Took a bit of a break from my usual weekly tutorials when I headed out to Japan for three weeks. Of course, I went on my usual craft supply shopping in Osaka, but I also took time to learn a few new origami tricks. Take shopping, add a little bit of origami and you end up with this fun paper craft. To learn how to make mini origami shopping bags, read on!

Start out with a square sheet of scrapbook paper. For this tutorial, I used a 12×12-in sheet from my favorite Neon and Kraft paper pad from Recollections.

 

Fold the square in half, diagonally.

 

Fold the square in half the other way, but only to mark the center. No need to make a full crease.

 

 

Open the square up, and fold the right corner until the center mark.

 

 

Repeat on the opposite side.

 

Open up all the folds again. Fold the right corner, all the way to the far left fold.

 

 

Do the same on the opposite side. Fold the left corner all the way to the rightmost fold.

 

 

Open up the folds again, and repeat the first half-fold you made.

 

 

Fold the middle section upward, about a half or full inch upward. This will become the size of the shopping bag’s base.

 

Next, fold the right triangle upward, just until it meets that second crease.

 

 

Repeat on the other side.

 

 

You should end up with folds like this. It kinda looks like a frog or crab to me. Anwaaaaays…

 

 

 

 

 

Open up all the folds again. Take the right most corner, and fold towards the center until the center point of an X. Yes, X marks the spot!

 

 

Repeat on the opposite side.

 

 

Here comes one of the trickier steps. If you’re used to wrapping presents, this might be simple to you. Look for that bottom diagonal fold, and pinch and fold it over. (Sorry for the terrible explanation right there!)

 

 

It should look something like this. You’ll start forming the sides of the mini shopping bag.

 

 

Repeat the same pinch and flap fold on the other side.

 

 

Keep holding those folds in place. Take the bottom corner, and fold up until it meets the corner of the folds.

 

Then, fold the excess flap over.

 

 

Repeat on the other side, making sure nothing unravels.

 

 

It gets really tight in there as you go on with the folds. The smaller the paper you start with, the tougher this gets!

 

 

Phew! All done. You’re almost there!

 

You’ll need a single hole punch. Make sure to use one with a smaller punch.

 

 

Punch two holes on either side.

 

 

Using your favorite string, yarn or cord, make handles!

 

 

Knot the string, yarn or cord in place. Make sure the handles are of the same length.

 

 

All done! Kawaii?

 

Tag @mikkomix or @itrydiy when you post your final projects on instagram. I’d love to see your work! Happy crafting!