Origami Heart Easy Tutorial

This page shows you how to make a really easy origami heart - so simple that it is suitable for kids and adults to make. Young children might need some guidance. The heart is made in just 11 steps with no tricky folds to master. If you can crease paper, you can do this!

Image Credits: All images on this page belong to the author.

You need 1 square of paper to make an origami heart. You can work with a piece that is small or large but I'd recommend starting with paper measuring at least 5 x 5 inches until you're confident in your folding.

This size works well if you need paper folded hearts to stick onto the front of a handmade Valentine, Wedding or Anniversary card.Try making 3 hearts in different sizes and stick together from large to small so you have a beautiful 3D layered heart.

Fold your first square in half diagonally as shown. If your paper is patterned or colored just on one side (and it is easier for beginners to use single-sided paper) then the pattern or color should face upwards.

Try and fold as precisely as you can with the edges of paper matching up as good as you can manage. This will help you to make better origami structures. If your folding isn't lined up, especially in the early stages, then your finished piece might not work well.

Unfold the paper back into a square shape once you've made your diagonal crease. With single-sided paper, the blank side should be facing upwards.

Rotate your paper so the diagonal crease is facing the same way as my example at a \ (back-slash directional) slant.

Pick up the bottom right corner of your paper and drag it over to the top left to fold your paper diagonally in half in the other direction and make your crease.

Unfold your paper and you should now see 2 folded creases which cross over in an X shape.

Twist the paper around so that it sits like a diamond shape in front of you on your work surface. This makes your folds now appear in a cross + shape. The blank side of the paper should be facing up.

Pull the top corner down to the middle fold line of the paper, line the point of the corner up with the exact mid point of the paper and make a crease.

Pull the bottom corner of the paper up, position the corner right at the top middle of the paper and make a crease.

Take hold of the corner on the right side and lift this side of the paper right up and fold what was the bottom right edge along the middle crease line.

Repeat this process on the left side. Take hold of the corner on the left side and lift this side of the paper right up and fold what was the bottom left edge along the middle crease line.

You now get something that vaguely resembles a heart shape.

Flip your origami heart over so you can see the back of it. Take hold of the right corner and fold it back slightly in this < direction. Then repeat on the other side by folding back the left corner slightly in this > direction. This just adds more shape to your completed heart.

Now take hold of the top right corner and fold it down to meet the edge of the colored or patterned side of paper as shown. Repeat this process on the left by folding that corner down to the edge of the paper as well. This helps to round off the heart's edges.

And you're finished! You can use all sorts of pretty papers, plain, patterned and even lightly textured to make some wonderful and unique origami hearts. You can write a cute little note on the outside if you're giving your heart to a loved one, or slip a little note inside the heart which almost works like a paper pocket.