How to Make Origami Hearts

This tutorial was originally published on Crafting a Green World back in 2016.

Curious about origami? Wanting to bust some paper stash? Make origami hearts! 

 These little origami hearts are quick and easy to make, and they look adorable. Here's how to fold them: 

  1. Start with a strip of paper. Any paper will do for this project, from brown paper bags to wrapping paper scraps to bits of your favorite scrapbook paper. You can also play with the size of your strip, although I tend to always use the same size strips that we use for our paper chains: 1"x6". 

 HINT: I work a lot with upcycled papers and scrapbook paper, and I've gotten into the habit of cutting down my scraps at the end of a project into the three types of paper ephemera that I use most often: 1" circles, 1.25" hearts, and these 1"x6" strips. They store more easily and attractively, and whenever the kids and I have the urge to do some crafting, we've already got a ready stash of our favorite supplies. 

  2. Valley fold your paper strip in half. Crease the fold with the back of your thumbnail.  

3. Fold each side down to meet the center line. Crease the fold.  

4. Flip the piece over to the back side, and turn it upside down. 

 5. Fold each of the two top pieces down to meet the bottom straight edge. Crease the folds.  

6. Fold the corners of each of the top two pieces down to meet in the middle. This is the trickiest part to get even, since you don't have a vertical line of symmetry here to guide you. If you'd like, you can always fold that line yourself; you'll have two extra creases on your heart, but it won't affect anything.  

Turn your piece back over, and you'll see your heart! 

 If you'd like to make sure that your heart stays flat, you can always glue those top four corners down.

 These hearts are so quick and easy to make that you'll have a pile of them before you know it, and that's okay! They make good embellishments for Valentines, and cute embellishments or even gift tags for presents. Thread them onto floss for a simple bunting, or stamp your business info on them and hand them out with your handmade products. 

 Or, you know, just hoard them because they're so pretty. That's what I do!