How to Make an Origami Heart

Updated on 04/16/20

Origami Dollar Heart Tutorial 00 — Chrissy Pk

Project Overview

Total Time: 30 mins
Yield: 1 Origami heart

Skill Level: Intermediate

Learn how to make a pretty origami heart from a rectangular sheet of paper, or even a dollar note. These easy to make paper hearts are great to use as Valentine's Day cards or for gift decorations.

When made with crisp white paper, these origami hearts make great wedding invitations. Alternatively, you can use these as place cards, as they can be stand upright. By following the seven easy steps below, you'll be a master at making these origami hearts in no time. The best part? If you mess up, you can simply start again with a new sheet of paper.

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Watch Now: How to Make an Origami Heart

Materials

1 piece of rectangle paper (a dollar bill, 6.62 x 16 cm, 5 x 6.2 cm, or 20 x 8.3 cm)

Begin Folding
- Start with your paper with the white side up (if you have one).
- Fold the bottom left and bottom right corners up diagonally.
- Unfold the last step.
- Fold the top left corner and top right corner down diagonally.
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Unfold and Flip
- Unfold the last step.
- Flip the paper over to the other side.
- Fold the right edge to the left; the crease should run straight through the middle of the X.
- Unfold the last step and do the same with the left edge.
Make sure you are making your folds as precise as possible, especially the first few folds, this will ensure that your origami model turns out well.

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Continue Folding
- Unfold the last step.
- Flip the paper back over to the other side.
- Bring both edges to the middle, folding the top and bottom sections forward at the same time. Crease well and make sure all the edges line up.
- Fold the right point over to the left point.
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Make Some Triangles
- Fold the top right corner diagonally down to the left, and repeat on the bottom right corner.
- Fold the left point (top layer) back over to the right, along the vertical edges of the little corners you just created.
- Now on the right-hand section, fold the top point down across to meet the right point and the bottom point to meet the right point.
- Repeat this on the left-hand side.
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Squash Fold the Flaps
- Now you are going to squash fold the flaps you just made by carefully opening them out a little, and pushing them gently, aiming the point at the middle.
- Go around and make the squash fold on all four flaps.
- Make two folds on a front square as shown.
- Repeat this process on the other squares.
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Complete the Detailed Points
- We have some more squash folds, this time you'll use the little flaps you just made. Open them out a little and carefully push them open, aligning them to the lines underneath.
- Repeat the squash folds until they are all complete.
- Flip the paper over to the other side. Fold the top point down to the bottom point and crease well.
- You should see the top of the heart remains at the top.
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Finish Folding Your Heart

Lastly, you can fold the left and right edges in slightly, flip the heart over to the front, and you are done.

You may want to use a dab of glue on each of the "spikes" to keep them down. You can also make this origami dollar heart with thicker paper, and insert a coin into the circle, behind the spikes. The coin will stay in place and this version makes a great gift for kids.

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