Easy Origami Leaf

origami leaf

This easy origami leaf starts with a triangle and requires glue.

It is one of the easiest ways to make a leaf and it looks beautiful.

  1. Take a square sheet of paper and cut it in half to form a triangle.
     
  2. Valley fold the triangle in half and unfold.
     
  3. Pleat the triangle accordion style. The number of pleats you can make will depend on the size of your paper. Generally, the more pleats you make, the better the leaf will look. See below.
     
  4. Stack and press the pleats together tightly. The paper will be flat and narrow. One side will look like a checkerboard (4a) while the other side will be a solid color (4b).
     
  5. Apply a little glue along the solid color side. Fold the stack of pleats in half using the crease made in step 2. Bring the left and right halves together. Hold the halves together until the glue dries.
     
  6. Flare open the pleats to form a beautiful leaf.
     

If you don’t want to use glue, Martin van Gelder makes a similar origami leaf which does not require glue (starts with a square).
 

Below: Three easy origami-leaves made from the same size paper: with 4 pleats, 8 pleats, and 16 pleats.
origami leaf


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    Books with Origami Flowers

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    • Roses, Origami & Math by Toshikazu Kawasaki
    • Origami Flowers Kit: Lifelike Paper Flowers to Brighten Up Your Life:
      by LaFosse and Alexander

     

    Buy Origami Flower Books

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  • These free origami instructions are made available to you by the paper folding community at large. If you have a diagram you would like to share, or if your diagram is listed here and you wish to have it removed, please Contact Us. Diagrams are intended for personal use. Copyright of the models lie with the origami creators and designers. Please contact the designer and/or creator directly for non-private usage of a model and/or artwork.