gift tag when wrapping a present for the birthday boy or birthday girl.
Fun Fact
Origami ice cream cones are easy to fold, which makes them the perfect craft for introducing children to the art of paper folding.