Known as the “Star of Christmas,” Poinsettia blooms just in time for Christmas, with its reddish bracts and leaves like blossoming starbursts, symbolizing the joy of the festival and the wish for new life and hope.
During the Christmas and New Year seasons, you can use the magic of your fingertips to add a splash of color to your holiday decor by creating an Origami Poinsettia. This beautiful flower features vibrant petals, a leaf, and a delicate stem. With its elegant design and symbolic blessings, it is a great choice for winter home decoration. Recreate its beauty through origami and share your best wishes with others.
If you are new to origami, start here from our beginner guide to know the basics and how to read the step-by-step instructions.
- Folding time: 50 minutes
- Paper: 15×15 cm/2 7.5×7.5/1
- Difficulty: Advanced
Material
Prepare two pieces of 15×15 cm origami paper, one red for the poinsettia one green for the stem, and a piece of 7.5×7.5 cm origami green paper for the leaf.
It is recommended to use durable paper or paper specifically designed for origami to prevent the paper from tearing during folding.
Step by Step Instructions
Origami Poinsettia Flower
Step 1
Place the 15×15 cm origami paper with the red side facing up to begin folding. Fold it in half horizontally, leaving a crease, and unfold it.
Step 2
Fold the paper in half vertically, leaving a crease, and unfold it.
Step 3
Fold the four corners diagonally to meet the center intersection point, then flip the paper from left to right, and paint the center of the paper yellow.
Step 4
Fold the bottom left edge to align with the top right edge, leaving a crease, and unfold it.
Step 5
Fold the bottom right edge to align with the top left edge, leaving a crease, and unfold it.
Step 6
Mountain fold the left and right creases, then lift the left, right, and top corners and push them to meet the bottom corner. Flatten the fold to get a smaller square. Finally, rotate the paper 180 degrees clockwise.
Step 7
Fold the bottom left and right edges of the top layer to align with the center vertical line, crease them well, and unfold them.
Step 8
Lift the top flap on the right side, open it, and squash it along the creases you made in the previous step.
Step 9
Fold the top left and right edges of the top layer to align with the center vertical line, crease them well, and unfold them.
Step 10
Lift the top triangle layer’s top edge, and fold it down along the black dotted line [picture 1]. Then, push its top left and right corners toward the center, and flatten the fold along the two red dotted lines [pictures 2 and 3]
Next, fold up the small triangle flap, and fold the top flap on the left flap to the right side [pictures 4 and 5].
Step 11
Repeat steps 7 to 10 for the other three flaps. Finally, lay down the flap and fold the top flap from the left side to the right side.
Step 12
Push down the left and right flaps to the sides, and expand them.
Step 13
Mountain fold the crease indicated by the red dotted line, and valley fold the two creases indicated by the black dotted lines. These three creases form a triangle, press this triangle down backward along its bottom edge.
Step 14
Repeat this for the other three sides, and finally, lay the paper flat.
Step 15
Press down the left and right flaps to expand this side. Then, bring up the triangle layer on this side and rotate the paper 90 degrees from front to back so that this triangle layer faces up.
Step 16
Lift the bottom left and right edges of this triangle along the creases indicated by the black dotted lines. Then, press down the top edge’s midpoint and the bottom corner along the mountain crease indicated by the red dotted line.
Step 17
Repeat step 16 for the other three sides.
Step 18
Fold up the bottom corner along the black dotted line, leaving a crease, and unfold it.
Step 19
Expand this paper, and place it with the red side face up.
Step 20
Mountain fold the creases you made in step 18, indicated by the white dotted lines [picture 1]
Then, focus on the creases in the center circle, mountain fold the creases indicated by the blue dotted lines, and valley fold the creases indicated by the white dotted lines [picture 2]
Finally, along these creases, push the midpoint of each side of the circle towards the center [picture 3], and shape the paper as shown in the fourth picture.
Step 21
Flip the paper from back to front, then rotate it 45 degrees clockwise, and then another 90 degrees from back to front.
Step 22
Keep your eyes on the middle flap. While pinching its base, open its pocket and press its top point downward. Rotate the paper 90 degrees from front to back to check this resulting flap.
Step 23
Repeat step 22 for the other three sides.
Step 24
Rotate the flower 45 degrees clockwise, and then another 90 degrees from back to front.
Step 25
Focus on the middle flap, pinch its base, and open its pocket, then press its top corner down to flatten this flap. Rotate the paper 90 degrees from front to back to check the resulting flap.
Step 26
Similarly, repeat step 25 for the other three flaps.
Step 27
Shape each tip of each petal, and this is the final shape of the origami poinsettia.
The Poinsettia Leaf
Step 1
Take out a piece of 7.5×7.5 cm green origami paper, draw the pattern on the green side, then flip the paper over so the white side faces up.
Step 2
Fold the paper in half vertically, leaving a crease, and unfold it.
Step 3
Fold the left corner to the right side along the black dotted line, making sure to pass the vertical crease.
The same to the right corner, fold it to the left side and pass the vertical crease.
Finally, fold these two corners back to their original side to form two zigzags.
Step 4
Fold the bottom corner up, then fold it back to the bottom side to form a zigzag.
Step 5
Fold the bottom left edge along the black dotted line, at this time, we can see here a tiny triangle on the left side. Lift it, push it to the right side, and finally flatten the fold.
Repeat this for the bottom right edge.
Step 6
Shape the bottom left and right sides along the black dotted lines.
Step 7
Fold the top corner down along the dotted line, leaving a crease, and unfold it.
Step 8
Fold the top left edge of the left triangle along the dotted line connecting two red spots, crease it well, and unfold it [pictures 1 and 2].
Then, fold the top right edge of this paper along the dotted line connecting two red spots, and unfold it [pictures 3 to 5]
Step 9
Repeat this for right side.
Fold the top right edge of the right triangle along the dotted line connecting two red spots, crease it well, and unfold it [pictures 1 and 2].
Then, fold the top left edge of this paper along the dotted line connecting two red spots, and unfold it [pictures 3 to 5]
Step 10
Push the indentations on the left and right towards the center along the creases you made in the previous step indicated by the dotted lines.
Step 11
Fold the top corner along the black dotted line, and crease only the middle section to form a short line, and unfold it.
Step 12
Fold the top left and right edges along the dotted lines, crease them well, and unfold them.
Step 13
Lift the top left and right edges along the dotted lines, and the top corner will press down slightly by itself.
Step 14
Valley fold the bottom section of the center vertical crease indicated by the dotted line, then flip the leaf from left to right.
Step 15
Cut the bottom corner a little along the vertical crease, then fold up the resulting tiny flaps. This is the final shape of the origami poinsettia leaf.
Origami Poinsettia Stem
Step 1
Take out a piece of 15×15 cm green origami paper, and place it with the green side facing down to begin folding. Roll the paper from the bottom corner into a tight stick shape. Apply glue to the top corner to secure the roll and prevent it from unraveling.
Step 2
Then, flatten the top end of the paper stick and gently press it downward to create a bend.
Assemble Origami Poinsettia
Step 1
Apply glue to the bent section of the stem and insert it into the hole on the back side of the poinsettia.
Step 2
Glue the leaf on the stem.
What’s Next
This is the final shape of the origami poinsettia. To continue the festive ritual of this paper craft, try to make the Origami Christmas Star. Folding with gold OR silver paper can make your star shine even brighter, and it’s a great idea to hang on a window or embellish a gift box.
Or fold an Origami Cherry Blossom, using pink and white gradient paper to restore the light five-petaled flowers of spring and the view of blooming branches. Both of these flowers use three-dimensional techniques to unlock the different origami aesthetics of the two seasons, so there will always be blooming flowers on your desk.
Origami Christmas Star
Origami Cherry Blossom
