How to Make an Origami Hexagonal Letterfold

This useful and pretty origami hexagon is made with a rectangular sheet of paper and is a fancy way to send a note.

These origami hexagons also make great decorations. You can hang them up or make a paper garland with them. Other ideas include using them as fancy placemats (you can lacquer them or cover them with contact paper) or making small ones to use as pretty origami earrings or pendants.

Origami letter folds are traditionally used as a way to send a letter without using an envelope. The note is written on one side of the paper, and it’s folded up into a pretty shape.

You can find a few origami letter folds over at Paper Kawaii, and quite a diverse collection of them over at Origami Resource Center.

For this hexagonal letter fold, you will need to start with rectangular paper. You can use A4 or US letter size paper.

Step 1

1. Start with your paper white side (or the side you wrote your note on) facing up.
2. Have your paper with it’s longest side at the bottom. Fold the bottom edge up to the top edge, ​creasing a central crease and unfold.
3. Fold the bottom edge up to the central crease.
4. Next, fold the top edge down to meet the central crease.

Step 2

1. Rotate the paper so that one of the shortest ends is at the bottom.
2. Fold the bottom left corner up to the central crease, the fold should end at the bottom right point.
3. Open out the fold and open the right section.
4. Fold the lower right section up along the existing crease.

Step 3

1. Re-fold the right section over to the left.
2. Fold the whole lower section up, along the sloping edge of the lower left section.
3. Unfold.
4. Fold the top section down, aligning the edge with the crease you just made.

Step 4

1. Fold the top left section down to the right.
2. Fold the remaining strip down to the right, aligning with the lower left edge.
3. If you open out some of the folds, you will be able to see a pocket that was formed right at the start.
4. Insert the remaining strip of paper into the pocket. You may need to bend the hexagon backward in half a little, making it easier to slot it in.