How To: Origami Hearts/Flowers

As many girls do, I used to pass a lot of notes in school, and would always try to figure out cute ways to fold the notes. Someone long ago taught me how to fold 8.5 x 11 inch paper into a heart. Which of course I reserved for passing notes to only the cutest boys ;) ! And when you fold four, you can combine them into a flower!

(A single folded heart, photographed with my shoe-a-day calendar. All photos in this post were taken by me.)

I'm still trying to figure out a way to use these for our wedding, maybe to decorate the front of our out of town boxes? But in the meantime, I thought I'd share this little origami tutorial that I learned in 6th grade.

Start with an 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper (or larger/smaller, as long as the aspect ratio is the same):


Fold up one side, so the bottom makes a point:

Open it back up:

Fold the other side up, making another point at the other bottom side:

Open it again:

Push the sides in where your folds criss-cross:

And flatten down to make the bottom have a center point:

You can see how I folded the sides in a little better from the opposite angle:

Next, fold down the front side flaps, so they are lined up with the point at the bottom:

Then, fold the upper sides in, so the angle lines up with the angle of the flaps you just folded down:

Flip it over:

And gently raise it up to make a faint crease where the bottom of the diamond shape is on the now bottom side:

Fold the bottom up so that the bottom is lined up with the faint crease you just made:

Where you just folded the bottom up, fold each half up to make a point at the center bottom (these will be the bottom of your heart):

Now fold the top triangle flap down over the bottom parts you just folded up:

And tuck the bottom flaps into the top flap you just folded down, to hold them in place:

Finally, fold the top two flaps down at about a 45 degree angle (these will be the top points of your heart), and tuck them under to hold them in place:

Flip it back over and you're done!

Fold three more, and you've got a flower:

I would recommend using a bone folder or the like to score your folds as you go for a flatter end result. This also works better with thinner card stock or text weight paper; heavy card stock would result in a much thicker heart.

Can you think of any other ways to incorporate this in a wedding, as either a heart or flower? Fold a giant one to use as an engagement photo prop? Fold a love note to give to your fiance on your wedding morning? String them up and hang as decor instead of bunting flags?

I would love to hear your ideas!