The Better Nester: Origami How-To: Paper Gift Basket

I just love origami! Perhaps it's inbred in me. Who knows? But one of my favorite origami projects is this super easy paper gift basket. It's perfect for the holidays! And here I will teach you how to make it.

Don't forget, you can always click on any of the images to make them larger!

YOU WILL NEED:

A square piece of paper. The size will depend on what size basket you want. A regular old piece of origami paper makes a very tiny basket. About 3 inches wide. This is great for a bunch of small party favors, if you are up to making a whole stash of them.

For a small gift though, I like to use scrapbooking paper. These are huge square pieces that are sturdy enough to hold a small present.

For the purpose of this tutorial, though, I will be using some brightly colored origami paper. Hopefully, you will be able to see clearly what I am doing and such in the pictures.

STEP ONE:

Start out by folding your paper in half, diagonally, as shown in the top left picture here. This should give you a nice triangle. Now, fold the triangle in half, as shown in the top right picture here.

The end result should look something like the small triangle I have in the bottom picture to the left.

STEP TWO:

Next, lift one of the flaps of the triangle and push down on the crease. When you push it down flat, it should create a diamond or square folded shape as shown in the picture above.

STEP THREE:

Flip it over and repeat on the other side. Lift the triangle flap, push down on the crease, and press into a diamond/square shape. This should leave you with a square or diamond shape instead of a triangle.

STEP FOUR:

Now, with the open side of the square facing up, fold the top flap down in half so that it looks like the middle picture above. Fold it back to return it to the original shape, this time with a crease halfway down the diamond, as shown in the picture above on the right.

STEP FIVE:

Now, fold the flap down so that the point goes down to the crease you've just made. Continue to fold this flap in half down to the crease, until you do in fact fold over the crease again. Use the pictures above to guide you. When you are finished it should look like mine does in the picture below:

STEP SIX:

Simply flip the paper over, and repeat steps four and five on the other side.

STEP SEVEN:

Next, fold over one of the side flaps. It's like turning the page of the book. You want to be left again with a diamond shaped paper that is flat on each side, as shown above. So fold over a flap on both sides.

STEP EIGHT:

Now, fold the flaps down so that the outer edges are in line with the center crease of the diamond. Do this to each edge flap, then flip it over and repeat on the other side. The above picture on the right should be your end result.

STEP NINE:

Fold the bottom part of your paper upwards and then back again to make a crease at the bottom of the folded flaps. If you want, for extra crease-iness, flip it over and crease it in that direction as well.

STEP TEN:

Now, spread the two sides apart and carefully begin to push the paper out along the crease you just made in step 9. Push the bottom point up to help flatten it and make it more basket-like. I sometimes will use a chopstick to get into the inside corners and crease it outwards better. If you are using a sturdy paper, this may be helpful. You should be left with this when you are done: