How to make a paper heart chain
Paper Heart Chain: 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 garland: accordion-fold six panels, cut the top and the bottom of one heart through every layer, and open a chain of six hearts joined at their sides.
- You need
- Thin paper, a pencil, a ruler and scissors.
- Start
- Begin with one 36 × 6 cm strip of thin coloured paper. Mark six equal 6 cm panels along its length.
Your model is ready
Ease the creases flat. Lift the opened paper by an uncut edge to see the whole pattern. Hold the opened paper upright and flat, with the whole pattern.
Step-by-step diagrams
Steps 1–7
- 1
Fold panel 1 over the next
Measure another 60 mm panel. Fold the entire left packet over the paper to its right, lining up the edges. Keep all panels the same width.
- 2
Fold panel 2 behind the next
Measure another 60 mm panel. Fold the entire left packet under the paper to its right, lining up the edges. Keep all panels the same width.
- 3
Fold panel 3 over the next
Measure another 60 mm panel. Fold the entire left packet over the paper to its right, lining up the edges. Keep all panels the same width.
- 4
Fold panel 4 behind the next
Measure another 60 mm panel. Fold the entire left packet under the paper to its right, lining up the edges. Keep all panels the same width.
- 5
Fold panel 5 over the next
Measure another 60 mm panel. Fold the entire left packet over the paper to its right, lining up the edges. Keep all panels the same width.
- 6
Cut over the top of the heart
Start on the left folded edge 12 mm below the top. Cut up around the left lobe, dip into the notch in the middle, cut around the right lobe and come back down to the right folded edge at the same height. Cut through all six layers.
- 7
Cut around the point of the heart
Start on the left folded edge 25 mm below the top, a hand's width under where the first cut began. Cut down and in to the point of the heart in the middle of the bottom edge, then up to the right folded edge at the same height. Leave a strip of paper joined at both sides.
Steps 8–12
- 8
Open pleat 5
Open this crease gently, leaving the earlier folds closed. Keep the uncut joins together.
- 9
Open pleat 4
Open this crease gently, leaving the earlier folds closed. Keep the uncut joins together.
- 10
Open pleat 3
Open this crease gently, leaving the earlier folds closed. Keep the uncut joins together.
- 11
Open pleat 2
Open this crease gently, leaving the earlier folds closed. Keep the uncut joins together.
- 12
Open pleat 1
Open this crease gently, leaving the earlier folds closed. Keep the uncut joins together.
- ✓
Finish
Ease the creases flat. Lift the opened paper by an uncut edge to see the whole pattern. Hold the opened paper upright and flat, with the whole pattern.
Fold next
Fold-and-cut paper heart ↗
An Origami Tutor paper heart: fold a square in half, cut half a heart along one curved line through both layers, then open a whole heart with its two round lobes and a point.
Fold-and-cut paper heart frame ↗
An Origami Tutor heart frame: fold a square in half, cut a small half heart for the window and a large half heart for the outline, then open a heart with a heart-shaped window for a photo.
Tissue flower ↗
Pleat six tissue sheets, tie the center and lift the layers into a soft bloom.
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.