Origami Heart

I've done a couple origami posts in the past (including a couple different origami hearts - click here for a money heart and here for a heart made from a square piece of paper), but when I saw this idea for a Valentine's letter folded into a heart shape I thought it seemed like a fun little project and thought I'd try to make one. 

I originally saw instructions at a site called 'thehousethatlarsbuilt' but I just could not follow what she was doing and that made me a little frustrated, so I googled for anyone else doing the same folds and found  one at wikihow that's much clearer and easier (at least to me!) to follow. I started to take lots of pictures of the folding steps but then realized that you should just go to the wikihow site and follow along with someone who's already done a good job with the instructions hahaha. 

I will give you a couple tips tho:

    1. Practice! Before folding with your pretty paper I'd practice with some scrap pieces, I used plain printer paper to start.

*The first heart I folded turned out bad - the edges don't line up, it's thick and won't stay together. 

*The second one I made using cardstock and the paper is too thick and once again my edges aren't nice and clean although it does hold it's shape so I'm getting closer. 

*3rd time is much better - I used white printer paper and really took my time getting the paper lined up exactly right, I'm really happy with that one!

    2. Use a bone folder or your fingernail to smooth every folded edge so they are nice and sharp. That made a big difference on my 3rd heart. 

    3. I recommend using paper that is thin like printer paper or decorative scrapbooking paper, cardstock is way to thick to get those crisp, sharp edges. The top heart above using the cheetah paper looks pretty good but the paper tore a couple times - don't know if the paper is too thin or I was too rough haha. My favorite of all the hearts is using a piece of printer paper that I accidentally copied my Dick's Sporting Goods return info on! 

4. If you are writing a Valentine note or drawing a picture or something like that for your person to unfold the heart and then see the message, or if you are just making the heart not intending for it to be unfolded and want the decorative patterned paper to show, start with the white side or your message side facing up to make the first fold. Whatever side is facing up when you begin will be on the inside of the heart. 

 instructions found on wikihow, search for 'how to make an origami heart: 15 steps with pictures'

1.30.22: 🔥 week 5

1.30.21: creamy chicken soup

1.30.20: tbt cardinal salad

1.30.19: chocolate mint crackles

1.30.18: baked ham and cheese sliders (and other Super Bowl ideas)

1.30.17: heart cork wreath or trivet

1.30.16: sweet sunrise mocktail