Make this beautiful
Dollar Origami Butterfly

This dollar origami butterfly makes a great wedding gift. My sister and her husband-to-be didn't want any hard goods gifts for their wedding, so my husband and I gave them some origami money hearts and butterflies :-) Perfect symbolism for the beginning of a new life together, don't you agree?

By the way, you don't have to use 1 dollar bills... use any denomination you like. Certainly larger bills are appropriate for a wedding present!

The method for folding an origami money butterfly is nice and easy. Even if you've never tried any sort of dollar bill origami or other paper folding, you'll still have no problem.

We'll start with picture instructions, and further down the page there's a video tutorial.

Picture Instructions

You'll need two bills for this design.

Step 1: Fold a bill in half lengthwise, then unfold again.

Step 2: Fold the corners in to meet the centre-line.

Step 3: Fold the bill back and forth like an accordion, until it looks like this. The precise number of folds doesn't matter.

Step 4: Place your second bill below the first, and fold in the corners along the dotted lines shown here. The lines are placed so that widths of the top and bottom bills are the same at the place where they adjoin.

Step 5: Accordion-fold the bottom bill until it looks like this. As in step 3, the precise number of folds doesn't matter.

Step 6: Place the two bills next to each other like this.

Step 7: Use a pipe cleaner or ribbon to attach the two notes together and form 'antennae'. Well done, you've finished! Cute isn't it?

Video Tutorial

Click the white arrow to play. If the video doesn't display, you might need to download the free Adobe flash player.

In case you're wondering, no, that's not monopoly money, it's Australian money. It works perfectly for making a dollar origami butterfly because it's so colourful.

Origami Butterfly Bouquet

One our readers (Cali from Sparks, NV) took these instructions a step further and made a butterfly bouquet! Check it out:

So pretty! Click here for Cali's instructions on how how she made the bouquet. Thanks Cali!

(P.S. Want to share photos of cool gifts you've made? Click here to share your photos.)

What next?

Looking for something romantic to go with the butterfly? Have a go folding a money origami simple heart or decorative heart.

Happy folding!