How to make a heart envelope (folded seal)
Heart Envelope (Folded Seal): try all 12 steps in the 3D player. Turn and replay every move. Print the complete diagram sheet or save it as PDF.
An Origami Tutor envelope for a love letter: four corners fold over a card, the last point tucks under the first, and a small red heart folded from a second square seals the middle.
- You need
- One 8½ in square of pink paper, one 4¼ in square of red paper, a glue stick and a card or note to put inside.
- Start
- Use a pink 8½ in square for the envelope and a red square, half as wide, for the heart. Start the envelope white side up with a corner pointing at you, and the heart square white side up with its edges straight up and across. For a 5 in square card, the envelope fits.
- Tips
- Fold the points over the card itself so the envelope fits it snugly.
- Use a glue stick under the heart; a little is enough.
Your model is ready
Slip your note or card inside before you close the envelope. To open it, lift the heart's edge and the bottom point and pull the top point free. The finished heart envelope, with the red heart sealing its middle.
Step-by-step diagrams
Steps 1–7
- 1
Find the middle across
Fold the bottom corner up to the top corner, press, and open.
- 2
Find the middle up and down
Fold the left corner to the right corner, press, and open. Lay your card in the middle where the creases cross.
- 3
Fold the left corner in
Fold the left corner over the card so its tip reaches about ¾ in (2 cm) past the middle.
- 4
Fold the right corner in
Fold the right corner over the same way, overlapping the left one.
- 5
Fold the bottom corner up
Fold the bottom corner up over both side flaps, its tip the same distance past the middle.
- 6
Fold the top corner down and lock it
Fold the top corner down. Lift the bottom point a little and slide the top point under it.
- 7
Fold the heart square in half
Take the red square. Fold the top edge down to the bottom edge. You have a long rectangle.
Steps 8–12
- 8
Fold up the left half
Fold the left half up along a slanted line from the middle of the bottom edge to a spot a fifth of the way in from the left along the top edge. Its top corner sticks up as a lobe.
- 9
Fold up the right half
Fold the right half up the same way, over the left half. The two corners stand side by side as the heart's lobes.
- 10
Round the left lobe
Fold the square tip of the left lobe behind.
- 11
Round the right lobe
Fold the tip of the right lobe behind the same way.
- 12
Set the heart seal
Lay the heart on the middle of the envelope, where the four flaps meet, with its point down. Glue it to the top flap only, so the envelope can still be opened.
- ✓
Finish
Slip your note or card inside before you close the envelope. To open it, lift the heart's edge and the bottom point and pull the top point free. The finished heart envelope, with the red heart sealing its middle.
Fold next
Heart window card ↗
An Origami Tutor Valentine card with a heart window: a red cover is folded in half, cut with half a heart along the fold and opened, then glued on the front of a pink folded card, so the heart shows the pink beneath.
Heart ↗
This heart stays flat, so it fits inside a greeting card or on the front of a folded note. The colored side makes the face; small folds hidden behind the left edge, right edge and two top tips soften the outline.
Easy heart ↗
An Origami Tutor heart in three main folds for young children: fold the square in half, then fold each half up across the middle so its corner becomes a lobe. Two small folds round the lobes. The whole heart shows the colored side.
Pocket heart ↗
An Origami Tutor two-color heart with a pocket across its front: slip a folded note or a gift card in behind the colored pocket. Five folds and no glue.