I have seen so many folded paper craft projects on Pinterest recently that I’ve been itching to give a couple a go and this post features two that I’ve tried. I’ve done no origami before so believe me when I say these projects are perfect for beginners!

When the time comes to wrap my Christmas presents, I’ll also be trying a couple of origami box tutorials that I’ve saved to my Handmade Gift Wrap Ideas Pinterest board. And I had so much fun making the decorations in this post that I’ll be seeking out more origami tutorials to try!

Folded Paper Tree

1. First you need to start with four circles, decreasing in size by roughly 1.5-2cm each. So for example 4cm, 6cm, 8cm and 10cm circles, or 5cm, 7.5cm, 9cm and 10.5cm circles. You could also do more than 4 circles, depending on how large a tree you want to make.

   

2. When you have all your circles ready, it’s time to start folding. Take one of the circles and fold it in half. Open it up and rotate it 90 degrees and fold again. When you open the circle out again the creases should form a cross across the centre, as shown in the photo below.
3. Now you need to turn the circle over and fold it in half again. This time, the new fold needs to be exactly halfway between two existing creases as shown in the photo below. Open it out and turn it over again.

   

4. The paper will probably naturally stand up slightly after all the folds you’ve made, so just push the sides in slightly. The paper will now look like a triangle with one curved side, like in the photo below.
5. Now all you need to do is stack the shapes to make the tree. If you want to make a hanging decoration, like I have, make a small hole in the centre of each circle, and thread some twine or yarn through each one. You may need to make a knot in between each shape to ensure they don’t all collapse. Tie off the yarn into a loop at the top and you’re done!

You could also decorate the paper circles to make the tree more festive (what’s Christmas without glitter?!), or you could use patterned paper/cardstock.

Folded Paper Star

These folded paper stars are just lovely, aren’t they? The best thing is they’re so quick to do, and straightforward too!

Whilst they’re not difficult to make, there’s a lot of folding involved – as you might have guessed – and I felt that a written description would be more confusing than helpful! So I thought the best thing to do would be to point you towards the awesome video tutorial I used.

Have you done any paper folding or origami in the past? If not, have I inspired you to give it a go? Let me know how you get on and what you end up making!