Origami Heart Envelope
Craft an Origami heart envelope for Valentine’s Day or any time you want to add a special touch to a note for a loved one! When you’re done, try making a simple origami heart from scratch. This post contains affiliate links.
For a while, I’ve been wanting to share how to make an Origami heart envelope. It’s a really fun origami tutorial because it’s got a functional element. It is, however, a detailed, multi-step origami process and probably shouldn’t be the first origami project you try.
This origami heart envelope tutorial uses double sided paper, where each paper has a different pattern or color. This isn’t as simple to find as you’d think, because you actually need a rectangle to start with, so standard 6 inch origami paper like I linked above would be quite small once turned into a rectangle! There are a few ways to get a rectangle out of double sided paper, but before I share those I need to point out: you do want to use thin paper for this.
Origami paper is typically very thin, because otherwise, as your folds and corners get small, it’s hard to really get them neat. In general, origami paper folds nice and crisp. While colored copy paper is a great option for origami too, it’s very hard to find in two toned options.
So here are a few ideas to try if you can’t find double sided A4 or letter paper:
- Glue two colors back to back (you’ll have a harder time folding it if you do this)
- Paint or color the back of your paper the same color in a darker shade.
- Get larger origami paper (if you can find 12×12 that’s best) or double sided scrapbook paper as thin as you can find and cut it into a rectangle.
- The main reason to use double sided paper is to allow the heart to stand out. You can skip it if you don’t care, or color the heart afterward to highlight it.
Ready to learn how to make an origami heart envelope?! Let’s get going!
What you need
- Two-sided origami paper with a different color on each side. This tutorial uses an A4 or letter paper – so you can glue two sheets of regular colored copy paper if you need to.
- Glue – optional
- Bone folder – optional – it’ll help you get crisper folds especially if you’re using a thicker paper
How to Make an Origami Heart Envelope
1. For this origami project you will need origami paper with different colors on each side. Or, you can glue 2 different colored lightweight papers back to back. We’re using an A4 (similar to letter) size sheet for this project.
2. Keep the darker side on top to more easily follow along with this tutorial, and place the sheet on a flat surface.
3. Fold the paper in half, lengthwise. This will bring the light side face up.
4. Now, fold each side in half again, essentially accordion folding your piece into four even sections the long way.
5. Unfold your paper.
6. With the light side face up, fold up the bottom two corners to meet the center fold.
7. Flip your paper over so that it’s dark side up.
8. Fold up the bottom triangle that was formed when you folded the corners.
9. Unfold the corners.
10. Fold up the bottom two corners this time meeting the OUTER fold lines.
11. Unfold the corners.
12. Take the top layer of the left side, and unfold it, folding it back down to the middle crease.
13. Flatten it down, so that it forms a triangle on the bottom.
14. Repeat with the top layer on the right side.
15. Unfold the right side.
16. See where the yellow dashed line is? Fold in that part.
17. Align the top right side along the center crease (marked with purple lines).
18. Fold those two folds down and crease the whole thing in place.
19. Unfold and refold the left side the same way.
20. We will use the top layer of the current fold to make the heart portion. Fold up the flap of the left side of your top layer.
21. Fold down the right corner of the horizontal flap.
22. Fold down the left corner of the same flap, forming a point.
23. Now, fold down that point just a little bit to “round it out”.
24. Unfold the left side flap – the one that you folded up in step 20.
25. Repeat steps 20-24 on the right side to complete the heart.
26. Rotate your paper to bring the heart to the top of your work.
27. Fold in the right and left sides so that they meet the outer vertical creases.
28. Unfold the sides.
29. Fold the right side again but as you do, unfold the top corner.
30. Repeat with the other side. Flatten down the sides keeping the corners out, which will allow you to close your origami heart envelope.
31. Fold the bottom corners of the folded sides.
32. Fold up the bottom edge of your work so that it touches the “valley” between the two curves of the heart.
33. Fold and tuck the bottom half of the paper under the heart to close the origami heart envelope.
Your origami heart envelope is complete! Who will you be gifting yours to? Comment below! Make sure to share the tutorial with a fellow crafter by pinning the image below. You can also print the instructions at the end of this post.
How to Fold a Heart Envelope
Fold a paper heart envelope with adorable and gorgeous origami heart envelope tutorial!
Materials
Instructions
How to Make an Origami Heart Envelope
1. For this origami project you will need origami paper with different colors on each side. Or, you can glue 2 different colored lightweight papers back to back. We’re using an A4 (similar to letter) size sheet for this project.
2. Keep the darker side on top to more easily follow along with this tutorial, and place the sheet on a flat surface.
3. Fold the paper in half, lengthwise. This will bring the light side face up.
4. Now, fold each side in half again, essentially accordion folding your piece into four even sections the long way.
5. Unfold your paper.
6. With the light side face up, fold up the bottom two corners to meet the center fold.
7. Flip your paper over so that it's dark side up.
8. Fold up the bottom triangle that was formed when you folded the corners.
9. Unfold the corners.
10. Fold up the bottom two corners this time meeting the OUTER fold lines.
11. Unfold the corners.
12. Take the top layer of the left side, and unfold it, folding it back down to the middle crease.
13. Flatten it down, so that it forms a triangle on the bottom.
14. Repeat with the top layer on the right side.
15. Unfold the right side.
16. See where the yellow dashed line is? Fold in that part.
17. Align the top right side along the center crease (marked with purple lines).
18. Fold those two folds down and crease the whole thing in place.
19. Unfold and refold the left side the same way.
20. We will use the top layer of the current fold to make the heart portion. Fold up the flap of the left side of your top layer.
21. Fold down the right corner of the horizontal flap.
22. Fold down the left corner of the same flap, forming a point.
23. Now, fold down that point just a little bit to "round it out".
24. Unfold the left side flap - the one that you folded up in step 20.
25. Repeat steps 20-24 on the right side to complete the heart.
26. Rotate your paper to bring the heart to the top of your work.
27. Fold in the right and left sides so that they meet the outer vertical creases.
28. Unfold the sides.
29. Fold the right side again but as you do, unfold the top corner.
30. Repeat with the other side. Flatten down the sides keeping the corners out, which will allow you to close your origami heart envelope.
31. Fold the bottom corners of the folded sides.
32. Fold up the bottom edge of your work so that it touches the "valley" between the two curves of the heart.
33. Fold and tuck the bottom half of the paper under the heart to close the origami heart envelope.
Notes
If you can't find appropriate double sided paper that will produce a large enough rectangle to start with, you can glue two thin papers back to back, or paint or color the reverse. You can also simply color the heart on the final origami envelope to help it stand out.
