Author: Jo Nakashima

Learn how to make an Origami Menger Sponge
Designed by Jo Nakashima (09/2019)
Difficulty level: simple

The Menger Sponge is a three dimensional fractal that you can build from my basic origami Cube unit, the same one used in the Moving Cubes, Rubik’s Cube, Infinity Cube and others from the cube series. Each cube is made from a single square sheet of paper and everything is connected without glue nor tape.

Paper

In the video tutorial I’m using 12cm x 12cm origami paper for each cube. For the level 2 Menger Sponge shown in the beggining I used 10cm x 10cm.

The number of units in a Menger Sponge grows exponentially and limitless. As you can see in the table below, it grows so quickly that I doubt someone would do a level 3 or bigger.

Helpful videos

To make the Menger Sponge you’ll need to fold a 5×5 grid on every sheet of paper that you’ll use. In the tutorial I show the “origami way” to do that, without a ruler or any kind of tool. However, there are easier methods and the videos below can help you in this task:

How to make an origami mouse
Designed by Jo Nakashima (01/2020)
Difficulty level: complex

2020 is the year of the rat/mouse in the chinese zodiac, so this cute mouse is my first model of the year. It was based on the Chinchilla/Baby Dragon/Squirrel.

Paper

The paper used in this tutorial is Copper Tissue-foil 20cm x 20cm.

Diagrams

Diagrams for the origami mouse aren’t available yet. Watch the tutorial to learn how to make it!

Support my work!

If you like my work, please consider visiting and subscribing to my YouTube channel! You’ll find all my work, including models that are not in this website and also models from other origami artists. The easiest way to support my work is simply watching my videos, clicking the like button, leaving comments and subscribing to my channel!

You can also contribute with small donations on Patreon or YouTube Channel Membership. It’s basically like paying me a tip as a thanks for my work and get some rewards in return, like early access to my tutorials and your name in the video (the “thank you” list). They work with Recurring payments, but you can cancel anytime so one-time donations are also possible.

How to make origami wings
Designed by Jo Nakashima (05/2019)
Difficulty level: simple
My paper: 10cm x 10cm for a 10cm wing
For a 20cm x 20cm Horse, use 7cm x 7cm wing

This is an easy way to make a pegasus by adding wings to my origami horse, but it can be connected to other models like the pig and the capybara.

Paper

Each wing is made from a square sheet of paper. The lenght of the wing will be equal to the width of the paper you use. So, for a 10cm wing use 10cm x 10cm sheet of paper.

For a 20cm x 20cm horse, I recommend 7cm x 7cm wing.

Some models to add wings

These are the models shown in the video, but the wings can be connected to any other models if there’s space between layers where you can insert them.

Diagrams

Diagrams for this model are not available yet! Watch the tutorial to learn how to make it!

Support my work!

If you like my work, please consider visiting and subscribing to my YouTube channel! You’ll find all my work, including models that are not in this website and also models from other origami artists. The easiest way to support my work is simply watching my videos, clicking the like button, leaving comments and subscribing to my channel!

You can also contribute with small donations on Patreon or YouTube Channel Membership. It’s basically like paying me a tip as a thanks for my work and get some rewards in return, like early access to my tutorials and your name in the video (the “thank you” list). They work with recurring payments, but you can cancel anytime so one-time donations are also possible.

How to make a fully functional Magnetic Origami Rubik’s Cube
Designed by Jo Nakashima (09/2019)
Difficulty level: Intermediate

This is a modular origami and each cube is made from a single sheet of paper. The “stickers” are also origami units, all connected without glue.

To make it fully functional, I’ve attached magnets inside the cubes using double sided tape. If you prefer pure origami, see the first version (static).

Paper

I recommend using 9cm x 9cm origami paper. If you use larger sizes, the cube will be difficult to handle. This is the number of sheets you’ll need:

• 27 sheets for the cube units (black)
• 6 sheets for the “sticker” units (red, blue, green, yellow, white and orange)

Magnets

I’ve tried a variety of Neodymium magnets. I’m not sure if these are the optimal sizes, but worked for this project:

• 6mm diameter x 3mm thick = 12 units
• 5mm diameter x 1mm thick = 96 unit

If you don’t know where to get magnets, check out the replies in the first comment on my video to find links to different stores around the world.

The larger magnets connect the core unit to the center units of each side. They are stronger because they’re not supposed to be disconnected, they just need to allow the rotation.

Make sure you keep track of the polarity of the magnets before taping them to the paper. Pay close attention to the video because the magnetic origami Rubik’s Cube won’t work if you don’t position them correctly.

Helpful Videos

To make each cube you’ll need to fold a 5×5 grid on every sheet of paper. In the tutorial I show the “origami way” to do that, without a ruler or any kind of tool. However, there are easier methods and the videos below can help you in this task:

To cut the rectangles for the stickers units I recommend this paper cutter:

How to make the origami Diabolical Cube Puzzle
Designed by Jo Nakashima (09/2019)
Difficulty level: simple

The origami Diabolical Cube is a puzzle similar to the SOMA Cube. It consists of six different pieces that can be assembled into a 3x3x3 cube. According to Wikipedia, it appears to be the oldest puzzle of this type, first appearing in an 1893 book Puzzles Old and New by Professor Hoffmann.

The puzzle has 13 different solutions, if mirrored pairs of solutions are not counted as being distinct from each other.

The origami is pretty easy to make and it only uses the basic cube unit and connections like in the origami Tetris Blocks.

Paper

In this tutorial I’m using 12cm x 12cm origami paper per cube (27 cubes in total).

Helpful videos

To make the Diabolical Cube Puzzle you’ll need to fold a 5×5 grid on every sheet of paper that you’ll use. In the tutorial I show the “origami way” to do that, without a ruler or any kind of tool. However, there are easier methods and the videos below can help you in this task:

How to make an Origami SOMA Cube Puzzle
Designed by Jo Nakashima (07/2019)
Difficulty level: simple

The SOMA Cube is a puzzle invented by Piet Hein in 1933. It has seven different pieces made from cube units that must be assembled into a 3x3x3 cube (and a variety of other shapes).

My origami version of this puzzle is a modular model and each cube is made from a square sheet of paper and connected without glue nor tape.

Paper

To fold this origami you’ll need 27 square sheets of paper with the same size. I’m using 12cm x 12cm in the video tutorial.

Diagrams

Diagrams are not available yet. Watch the video to learn how to make it!

More shapes

There are hundreds of different shapes that you can assemble with the SOMA cube. You can see below 40 sample shapes that you can try. I recommend you visit Thorleif’s SOMA page for more info and different figures.

Random SOMA Puzzle selector

You can also use the video below to select a random puzzle to solve. Play the video and hit pause to select one of the 40 figures:

Helpful videos

To make the origami SOMA Cube Puzzle you’ll need to fold a 5×5 grid on every sheet of paper that you’ll use. In the tutorial I show the “origami way” to do that, without a ruler or any kind of tool. However, there are easier methods and the videos below can help you in this task:

More origami models with cubes

On my YouTube Channel you can find a playlist with all my models based on the origami cube. Check it out for action models like the Moving Cubes and also puzzles like the Rubik’s Cube.

How to make Origami Tetris Blocks (Tetrominoes)
Designed by Jo Nakashima (07/2019)
Difficulty level: simple

Tetris is a video game created by russian software engineer Alexey Pajitnov in 1984 (wikipedia). In this game, the player should make lines by positioning differently shaped pieces (the tetrominoes), which descend onto the playing field. There are seven different tetrominoes (or five, if you don’t count the mirrored ones).

I created the origami Tetris Blocks from my basic origami Seamless Cube. You can connect the cubes side by side to form the tetrominoes using its tabs and pockets.

Paper

In this tutorial I’m using 12cm x 12cm sheet of origami paper per cube. You’ll need 4 cubes for each Tetris Block.

Helpful videos

To make the origami Tetris blocks you’ll need to fold a 5×5 grid on every sheet of paper that you’ll use. In the tutorial I show the “origami way” to do that, without a ruler or any kind of tool. But the videos below can help you in this task:

More origami from cubes

There are many ways to connect the cubes and make different models, such as the Rubik’s Cube, the SOMA Cube Puzzle and the Moving Cubes. See my playlist on YouTube with all my cube based origami.

How to make an origami Rubik’s Cube by Jo Nakashima
Designed by Jo Nakashima (07/2019)
Difficulty level: intermediate

This is a modular origami and each cube is made from a single sheet of paper. The “stickers” are also origami units, all connected without glue.

While real Rubik’s Cube are puzzles that you can scramble and solve, this is just a static origami representation of it. However I already created a magnetic version that is fully functional!

Paper

I recommend using 9cm x 9cm origami paper (but any square size works, of course).

• 27 sheets for the cube units (black)
• 6 sheets to be cut into smaller rectangles for the “sticker” units (red, blue, green, yellow, white and orange)

Helpful videos

To make this model you’ll need to fold a 5×5 grid on many sheets of paper. In the tutorial I show the “origami way” to do that, without a ruler or any kind of tool. However, there are easier methods and the videos below can help you in this task:

To cut the rectangles for the sticker units I recommend this paper cutter:

How to make the origami Moving Cubes 2
Designed by Jo Nakashima (06/2019)
Difficulty level: low intermediate

This is a modular origami and each cube is made from a single square sheet of paper, all connected without glue nor tape. It’s also a very fun action model and the cubes will move when you press two pair of cubes from oposite corners.

In this version there’s more movement than in the first origami Moving Cubes: the corner cubes goes up and down and middle cubes rotate in different directions.

Paper

In the video tutorial I’m using 12cm x 12cm origami paper for each cube. Any square size can be used. You’ll need 16 cubes.

Diagrams

Diagrams for this model are not available yet! Watch the tutorial to learn how to make it!

Helpful videos

To make the origami Moving Cubes 2 you’ll need to fold a 5×5 grid on every sheet of paper that you’ll use. In the tutorial I show the “origami way” to do that, without a ruler or any kind of tool. However, there are easier methods and the videos below can help you in this task:

More origami models with cubes

On my YouTube Channel you can find a playlist with all my models based on the origami cube. Check it out for more action models like the Infinity Cube and also puzzles like the Soma Cube and the Rubik’s Cube.

How to make an origami seamless cube
Designed by Jo Nakashima (06/2019)
Difficulty level: simple
My paper: 15cm x 15cm origami paper

This model was based on the origami Pandora’s Box by Yami Yamauchi. The original model has the edges of the pleat folds visible on the sides and it has a very nice mechanism to close the top and bottom. At first I just changed the pleat folds hidding them inside, but them I realized that I could make a different top and bottom to make it completely seamless.

More models from the cube

The origami seamless cube is nice as a stand-alone model, but it became really great when I turned the locking flaps into connectors to combine multiple cubes. There are now many different modular origami made from cube units, check out my Cube playlist to see all of them.

Dividing the paper

In the video tutorial I show how to divide the paper into 5ths without using any tool. But you can use this method to make it easily and quickly:

Learn how to make an origami Moving Cubes (seamless cubes version)
Designed by Jo Nakashima (06/2019)
Difficulty level: intermediate (or easy if you make the old connection)

This is a modular origami and each cube is made from a single square sheet of paper, everything connected without glue nor tape.

This is an update on the origami Moving Cubes using a new variation of the unit: the seamless cube. Now it looks better on the top and bottom of the cubes:

There is also a new way to connect the units which is thinner than the previous version, so the cubes can have better movement. But the downside is that it’s a bit harder to make. So, for beginners I would recommend using the double flap connections from the previous version as it still works the same way with the seamless cubes.

Paper and number of units

In the video tutorial I’m using 12cm x 12cm origami paper for each cube. Any square size can be used.

I’ve made a moving cubes with 9 units (3×3), but you can make a bigger one if you want. In order to make a N x N model you’ll need:

• Top/bottom units: 2
• Left/right units: 2
• Middle units: (N-2)^2
• Edge units: (N-2)*4

For example, to make a 5×5 moving cubes:

• Top/bottom units: 2
• Left/right units: 2
• Middle units: (5-2)^2 = 9
• Edge units: (5-2)*4 = 12
  Total of 25 units

Diagrams

Not available yet! Watch the video tutorial to learn how to make it!

Helpful videos

To make the origami moving cubes you’ll need to fold a 5×5 grid on every sheet of paper that you’ll use. In the tutorial I show the “origami way” to do that, without a ruler or any kind of tool. However, there are easier methods and the videos below can help you in this task:

More origami models with cubes

On my YouTube Channel you can find a playlist with all my models based on the origami cube. Check it out for more action models like the Infinity Cube and also puzzles like the Soma Cube and the Rubik’s Cube.

Learn how to make an origami Infinity Cube, a very fun action model!

Designed by Jo Nakashima (06/2019)
Difficulty level: low intermediate (the units are simple, but beginners might have some trouble to connect them neatly)

Paper

This is a modular origami and you’ll need 8 square sheets of paper with the same size (one per cube), everything is connected without glue nor tape. In the video I’m using 15cm x 15cm standard origami paper for each cube.

Optional: I’ve added cotton balls for extra weight inside each cube to prevent from opening gaps between them when you’re not holding the model. But depending on the type/size of paper, they’re not needed. I’ve folded one using 18cm x 18cm origami paper and it was ok without the extra weight. You can also use crumpled paper as an alternative to the cotton balls.

Diagrams

Not available yet! Watch the video tutorial.

Helpful videos

To make the origami Infinity Cube you’ll need to fold a 5×5 grid on every sheet of paper that you’ll use. In the tutorial I show the “origami way” to do that, without a ruler or any kind of tool. However, there are easier methods and the videos below can help you in this task:

More Cube based origami

On my YouTube Channel you can find a playlist with all my models based on the origami cube. Check it out for more action models like the moving cubes and also puzzles like the Soma Cube and the Rubik’s Cube.