Boxes


Models of this type are also automatically listed in: geometric, origami-first design More restrictive types: box lid, modular box, single-sheet box

There are many kinds of origami boxes: simple and complex, from a single sheet and modular, boxes with a hinge and models where the lid is separate from the bottom part, etc.

This page lists models of a single type. You might be interested in folding instructions instead.
Box with Woven Triangles XXI

Box with Woven Triangles XXI

Another box with a tessellation molecule from the Woven Triangles family. The triangles are visible in deep layers of the model, surrounded by a flat frame.

Box with Woven Triangles XX

Box with Woven Triangles XX

In this variant of Woven Triangles, the triangles are hidden in deeper layers of the molecule and surrounded by flat rectangular panels.

Pentagonal Box (CFW 219)

Pentagonal Box (CFW 219)

This box is a little gem I found in Fujimoto’s book Twist Origami III. I had never seen a picture of this model before, and I had to do a bit of reverse-engi...

Origami Deutschland Box

Origami Deutschland Box

This box represents the logo of Origami Deutschland, the German Origami Society. I designed this model in the evening after the last day of the 2023 German c...

Box with Framed Pyramid

Box with Framed Pyramid

This design is derived from Box with Alien Pyramid by rearranging paper layers. While the latter molecule tends to rise up from the plane and become 3D, this...

Box with Alien Pyramid

Box with Alien Pyramid

The decoration on this box consists of just a few modified open-back square twists. It resembles a flat-topped pyramid such as found in Mesoamerican architec...

Crown Box

Crown Box

The name of this simple box, folded from a hexagon, comes from its jagged edge. It is closely related to Bowl Box.

Bowl Box

Bowl Box

A simple box folded from a hexagon. It is closely related to Crown Box.

Book Stand

Book Stand

I folded this simple book stand from the piece of paper left over after cutting a hexagon from a rectangle. This shape of the sheet, while unusual in the nor...

7-Box

7-Box

The digit “7” on this box’s lid is a tessellation molecule, derived from the one on Z-Box. Hiding one of the horizontal bars sounded like a simple enough exe...

Coffee Cup (CFW 200)

Coffee Cup (CFW 200)

This model is one of Fujimoto’s few figurative origami designs, but a very distinctive one. I really like it for its simplicity and elegance. Despite being a...

Ladybug Box

Ladybug Box

This box is decorated with a ladybug, which is a tessellation molecule. I used the same molecule for a BBU tile variant to make a decorated cube. While the f...

Alien Vase

Alien Vase

This wireframe vase is not very practical as a container, but the design is interesting. It can be used to hold a tennis ball in place and prevent it from ro...

Box with Woven Triangles XVIII

Box with Woven Triangles XVIII

This model is derived from Box with Woven Triangles II by sinking one edge of the triangle which results in a striking pattern of triangular flat islands bet...

Tray

Tray

I designed and folded this simple origami tray in 2017. Due to the way the bottom is structured, it could also be used as a picture frame. The tray is square...

Box with Greek Cross and Squares IV

Box with Greek Cross and Squares IV

The tessellation molecule decorating this box is one of many similar patterns I designed after my visit to CfC conference in Zaragoza in February 2020. While...

Box with Woven Triangles XVII

Box with Woven Triangles XVII

This design is pretty much like Box with Woven Triangles XII but with different layer ordering. The change results in the triangles being covered by pleats a...

Hinged Shamrock Box

Hinged Shamrock Box

This box, designed in late 2020, is decorated with a shamrock, and folded from a single square of Tant paper. In contrast to most of my box designs, in which...

Chipped Box

Chipped Box

Top edges of this box look as if they were chipped, hence the name. The whole top area is a tessellation molecule, derived by a simple change from the base t...

Box with Woven Triangles XV

Box with Woven Triangles XV

This model from Woven Triangles series features a frame that surrounds the four interwoven triangles in the center of the molecule.

Z-Box (variant B)

Z-Box (variant B)

In this variant of my Z-Box, the serifs on the letter Z are truncated and the letter has a more rounded look. At the time I designed the original and the B ...

Box with Woven Triangles XIV

Box with Woven Triangles XIV

This variant of Woven Triangles is very similar to number XIII except for the pleat visible on the box’s side having a different layer ordering.

Box with Woven Triangles XII

Box with Woven Triangles XII

This version of Woven Triangles molecule looks very similar to Woven Triangles I at first glance but has a different arrangement of pleats. These seem to ci...

Hexagonal Box (CFW 216)

Hexagonal Box (CFW 216)

This hexagonal box by Shuzo Fujimoto uses his typical technique for locking the bottom with folds that resemble an iris diaphragm. He also devised similar de...

Box with Woven Triangles XI

Box with Woven Triangles XI

In this Woven Triangles variant, pleats are not locked as strongly as in others, which will probably make folding a real multi-molecule tessellation neatly h...

Z-Box

Z-Box

This box is decorated with a tessellation molecule representing the letter Z. Though it may not be obvious from its looks, this design is closely related to ...

Box with Woven Triangles X

Box with Woven Triangles X

In this member of the Woven Triangles family, the triangles have different proportions than the √5:√5:√10 sides found in most other variants.

Box with Shy Flower

Box with Shy Flower

This box features a tessellation molecule which I called Shy Flower. I derived it from my earlier Braided Pinwheel Tessellation. The flower is 3D and its mos...

Whirlwind Box (folded from full grid)

Whirlwind Box (folded from full grid)

This Whirlwind Box is folded from a full 16×16 grid on copy paper. You can have a look at a fold from Tant paper and without the grid for a comparison of the...

Box with Woven Triangles IX

Box with Woven Triangles IX

This is the first box in the Woven Triangles family to be based on a structure modified by twisting the square on the back side of the molecule. This also ma...

Egg Cup II

Egg Cup II

This cup is a design derived from Lucky Star Box (Simplified) Variant B and the PreCP (Precrease Pattern) is the same. The paper used to form the star in the...

Sawtooth Box (variant D)

Sawtooth Box (variant D)

Yet another variant of Sawtooth Box. This vaariant is almost identical to Tilted Square Box by Tung Ken Lam.

Lucky Star Box (Simplified) Variant B

Lucky Star Box (Simplified) Variant B

This is variant B of my Lucky Star Box (Simplified). It is derived from the basic variant by pushing inside the box the empty areas around the star, which va...

Tic-Tac-Toe Board Foldable into a Bowl

Tic-Tac-Toe Board Foldable into a Bowl

This model, which includes tessellation elements, has a 3×3 field of squares which reminds me of a tic-tac-toe game board. The pattern is based on Square Pix...

Box with Woven Triangles VIII

Box with Woven Triangles VIII

As in Box with Woven Triangles VII, in Box with Woven Triangles VIII the triangles are located below other layers of paper and only partially peeking outside.

Box with Woven Triangles XIII

Box with Woven Triangles XIII

When folding this box, I thought I was making a clean fold of Box with Woven Triangles XVI, but I missed one detail and ended up with yet another design. You...

Box with Woven Triangles I

Box with Woven Triangles I

This is a simple box with a molecule of Woven Triangles Tessellation I. My first attempt at folding this model resulted in a slightly modified molecule and e...

Box with Woven Triangles VII

Box with Woven Triangles VII

In this variant, the triangles are located in a deeper layer of paper, as if peeking through an opening in a wall.

Predictable Box II

Predictable Box II

Just as is the case with Predictable Box I, the purpose of Predictable Box II is to have predictable inner dimensions, which in turn makes it possible to use...

Sawtooth Box (variant C)

Sawtooth Box (variant C)

This variant of Sawtooth Box looks most similar of all my variants to the designs of two authors who had an almost identical idea before me (see the main var...

Masu Box

Masu Box

Traditional Masu Box, often used as an example of a simple origami box.

Sawtooth Box (variant B)

Sawtooth Box (variant B)

Another variant of Sawtooth Box. It differs from variant A by having the triangular flaps locked to the walls of the box. This creates a nice diagonal color-...

Sawtooth Box (variant A)

Sawtooth Box (variant A)

This is a simple box with a color change. I designed several variants (posts coming up), most with the triangular flaps (“saw teeth”) locked onto the walls. ...

Box with Woven Triangles VI

Box with Woven Triangles VI

After a break, I’m back to presenting variants of molecules from the Woven Triangles tessellation series. Again, it’s a single tessellation molecule used to ...

Edelweiss Box (variant A)

Edelweiss Box (variant A)

I derived this design from my Shamrock 1.1 Box. Just like the former, it can be tessellated. It is named after a rare flower which grows in the mountains.

Whirlwind Box

Whirlwind Box

This box is decorated with Whirlwind molecule which can also be used for a tessellation. Its design is closely related to my Woven Triangles family, but I ga...

Shamrock 1.1 Box (Refold)

Shamrock 1.1 Box (Refold)

A new fold of my Shamrock 1.1 Box — compared to the previous one, I managed to fold and shape the stem in a cleaner way. The shamrock can be tessellated.

Flower Pot II

Flower Pot II

Another simple origami container whose bottom is not flat. It looks like a green mound, on top of which you can place a plant or some other object.

Flower Pot I

Flower Pot I

A simple geometric origami container whose bottom is not flat.

Box with Woven Triangles IV

Box with Woven Triangles IV

This origami box is decorated with a tessellation molecule from the Woven Triangle family. In contrast to Woven Triangles I, II, and III, Woven Triangles IV ...

Box with Woven Triangles III

Box with Woven Triangles III

This is the third tessellation pattern in Woven Triangle family, and it looks good as a single molecule on a box as well.

Box with Woven Triangles XVI

Box with Woven Triangles XVI

Naming this box, the first in the Woven Triangles family, was a little misunderstanding. I originally labeled it number I since it was the first to be publis...

Box with Arrangement of Rectangles

Box with Arrangement of Rectangles

Recently, I came up with a family of patterns which result from placing four modified twists around the corners of a rectangle or square. Some variations are...

Box with Color-Change Star (Hexagonal)

Box with Color-Change Star (Hexagonal)

The technique used for this hexagonal box can be used for other polygons as well, resulting in boxes with a different number of sides. However, the minimum n...

Egg Cup

Egg Cup

This very simple model is folded from an equilateral triangle, and based on a pattern which corresponds to the hypar but on a triangle grid. You can use this...

Box with Decorated Maltese Cross

Box with Decorated Maltese Cross

Box with a heavily stylized Maltese Cross. The molecule can be tessellated or used on a box as in this picture. This design uses my Flagstone Paneling techni...

Box with Maltese Cross II

Box with Maltese Cross II

Another approach to the subject of Maltese Cross. The molecule can be tessellated or used on a box as in this picture. This design uses my Flagstone Paneling...

Box with Maltese Cross I

Box with Maltese Cross I

An origami box featuring the heraldic Maltese Cross. The molecule is based on the one used in Maltese Cross Framed and a slight variation of the one used in ...

Souvenir of the Sea (Box)

Souvenir of the Sea (Box)

Making a tessellation representing boats on the sea had been on my mind for quite some time when I finally came up with this design. It represents not just a...

Box with Cross Pattee IV

Box with Cross Pattee IV

An origami box featuring the heraldic Cross Pattee. This model uses my Flagstone Paneling technique in order to achieve a completely clean space around the m...

Box with Cross Pattee III

Box with Cross Pattee III

An origami box featuring the heraldic Cross Pattee. This model uses my Flagstone Paneling technique in order to achieve a completely clean space around the m...

Box with Cross Pattee II

Box with Cross Pattee II

An origami box featuring the heraldic Cross Pattee. This model uses my Flagstone Paneling technique in order to achieve a completely clean space around the m...

Box with Cross Pattee I

Box with Cross Pattee I

An origami box featuring the heraldic Cross Pattee.I used the same molecule in Cross Pattee Tessellation, and just as the tessellation, the box also uses my ...

Simple Woven Rhombi Box

Simple Woven Rhombi Box

A simple origami box, based on my Woven Rhombi Tessellation. Folded from a sheet of unique paper with a subtle floral motif, whose name I do not know.

Shamrock 1.1 Box

Shamrock 1.1 Box

Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, here is a new version of my Shamrock Box (previous versions: 1.0 and two simplified variants). Current version was design...

Woven Square Box

Woven Square Box

A simple box lid derived from a modified Propellers Tessellation molecule.

Origami Free-Form Box: Poland

Origami Free-Form Box: Poland

Today, on November 11th, Poland is celebrating 100 years of regaining independence. This origami box which represents an outline of Poland is an example of t...

Lucky Star Box (Simplified)

Lucky Star Box (Simplified)

This is a model I will be teaching in just two weeks at a workshop during the 2018 CDO origami convention in Italy. The star can be used as a tessellation mo...

Twirl Bowl

Twirl Bowl

This hexagonal dish is created as an intermediate step while collapsing my Sunk Star Box.

Lucky Star Box

Lucky Star Box

Origami box with Lucky Star molecule. The molecule can be tessellated and is based on hexagonal 8×8×8 grid.

Sunk Star Boxes (two enantiomers)

Sunk Star Boxes (two enantiomers)

Two folds of my Sunk Star Box with different twisting directions, side by side. Wherever there’s a twist in origami, we get two possible versions of the fold...

Sunk Star Box (Hexagonal)

Sunk Star Box (Hexagonal)

The star in the center of this box is a kind of twist which does not lie flat and therefore can form a box but not a tessellation. This model is a part of a ...

Sunk Star Box (Square)

Sunk Star Box (Square)

The star in the center of this box is a kind of twist which does not lie flat and therefore can form a box but not a tessellation. This model started a serie...

Wedge Flower Box (hexagonal)

Wedge Flower Box (hexagonal)

A hexagonal variant of my Wedge Flower Box. Due to the different angles than in square grid, petals do not automatically align in a nice way, so they have to...

Box with Wedge Flower Variant

Box with Wedge Flower Variant

This box is decorated with a variant of my Wedge Flower molecule in which the central part is flat. Folded from Textured Paper from BOS Supplies.

Box with Leaves (tip-to-tip, 32 divisions)

Box with Leaves (tip-to-tip, 32 divisions)

A fold of my Box with Leaves (tip-to-tip) where the leaves were folded using a 32-division pleat instead of the usual 16 divisions. I taught this model at Ou...

Wedge Flower Box

Wedge Flower Box

Origami box decorated with a molecule of my Wedge Flower Tessellation. Folded from Via Felt 100 gsm paper stained with tea using a technique developed by my ...

Box with Star of David

Box with Star of David

A recent design of mine, a box with the Star of David, seen from the top. Folded from a single sheet of Tant paper without cuts or glue. The star can be tess...

Houstonia Box

Houstonia Box

This origami box represents a flower of the genus Houstonia, also known as bluets or Quaker Ladies. Some species, in particular Houstonia Caerulea have four ...

Eco Box

Eco Box

My goal when designing this box was reusing the strips of paper which are left over when a square is cut off from an A4 piece of paper. This strip also happe...

Depressed Propeller Box

Depressed Propeller Box

A new box design based on Propellers Tessellation molecule. The molecule is depressed, meaning that the layers of paper forming the sides of the box are abov...

Predictable Box

Predictable Box

I designed this box as a container for corrugations (one of the pictures shows such use, for Monument Valley Corrugation). Some corrugations are springy and ...

Her Majesty’s Box (gold Washi)

Her Majesty’s Box (gold Washi)

A box designed on my way back home from BOS50 convention (I had the idea for the molecule earlier, though). Folded from a sheet of gold-red Washi.

Her Majesty’s Box (WIP)

Her Majesty’s Box (WIP)

A new box, aptly named Her Majesty’s Box, taking shape on the train back from the 50th Anniversary Convention of British Origami Society. Both the convention...

Shamrock Box (Slightly Simplified)

Shamrock Box (Slightly Simplified)

Here is a slightly simplified version of my Shamrock Box. The original was based on a molecule which can easily be tessellated. However, with a single molecu...

Shamrock Box (Simplified)

Shamrock Box (Simplified)

Here is a fully simplified version of my Shamrock Box. The original was based on a molecule which can easily be tessellated. However, with a single molecule ...

Simplified Shamrock Box Variants

Simplified Shamrock Box Variants

This picture shows a comparison of two variants of Simplified Shamrock Box: Simplified Shamrock Box (on the left) Slightly Simplified Shamrock Box (on the ri...

Broken Heart Box

Broken Heart Box

A box with a heart, which is also an action origami model. When things go wrong, the heart can be reshaped into a broken heart. The heart itself can be tesse...

Box with Pajarita (color change)

Box with Pajarita (color change)

A color-change version of my Box with Pajarita v. 1.1. In contrast to folds using harmony paper, here the different color of the Pajarita is the result of an...

Box with Leaves (stem-to-stem)

Box with Leaves (stem-to-stem)

An origami box with leaves, with the leaves’ stems in the center, based on an earlier coaster design. There is also a variant with leaves oriented tip-to-tip.

Box with Ribbon Bow (diagonal)

Box with Ribbon Bow (diagonal)

A box with a ribbon bow, constructed using a molecule of my Sunflower Tessellation and with color change. This is a variant where the ribbon runs along the d...

Box with Leaves (tip-to-tip)

Box with Leaves (tip-to-tip)

A box with leaves based on this coaster. There is a color change between the walls and the leaves, though a variant using the same side of paper for both is ...

Box with Pajarita 1.1

Box with Pajarita 1.1

This is version 1.1 of my Box with Pajarita. In this improved version, I took advantage of the fact that the box only has one molecule, and so I could get ri...

Shamrock Box

Shamrock Box

Box with a single molecule of my Shamrock Tessellation. Folded from 16×16 grid, of which the molecule consumes 12×12.

Box with Ribbon Bow

Box with Ribbon Bow

Box with a ribbon bow, constructed using a molecule of my Sunflower Tessellation and with color change added to make the ribbon stand out better from the bac...

Box with Pajarita

Box with Pajarita

Box with a single molecule of my Pajarita Tessellation. Folded from Harmony paper which allowed the Pajarita to better stand out from the background.

Elephant-Shaped Business Card Holder

Elephant-Shaped Business Card Holder

A simple business card holder in the form of an elephant I recently designed. With minor modification it can be folded from a square (a rectangle was used he...

Square Interlace Box

Square Interlace Box

This box is decorated with a pattern of Square Interlace Tessellation. I designed it as a container for a matching bracelet which is visible in some pictures...

Heptagonal Star Box (Chevron Corrugation)

Heptagonal Star Box (Chevron Corrugation)

This seven-sided star shape can be used as one half of a two-piece box or alone as an ornament. This heptagonal star design is based around my Chevron Corrug...

Box with Walled Garden Tessellation Molecule

Box with Walled Garden Tessellation Molecule

Another tessellation disguised as a box so that I can get away with folding just a single molecule, but I do plan to fold a full-fledged tessellation some ti...

Box with Two-in-One Flower Tessellation

Box with Two-in-One Flower Tessellation

Box with a single molecule of my Two-in-One Flower Tessellation. This pattern is derived from four molecules of Double Spearhead Tessellation slightly modifi...

Thin-Walled Box

Thin-Walled Box

This box has just one layer of paper in most places, so it uses paper effectively, allowing you to make a large box with given sheet size.

Box with Shooting Star

Box with Shooting Star

I designed this box during the annual meeting of Polish Meteoritical Society (meteorites are one of my hobbies alongside origami).

Nuclear Flower Box

Nuclear Flower Box

This origami box is decorated with a single molecule of Nuclear Flower Tessellation, a variant of Two-in-One Flower Tessellation. The name stems from the fac...

TensionPot Op. 695

TensionPot Op. 695

I folded this Tension Pot model during a workshop held by Robert J. Lang at 15th Origami Outdoor Meeting in Kraków, Poland. It’s an interesting shape that us...

Ice Cube Tray

Ice Cube Tray

This ice cube tray was folded from a single sheet of Elephant Hide paper sandwiched with aluminium foil in order to make it water-tight. The tray itself is a...

Brain in a Vat

Brain in a Vat

A brain in a vat is a thought experiment related to consciousness and the perception of reality which has, in one form or another, interested people ranging ...

Plain Box

Plain Box

I rarely fold boxes [update: no longer true], but recently I needed one and could not find any satisfying model online, so I designed this one. In contrast t...

2×2×1 box

2×2×1 box

This is a practical box made from Building Block Units connected using the hook method. I use this box to store all my Crease Pattern drawings of BBU variant...