How to Make an Origami Sunflower

This origami sunflower can be a thoughtful gift for your friends and family, especially those who love flowers and nature. It is designed to resemble a natural and realistic sunflower, with its radiant petals and detailed center.

It is made with a Square Base, and you can experiment with different colored and sized square papers to create various sunflowers. The outer part of this origami sunflower comprises eight bright yellow sunflower petals. At the center is an octagon-shaped disc representing the seeds of the flowers.

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: 30 minutes
Paper: 15×15 cm/2 7.5×7.5 cm/2
Total steps: 35
Difficulty: Advanced

Material

Get two pieces of 15×15 cm origami square paper, one orange for the sunflower and one green for the stem. Two pieces of 7.5×7.5 cm green for the leaves.

About the paper: We suggest you use slightly hard but tough paper.

Step by Step Instructions

Origami Sunflower Flower

Step 1

Take out the 15×15 cm orange paper, place it with the orange side up to begin folding, fold it in half horizontally, leaving a crease, then unfold it.

Step 2

Fold it in half vertically, and unfold it.

Step 3

Rotate it 180 degrees from the left to the right to flip the paper over.

Step 4

Fold the bottom right edge to align with the top left edge, leaving a crease then unfold it.

Step 5

Fold the bottom left edge to align with the top right edge, and unfold it.

Step 6

Shape the left and right creases, and push the left, right, and top points to meet the bottom point. Flatten the fold to create a small square.

Step 7

Fold the top left and right edges of the top layer to align with the middle vertical crease.

Step 8

Rotate it 180 degrees from the left to the right to flip it over.

Step 9

Fold the top left and right edges to align with the vertical crease.

Step 10

Cut out the bottom triangle.

Step 11

Fold down the top point diagonally to meet the midpoint of the bottom edge, crease it well then unfold it.

Step 12

Unfold the paper completely.

Step 13

Rotate it 180 degrees from the left to the right.

Step 14

Mountain fold the creases indicated by the red dotted lines, and valley fold the creases indicated by the black dotted lines. [The after picture has rotated a little to make a mountain fold at the top]

Step 15

Firstly, press down the edges along the center circle creases, then look at the first picture, shape the two creases extend from the center point indicated by the red dotted lines, and fold them to align with the crease indicated by the black dotted line that located between these two, as you can see in the second picture.

Fold the remaining creases that extend from the center point in the same way, then you will get a model as the fifth picture shows.

Finally, flatten the paper, so that there are four flaps on each left and right side.

Step 16

Rotate it 90 degrees from the front to the back.

Step 17

Fold up the right section of the bottom edge to align with the vertical crease, and you will do this four times since there are four flaps.

Step 18

Rotate it 180 degrees from the left to the right.

Step 19

Like before, fold up the bottom edge of each layer to align with the vertical crease.

Step 20

Pinch the bottom of two flaps with both your hands, ensure there are three flaps between these two flaps, and pull them toward the sides separately.

In the same way, pull each of the eight flaps to make the center propped up and bulged. You can adjust constantly to get an ideal state.

Step 21

Press down the center point.

Step 22

Turn the mountain lines into valley lines of the right petal, and this petal will be slightly expanded, then press down the tip of this petal. [picture 1 and 2]

Next, press down the top mountain line to turn it into a valley line, then press down the tip of this petal.

Step 23

Repeat this for the remaining petals.

Step 24

Rotate it 180 degrees from the left to the right.

Step 25

Fold the edge indicated by the black line to align with the crease indicated by the red line, leaving a crease then unfold it. [picture 1 to 3]

Next, fold the right edge shown by the red line to align with the crease you just made.[picture 4 to 5]

Step 26

Repeat this for the remaining seven edges.