2D diagram

How to make a paper morning glory

Paper Morning Glory: try all 11 steps in the 3D player. Turn and replay every move. Print the complete diagram sheet or save it as PDF.

EasyAn Origami Tutor design11 steps15 cm square and a 9 × 30 mm joining tab · 3 paper pieces

An Origami Tutor paper morning glory with a deep trumpet, white star-shaped throat and five rounded rim lobes. Curve a cut fan into the flower and glue a folded joining tab across its seam.

You need: Blue or purple paper, pencil, ruler, protractor, scissors, a round pencil and paper glue.
Start: Use a 15 cm square of blue or purple paper and a 9 × 30 mm strip in the same colour. Add a 7.5 cm white square for the pale throat. Both sides of each piece should be the same colour.

Finish

Your model is ready

Let the glue dry with the trumpet open. The narrow end is the flower's throat and the five soft lobes form its mouth. Look into the open morning glory and turn it to see the deep tapered throat.

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Step-by-step diagrams

Steps 1–6

1
Crease the joining tab
Fold the narrow strip in half down its length, then open it flat. This crease will follow the flower's seam.
2
Cut the lobed fan
Mark the fan and its thirty rays from the centre of the square. Draw five gentle lobes along its rim. Cut in from the bottom edge to the apex, then around the fan. Cut out the small five-point throat opening too, keeping the blue band joined around it.
3
Cut the white throat lining
Draw the smaller fan on the white square. Its thirty rays match the blue fan, but five long points reach outward between shorter valleys. Cut the outline in one piece.
4
Curve the deep trumpet
Curve the fan around a pencil, giving each ray the same gentle bend. Bring the two straight edges together without overlapping them. The flower should be deep, with a wide five-lobed mouth.
5
Bend the joining tab
Bend the tab slightly along its centre crease to match the angle between the two panels at the seam.
6
Cover the seam inside
Set the tab inside the trumpet with its crease along the seam. Half the tab rests on each side, about halfway between the point and rim.

Steps 7–11

7
Glue the first half of the tab
Glue one half of the tab to the first edge panel and press it gently in place.
8
Close the seam
Glue the other half to the panel on the other side of the seam. Hold the two edges together while the glue dries.
9
Curve the white throat
Curve the white fan by the same amount along each ray. It becomes a small pointed cone that fits inside the blue one.
10
Line the trumpet's throat
Lower the white cone into the blue trumpet. Match their points and rays, leaving five pale points reaching up inside the mouth.
11
Glue the throat lining
Glue the white lining against the blue paper and let the flower dry open.
✓
Finish
Let the glue dry with the trumpet open. The narrow end is the flower's throat and the five soft lobes form its mouth. Look into the open morning glory and turn it to see the deep tapered throat.