Sometimes I LOVE Pinterest, and sometimes it is really annoying. This week I found a fun thing for Father's Day that reminded me why it is such a great website! THESE adorable shirt and tie origami cards. Now, the pictures over at Fancy House Road are much better than mine, but her instructions took me a little while to get. I had to do a bit of trial and error because there weren't any pictures and I am a very visual person when it comes to folding paper. I need step by step instructions. So, I made my own visual instructions. That way I won't forget how to make them when I want to do it again in the future.
Here's how mine turned out! Aren't they just totally fun and awesome! I'm so glad I found this idea!
So you start by gathering your materials! You will need:
Paper
Scissors
2 Matching (or similar) Buttons
7/8" Wide Ribbon
Glue Gun
Crayons/Pens
Now in the original instructions they say to use cardstock. I tried this, but am not a skilled enough paper folder to make it work right. The paper just got to thick and chunky for me to fold. So, I used regular old computer paper.
First step is to decorate the inside (if you want to), or have your kids draw pictures for their dads/grandpas. I traced my little guys hand and he helped me write his name and "Happy Father's Day" on the insides. Then I let him go to town coloring it!
After you are done with whatever you want on the inside, then you can start folding it up.
1. Fold paper in half, hot dog style.
2. Open it back up!
3. Fold each of the sides in toward your center crease.
4. Take the top inner edge and fold it out so that you have a triangle hanging off the outer edge. (If you flip the paper over you will see that this becomes the triangle sleeves.)
5. Turn the paper over and flip it upside down so that the sleeves are at the bottom.
6. Take the top and fold it down about an inch. It should be toward you.
7. Flip the paper over again and fold the top corners in toward the center. They should meet at a point and create a "collar."
Close up of step 7!
8. Fold the bottom up to meet the collar (pretty much folding the paper in half).
And there you have it! A folded shirt. Now lets add the buttons and the tie!
Using your glue gun, put a teeny dot of glue on the back of each button and press onto the outside corner of the collar. Then cut a length of ribbon a little bit longer than your shirt length from the collar to the bottom of the paper. Cut one end of this length into a point like the bottom of a tie. Also cut a length of ribbon that is about 1 1/4 inch long to create the tied part of the tie at the top.
Get your glue gun and glue the short length of ribbon to the top of your long ribbon (centered). Then fold the edges over to the backside, slightly on a diagonal so that it is folded like a tie - glue down in the back. Then glue your tie to the top of the shirt, underneath the collar. Now you have a shirt with a tie!
Then you can write a nice note on the back or you can do what we did and flip the top down and write on the inside of the shirt! I like that they have to unfold the card to find the message, but the original tutorial just suggested to write your note on the back. Whatever you prefer works great!
I've never been very excited about homemade cards, but this one seriously rocks! Maybe I can find other fun cards like this one that I can make out of plain materials I always have on hand.
PS: This card takes about 10 minutes total (including writing the note) once you have all of your materials out. If you let your kids color on the paper first then it may take a little longer depending on how artistic they choose to be with their pictures! Happy Father's Day in advance to all of the wonderful men and fathers in the world!
