How to Make a Money Origami Kusudama Flower

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Updated on 01/02/20

Purple and yellow origami kusudama flower — Warayoo / Getty Images

The origami kusudama flower is one of the most popular paper folding projects around. It is beautiful to look at and appears much more complicated than it is due to the delicate nature of the individual petals.

There were two major obstacles when trying to make a money origami kusudama flower. The first is that the dollar bill is a rectangular shape, where the instructions for a basic kusudama flower specify that you use square paper. The second is that it's frowned upon to deface U.S. currency, so you can't just glue the petals of the flower together like you would in a regular kusudama flower. This tutorial uses a slightly different folding technique and keeps the flower petals together with paper clips so it can easily be taken apart and spent by the recipient.

01 of 07

Gather Your Bills

Dana Hinders

Wrinkled bills don't hold their shape as well and will thus be harder to join together for your finished money origami flower. Try to find crisp bills to use for making your origami dollar bill flower. You'll need five to make one single flower.
02 of 07

Start the Petals

Dana Hinders

To begin the project, place your first dollar bill on the table with the "ONE" side face up. Fold it so the bottom of the bill is just under the phrase "The United States of America."
03 of 07

Fold to the Middle

Dana Hinders

Fold the left and right sides of the bill up toward the center as shown in the photo.
04 of 07

Secure the Petals

Dana Hinders

Fold the bill in half and secure with a paper clip.

Repeat the process until you have a total of five identically folded dollar bills. These individual petals will be connected to form your money origami kusudama flower.

Continue to 5 of 7 below
05 of 07

Join the Petals

Dana Hinders

To join the individual petals together, simply paper clip the sides together. Use five petals to form a flower, even though traditional origami kusudama flowers are made with either five or six petals. With five petals made from dollar bills, this makes it easier to count how much money is in the gift. Feel free to experiment with the number of petals in your flower until you achieve the desired result.

Your money origami kusudama flower is now complete. This view shows the bottom of the flower. Notice how George Washington's head creates an interesting symmetrical center for the floral design when viewed from this angle.
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Comparing the Flowers

Dana Hinders

This picture compares the origami kusudama folded from 6-inch x 6-inch origami paper to a kusudama made from five one-dollar bills. You can see that they are similar in appearance, despite the change in materials. Mixing the flowers together would result in a very unique gift for a graduation or wedding celebration.
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A Variation of the Money Origami Flower

Dana Hinders

To make a variation of the flower, curl the bills together tightly and fold the corners down instead of clipping them. Then, you'll end up with a flower that looks like a tulip.