EASIEST ways to make ORIGAMI BOXES
- Xinru Li
- Apr 2, 2017
- 3 min read
Don't you wanna show off and make cool origami? Origami is one of my favorite things because it gives life to paper condemned to the recycling bin and is the epitome of turning trash into something beautiful.
Lot's of people are afraid of origami because it seems complicated and requires special paper, but today I wanna share two of the easiest origami you can possibly make and still seem cool! With these boxes you don't even need a piece of square paper, and it doesn't matter if it's a candy wrapper or a half ripped page of magazine paper, it works really easily either way!
Also, since many people, me included, are too lazy to read, I have a video tutorial of this both on my Youtube Channel and Facebook page.
Difficulty level: extremely easy
Time required: 3 minutes
Materials needed: a rectangular piece of whatever (paper, plastic, aluminum...really the possibilities are endless)
So how do you make it? ​
1st method....
1) Get a folding thing
This this blog is environment based, please don't go out to buy origami paper! YOU REALLY DON"T NEED IT. See for the paper I used it's just a piece of magazine paper I salvaged from the recycling bin, it doesn't even need a perfect rip!
2) Fold the outside towards the inside
Arrange your paper horizontally, then make three folds so it becomes 4 vertical columns. Fold the outer columns on top of the inner columns. (it kind of opens and closes like a window I guess?)
3) make 4 triangles
Along each corner, fold a right triangle that takes up the majority of that corner but leaves some space along the edge (where the window "opens"). Try to have the triangles be around the same size.
4) fold small columns
Fold the flaps in the middle outward so it follows the line your little triangles made. It's kind of like opening the window except now the window's super narrow.
5) Open and adjust
Flip the contraption over and fold amongst the crease the triangles made (the one that's not the same as the little columns, make any sense?). Unfold and flip over. Take the opening you made with the two mini columns and pull outward, this should create a semi box shape. Adjust as needed to create a more legit box shape.
2nd method....
1) fold into quarters
Technically this is the second step because the first is the same for both. So yup, make one hamburger and one hotdog fold.
2) fold two triangles
So now you kind of have two flaps right? Fold a triangle along each flap on the side that is also a fold. Unfold the big fold so it's a pentagon shape. (does this kind of make sense? your pentagon should have one triangle flap on one side and one on the other, and the bottom should be openable)
3) Open and fold along the lines
Unfold your entire contraption, using the lines you already made as a guide, turn this into a pentagon like the one you had earlier except now the triangles are folded towards the inside (so there are no triangle flaps) and there are 4 identical sides/flaps.
4) Make 4 folds
On each face, fold the outer edges towards the center stop the pentagon becomes a skinner pentagon.
5) Make 3 other folds
Fold the top triangle of the pentagon downward so it becomes a rectangle. Make the crease and unfold. Then, see the more flappy paper on the other side? Fold that down on either side (they're the only parts not connected to the rest of the contraption so they should be easiest to fold.)
6) Pull and adjust!
Pull on the two flaps you just made and voila! it became a box! isn't this cool?? You might need to reinforce some folds to make it look boxy.
Would I recommend making this?
Definitely! A lot of fancy paper aren't recyclable, so why not give them a second life? And why are origami boxes so useful in the first place? (apart form making you feel awesome that you just turned a paper into a box) I find they make very nice mini trash cans, organizers, gift packaging (if you stack one on top of the other), and I'm sure you can think of tons of other creative ways to use paper boxes!
If you made this and would like to show off your own creation, or if you have any questions/comments/concern/wanna say hi to me, please put it in the comments below!!