Heart-shaped paper folds can be used as a sweet decoration in a personal room or as a sign of love for someone you care about. Most origami hearts are easy to make, while some are quite complicated. If you are interested in folding paper to form a heart yourself, here are some techniques you can try.
Step
Method 1 of 3: Simple Heart Origami
Step 1. Fold the square-shaped paper in half
Reposition the paper so that it looks like a diamond. Bring the top corner of the paper up to coincide with the bottom corner. Press the folded paper firmly before opening it again.
- Standard origami paper measuring 15x15 cm is suitable here, but any paper can be used as long as it is a square with four equal sides.
- At first, the paper will look like a diamond, not a square. The parts that are above and below are the corners of the paper, not the flat side.
- You will need to open the paper again until it forms a diamond like before before moving on to the next step.
Step 2. Fold the square of paper in half in the opposite direction
Fold the left corner of the paper so that it meets the right corner. Press the folded paper firmly before unfolding it back into shape.
After this step, there should be two fold lines perpendicular to each other on the paper. One from top to bottom and another from right to left. These two fold lines should cross each other in the middle of the paper
Step 3. Bring the top corner of the paper to the center
Fold the top corner of the paper so that it meets the center point.
- The midpoint is the point where the two fold lines intersect on the paper.
- Press the top side of the paper firmly and do not open it again.
Step 4. Fold the bottom corner to the top side of the paper
Fold the bottom corner of the paper so that the edge coincides with the top side you just made.
- Press this crease firmly and do not open it again.
- The bottom corner of the paper should be completely covered by the top corner crease. This corner should also coincide with the middle of the fold of the top side of the paper.
- Keep in mind there should now be 6 corners in total. Three on the right and three on the left.
Step 5. Fold the right and left sides to the center fold line of the paper
Fold the bottom right corner so that it meets the middle of the top side of the paper. Repeat this crease on the bottom left corner, until it meets the crease from the right side.
- The bottom side created in the previous step should now be folded into 2 parts that meet each other on top of the vertical line of the paper.
- Press both folds firmly, and do not open them again.
Step 6. Turn the paper over
Flip the still rough heart-shaped fold over to the other side. The next fold will be done on this side.
- This side will be the back and it should now look like that.
- Keep in mind that there should now be 5 corners on the paper, 2 on the top, 2 on the sides, and 1 on the bottom.
Step 7. Fold the edge of the paper
Fold the ends of the two top and side corners inward to round the sharp corners.
- Fold the ends of the two side corners so that the new crease forms an angle on the horizontal line just below the "top" of the triangle in the heart.
- Fold the ends of the two top corners so they resemble the size of the side corner folds.
Step 8. Flip the heart fold in the other direction
Your heart-shaped fold is done!
Method 2 of 3: Lucky Heart
Step 1. Use one sheet of paper
The size of this sheet should be approximately 2.5x28 cm.
- The size of these sheets of paper does not have to be exactly the same. You can also make lucky hearts using wider or shorter paper. However, the length of the sheet of paper should be 7-8 times greater than the width.
- Lay the sheet of paper so that the long side is long and the short side is wide or high.
Step 2. Fold the bottom corner to the top side of the paper
Make a 45-degree valley fold by folding the bottom left corner up until it touches the top side of the paper.
Press the folds firmly, and do not open them again
Step 3. Make some valley folds on the sheet of paper
Make another 5-7 valley folds. Each fold should surround the first triangular fold you made.
The sheet of paper will shorten after being folded
Step 4. Cut off the remaining edges of the paper
Use scissors to cut off the excess paper, but leave about half the length of the triangular fold.
Step 5. Make another valley fold at the opposite corner
Make the tail end or bottom right corner of the paper into a small valley crease.
The bottom right corner of the paper should now be folded up until it meets the right side of the triangular fold
Step 6. Tuck the remaining paper into the paper layer
Fold the top right corner down, then tuck it into one of the layers in the triangular fold. Tuck in the rest of the paper.
At the end of this step, there should be only one triangular fold shape left
Step 7. Cut the top corner of the paper
Flip the triangle so that the longest side is up. Use scissors to cut the sharp corners on this side until they are rounded.
- Keep in mind that the paper you are using has thickened at this point and may be difficult to cut.
- The longest side of the paper at this point should be the folded side of the triangle you just tucked in.
Step 8. Press the top of the paper inward
Use your thumb nail to press down the center of the top of the paper. Thus, your lucky heart is completed.
If you can't press the paper with your thumb nail, use a hard, pointed tool such as the tip of a pen, pencil or scissors to do this
Method 3 of 3: Two-Dimensional Heart
Step 1. Fold the square of paper horizontally in half
Bring the bottom side of the square so it meets the top side. Unfold after pressing firmly.
- Standard origami paper measuring 15x15 cm is suitable for use. However, you can use any square paper with four equal sides.
- In front of you, the paper should look like a square instead of a diamond. The parts above and below are the flat sides of the paper, not the corners.
Step 2. Fold the paper vertically in half
Bring the right side to the left of the paper. Unfold when finished.
You should now be able to see a flat square of paper with two perpendicular fold lines. These fold lines should cross each other in the middle of the square
Step 3. Make two diagonal folds
Bring the top left corner to the bottom right corner of the paper. Press the fold, then unfold. Repeat this step by folding the top right corner to the bottom left corner of the paper.
The result is four fold lines on the paper all crossing each other in the center of the square
Step 4. Fold the top and bottom sides of the paper
Make a valley fold on the top side of the paper so that the edges coincide with the horizontal line in the middle of the paper. Do the same with the bottom side of the paper, making a valley fold so that the edges coincide with the center line of the paper.
- Remember that the two sides of the paper should now meet in the middle of the paper.
- Unfold the paper after pressing.
Step 5. Bring the right and left sides of the paper together
Make valley folds on the right and left sides of the paper so that they meet on a vertical line in the middle of the paper.
- The right and left sides of the current paper should meet in the middle of the paper.
- Press the folded paper and open it again.
Step 6. Make valley folds on the top and bottom corners of the paper
Reposition the paper so that it becomes a diamond shape with both up and down corners replacing the flat side. Fold the top and bottom corners of the paper so that the edges touch the center of the paper.
- Keep in mind that the midpoint is the point where the fold lines crossed earlier.
- Press the folded paper and do not open it again.
Step 7. Make 4 valley folds
Fold along the outer diagonal crease, until only one diagonal crease is left through the center of the paper.
- Make creases along the lower right and left diagonal fold lines. Let this fold.
- Make a crease along the top right and left diagonal crease lines. Let this fold.
Step 8. Make a horizontal mountain fold pointing towards the center point
Fold the paper horizontally in half so that the top of the fold is facing you.
The top and bottom sides of the paper should be folded away, not toward you
Step 9. Flatten the folds
When aligned, you should see three interconnected diamond shapes.
Remember that these three diamond shapes must be connected to each other so that they resemble a heart with sharp corners
Step 10. Fold the left corner of the paper
Bring the end of the left corner to the valley fold. Next, fold the ends back so that they form a mountain fold on the same crease line.
From this point on, you will focus your efforts on the left side of the newly folded heart
Step 11. Flip the paper to the side
Look at the left side.
You should be face to face with the crease you just made. The front side of the paper should be to your right, while the back side of the paper should be facing your left
Step 12. Pull out the folded paper
Begin to unfold the paper until a square crease line appears in the center.
Do not let the paper fold completely open. Carefully unfold the folds in the reverse order they were made. Stop when a square crease appears in the middle
Step 13. Make folds along the square line
Make mountain folds on all four sides of the square.
The center of the paper should now be raised
Step 14. Make vertical mountain folds on the square
Fold the center of the square up vertically.
The crease on the other side should not change
Step 15. Make two diagonal valley folds on the square
Make an "x" shape in the center of the square by bringing the top right corner to the bottom left corner and the top left corner to the bottom right corner.
- Folds on the other side should not be affected by this step.
- Concave corners should form at the end of the folding process. Flip the paper back to front and observe the edges that are currently rounded.
Step 16. Smooth the sides of the paper as desired
Use some mountain folds to round off the sharp corners remaining on the left side of the paper.
Fold the pointed end away from you and toward the center of the crease. This part should be obscured by the front of the paper
Step 17. Repeat the folding process at right angles
Follow the same steps as the left side to round the right side of the paper.
