Paper Crafts Origami Beginner Origami

Easy Origami Bow Tie Tutorial

Origami bowtie tied around plant

Rosa María Fernández Rz/Getty Images 

Getting Started

easy origami bow tie tutorial
The Spruce / Chrissy Pk

Learn how to make an easy origami bow tie or ribbon with these easy to follow step by step instructions. It's also easy to make different variations of this traditional origami bow.

There are many different ways you could use this bow to decorate your crafts. The most popular way seems to be as a bow tie for an origami shirt. Other ways include hair clips, you can even lacquer them with clear nail polish, decorate origami boxes, add them to the hair of origami dolls, or use them as part of earrings or necklaces.

You will need 1 sheet of square paper that has been cut in half or you can also use money bills. 

You can also make an origami bow that looks more three dimensional if you're more advanced in this craft.

Fold and Cut the Paper

easy origami bow tie tutorial 1
The Spruce / Chrissy Pk

If you are starting with square paper, you can fold the paper in half and then cut it along the crease, which means you can make 2 bows with the paper.

Starting Folds

easy origami bow tie tutorial 2
The Spruce / Chrissy Pk
  1. Fold the paper in half, top to bottom.
  2. Fold all four corners inwards.
  3. Fold the top and bottom edges to the central crease.
  4. Fold the paper in half, left to right.

Continue Folding

easy origami bow tie tutorial 3
The Spruce / Chrissy Pk
  1. Fold the right section of the model up diagonally, the central crease behind should align with the crease you see on the left of the front layer.
  2. Repeat in the other direction.
  3. Collapse the paper in half, reversing the crease from step 4.
  4. Make sure the open ends are at the bottom.

Almost Finished

easy origami bow tie tutorial 4
The Spruce / Chrissy Pk
  1. Fold the front layer up, using the folds underneath as a guide.
  2. Repeat on the back.
  3. This is what you should have. The open ends are at the bottom.
  4. Fold the left and right corners inwards.

Finishing Touches

easy origami bow tie tutorial 5
The Spruce / Chrissy Pk
  1. Repeat on the back.
  2. Gently but firmly pull the ends apart, at the same time push on the center of the bow.
  3. Flatten out the section in the center of the bow.
  4. This is what it's like on the back, you can fold the points of the bow in again if you like.

It's now complete. You can use this on other origami projects, scrapbooks, or use them as accents on gifts to your family and friends!