The secret note passed between friends and crushes during class is a time-honored tradition among school kids everywhere. The next time you need to send a message to someone you know, try one of the following note-folding techniques to keep your message secure and safe.
Method 1 of 4: Basic Square
1Fold the note into vertical quarters. Valley-fold the paper in half vertically. Make a second vertical valley fold so that the paper is now 1/4 its original width.
- Note that the height or length of the paper should remain unchanged.
2Bring each corner inward. The upper left corner should be folded diagonally to the right and the upper right corner should be folded diagonally to the left.
- Only fold enough of the end so that the edge of the folded corner remains perfectly aligned with the edge of the paper strip.
3Make another inward diagonal fold on each end. The upper triangle should be folded down and to the right and the lower triangle should be folded up and to the left.
- There should be a slanted parallelogram on each end, and the original triangles should be hanging off the main body of the paper.
4Flip the note and fold each end horizontally. Turn the note over to the back. Fold the upper triangle to the right and the lower triangle to the left.
- You should be left with two triangles that hang off the main body of the note but are aligned with the edges of the main body.
- At this point, there will be two distinguishable triangles on the front and two on the back.
5Flip the note back over and fold the lower portion up. Turn the note back over to the front side. Fold the bottom edge of the back lower triangle should up to meet the lower edge of the front upper triangle.
6Fold the upper portion down. The top edge of the back triangle should be folded over the front of the note so that it meets the bottom edge of the note.
- Your note should already be confined to a square space at this point. The only thing remaining is a final maneuver that holds the note together.
7Slip the outermost triangle into the lowest pocket. Move the tip of the triangle facing you into the pocket at the very bottom of the note.
- You should be left with a square note divided into four separate triangular sections.
- This completes the fold.
Method 2 of 4: Basic Rectangle
1Valley-fold the upper right corner diagonally down. Bring the upper right corner diagonally down and to the left.
- The left edge of the fold should be flush to the left edge of the note.
2Line up the right edge with the left edge. Fold the right edge over so that it meets and lines up with the left edge.
- The lower edge of your previous fold should lie beneath your newest fold.
3Flip and valley-fold the bottom up. Turn the paper over to the back. Fold the bottom edge up, using roughly 1/3 of the total height of the paper.
4Repeat this fold a second time. You should use another 1/3 of the paper.
- The resulting shape will look like a triangle sitting on top of a rectangle. The bottom corner of the triangle should rest just past the mid-point of the rectangle's upper edge.
5Bend the top triangle down over the front. The upper tip of the triangle should meet the lower edge of the rectangle.
- Don't worry if the tip falls just short of the lower edge. The note can still be completed even if this occurs.
6Tuck the tab into the top pocket. Fold the tip of the triangle into the diagonal that lies across the rectangle. Crease well to secure.
- This step completes your basic rectangle fold.
Method 3 of 4: Arrow Note
1Fold your paper in half vertically. Use a valley fold.
- Note that the width will be halved but the height should remain unchanged.
2Fold the upper and bottom portion into triangles. Bring the upper left corner diagonally down and to the right. Fold the lower right corner diagonally up and the to left. Unfold when done.
- The edge of each corner should be aligned with the edge of the note.
- Crease the edges well so that the fold leaves a mark.
3Fold the bottom and top and the opposite directions. Bring the upper right corner diagonally down and to the left and the bottom left corner diagonally up and the the right. Unfold.
- Again, the edge of each corner should be aligned to the edge of the main body of the note.
- Crease well before unfolding.
4Bring the top and bottom inward. Fold the top edge down so that the edge meets with the lower marks left behind by your previous folds. Fold the bottom edge up to the corresponding lower crease.
5Tuck the folded corners in. Push on each corner of the note, gently pressing it in between the top and bottom layers of paper.
- When done, there should be a triangle at the top of the paper and a triangle at the bottom. When looking at the top triangle from the bottom, each tucked-in corner should form an "M" shape.
6Fold each vertical side into the center. Slightly lift the left edges of both upper triangles, exposing the bottom portion of the note. Bring the left edge in vertically toward the center and fold. Repeat with the right edge.
- You should now be left with a double-sided arrow shape.
- Each edge should meet with the exact vertical center of the note.
7Fold the note in half horizontally. Bring the bottom arrow up so that it overlaps the top arrow.
8Slip the bottom layer into the top arrow. Slightly unfold the note and tuck the overlapping bottom arrow into the fold of the original top arrow.
- You should be left with a secure arrow that has one head.
- This completes the arrow style fold.
Method 4 of 4: Diamond Note
1Fold the note in half vertically. Bring the right edge to meet the left edge.
- The width will be halved while the height will remain unchanged.
2Fold the one upper corner and one lower corner into triangles. Bring the upper left corner diagonally down and to the right so that the edge of the folded triangle is flush to the edge of the main body. Fold the lower right corner diagonally up and to the left in the same manner.
- Crease well, then unfold.
3Repeat these folds with the other two corners. Bring the upper right corner diagonally down and to the left and the lower left corner diagonally up and to the right.
- The edges of both triangles should be flush to the edge of the main body of the note.
- Crease well before unfolding.
4Fold the top and bottom inward. Bring the top edge down so that it meets with the bottom of the upper crease marks made by your triangle folds. Do likewise with the bottom edge by bringing it up to meet its corresponding crease marks.
5Gently push the folded corners in. Push in on each corner, reversing its direction so that the corner is tucked in between the top and bottom layers of the note.
- From the front, the resulting shape should look like a short rectangle with a triangle on the top and triangle on the bottom.
- When viewed from the bottom of the fold, each tucked corner should form an "M" shape.
6Flip the paper and valley-fold the bottom triangle up. From the back of the paper, fold the bottom triangle in and up.
- The base of the triangle should line up with the new bottom of the paper.
7Valley-fold the upper triangle down. From the back, bring the point of the upper triangle down so that it meets the base of the lower triangle.
- Crease well and unfold temporarily.
- Note that the base of the upper triangle does not need to line up with the top of the paper. It is more important that the point of the upper triangle meets the base of the lower triangle.
8Form a small diamond with the bottom corners. Take the top layer of the bottom right corner and fold it up so that it meets the point of the bottom triangle. Repeat with the bottom left corner.
9Refold the top triangle and form a diamond with its corners. Repeat the fold needed to overlap the top and bottom triangles. Fold the top layer of the right and left corners down to meet the tip of the upper triangle.
10Bring the bottom corners in temporarily. You will need to create a horizontal crease across the left and right sides of the newly-created top diamond.
- Take the bottom tip of the left half of the newly-created top diamond. Bend the tip inward, toward the top tip of the diamond. Crease well before unfolding it back into its previous shape.
- Repeat with the right half.
11Pull the flaps of the bottom diamond into those of the top. Bring the right half of the bottom diamond out so that it crosses the base layer of the paper but rests behind the right half of the top diamond.
- Repeat with the left half of the bottom diamond so that it rests beneath the left half of the top diamond.
12Tuck the flaps of the upper diamond into the newly-created pockets. This action will create a secure diamond on the front.
- Carefully unfold the right flap. Fold the right flap in the opposite direction, tucking it into the top-most pocket.
- Repeat this action with the left flap.
13Flip the paper and fold the sides in. Turn the note over to the back and fold the right vertical edge to the left. Fold the left vertical edge to the right.
- Only fold the edges as far as they will go comfortably and withing ripping.
- The left side should slightly overlap the right.
14Tuck the left side into the right and flip the note over. Slip the points of the left side into the corners of the right side to secure the shape. Turn the note over to the front once more.
- This completes the diamond note fold.
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Things You'll Need
- 1 standard sheet of notebook paper
Categories: Surviving School
Recent edits by: Laura
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