Easy 3D Origami Pumpkin Basket
Get in the fall spirit and craft these adorable 3D Origami Pumpkin Baskets! When you’re done, learn how to make Paper Pumpkin Wall Decor. This post contains affiliate links.
I’m so excited to share this craft with you! It hits all my favorite origami notes – not too difficult to make, holds together with no help (you can use glue for confidence but the basic structure is pure paper-folding), is genuinely totally 3-D, and produces something actually useful and not only decorative!
We do a lot of origami, but this easy 3D origami pumpkin basket is the ULTIMATE origami!
Pumpkin season is upon us as the days get shorter and cooler and the fields provide us with sturdy produce for the coming winter. My son even took a hoodie to school this morning – WITHOUT me arguing with him over it.
In real life, hollowed-out pumpkin shells get repurposed in all kinds of ways, given their strong shell and rounded bowl or basket shape. This craft imitates life, taking inspiration from the distinctive pumpkin shape to form a paper basket.
You can use this basket as household or table decor throughout the gall season, or you can use it to hold small treats for trick-or-treaters. You can vary the size of the basket depending what size paper you start with. Even a standard size origami paper will produce a basket that can hold a small handful of little candies to keep on the entry table.
To make folding easier, I like to use lightweight papers for origami projects. If you want to use this little pumpkin basket to hold objects, you’ll want to be careful not to choose something too thin and light, though.
Copy paper should work fine but you can experiment with other options as well, especially if you have another type of paper with colors or designs that you like.
What you need
- Colored paper – origami paper, copy paper, or another lightweight option
- Scissors
- Glue
- Optional: Bone folder or smoothing tool
How to Make an Easy 3D Origami Pumpkin Basket
1. Prepare a square paper to make the pumpkin base, and a strip of green paper for the stem/handle. Put aside the green piece for now, we’ll be working on the base first.
2. Fold the square paper in half diagonally and unfold to leave a crease. Fold it in half along the other diagonal and unfold.
3. Flip the paper over. Fold it in half horizontally and unfold to leave a crease. Then fold in half vertically and unfold.
4. Flip the paper back over so the horizontal and vertical creases are popping up. Fold the horizontal and vertical creases up toward you, and fold the diagonal creases inward away from you.
5. Flatten the folded paper so you have a square with a diagonal crease facing toward you with two layers of flattened flaps on each side.
6. Notice that two of the sides of the square are “closed,” meaning that they have a folded edge, and two sides are “open,” meaning that you can see the individual edges of the sheet of paper. Take one of the closed sides and fold it over to the middle crease. Smooth it down to create a new crease.
7. Unfold the last fold.
8. Take the flap that you used for that fold and open it up by sliding your finger into its open side.
9. Flatten out the opened flap, creating a triangle in middle of your pattern.
10. Fold the flap over to one side so you can see the next flap that was behind it.
11. Fold that and the remaining flaps the same way you did the first one in steps 6-9. You should be left with an upside-down kite shape when you’re done.
12. Turn the pattern around so the narrow side is facing down (toward you). Flip over the top flap so you have a solid kite shape (there is a crease down the middle, but it is all one piece of paper)
13. Take one of the top sides and fold it down to the middle crease. Flatten it.
14. Fold the other top side down to the middle crease the same way.
15. Take the narrow tip on top and fold it down so that the fold lines up with the open edge of the flaps behind it.
16. Fold the tip away from you to tuck it into the little pocket behind it.
17. Turn over the side to reveal the next kite shaped side. Repeat steps 13-16 until all 4 sides are folded.
18. Fold the bottom tip up to the top (in half) and flatten the crease. Unfold it.
19. Carefully pull apart the top edges to open up the origami basket. Flatten out the bottom as it opens (the crease you made in step 18 shows where the bottom starts). Use your fingers to adjust the shape of the sides until they look good to you.
20. If the tucked-in tips seem loose, apply some glue to secure them.
21. Fold the green strip in thirds lengthwise to make the basket handle. Attach the handle to the pumpkin basket by gluing the ends inside the top of the basket.
22. If you’d like, cut out leaf and vine shapes from additional green paper and glue them on as extra decorations.
I felt pretty awesome when I pulled open my flat pattern to reveal an easy 3D Origami pumpkin-shaped basket, I hope you did too!
DIY 3D Origami Pumpkin Baskets
Tools
- Colored paper - origami paper, copy paper, or another lightweight option
- Scissors
- Glue
- Optional: Bone folder or smoothing tool
Instructions
1. Prepare a square paper to make the pumpkin base, and a strip of green paper for the stem/handle. Put aside the green piece for now, we’ll be working on the base first.
2. Fold the square paper in half diagonally and unfold to leave a crease. Fold it in half along the other diagonal and unfold.
3. Flip the paper over. Fold it in half horizontally and unfold to leave a crease. Then fold in half vertically and unfold.
4. Flip the paper back over so the horizontal and vertical creases are popping up. Fold the horizontal and vertical creases up toward you, and fold the diagonal creases inward away from you.
5. Flatten the folded paper so you have a square with a diagonal crease facing toward you with two layers of flattened flaps on each side.
6. Notice that two of the sides of the square are “closed,” meaning that they have a folded edge, and two sides are “open,” meaning that you can see the individual edges of the sheet of paper. Take one of the closed sides and fold it over to the middle crease. Smooth it down to create a new crease.
7. Unfold the last fold.
8. Take the flap that you used for that fold and open it up by sliding your finger into its open side.
9. Flatten out the opened flap, creating a triangle in middle of your pattern.
10. Fold the flap over to one side so you can see the next flap that was behind it.
11. Fold that and the remaining flaps the same way you did the first one in steps 6-9. You should be left with an upside-down kite shape when you’re done.
12. Turn the pattern around so the narrow side is facing down (toward you). Flip over the top flap so you have a solid kite shape (there is a crease down the middle, but it is all one piece of paper)
13. Take one of the top sides and fold it down to the middle crease. Flatten it.
14. Fold the other top side down to the middle crease the same way.
15. Take the narrow tip on top and fold it down so that the fold lines up with the open edge of the flaps behind it.
16. Fold the tip away from you to tuck it into the little pocket behind it.
17. Turn over the side to reveal the next kite shaped side. Repeat steps 13-16 until all 4 sides are folded.
18. Fold the bottom tip up to the top (in half) and flatten the crease. Unfold it.
19. Carefully pull apart the top edges to open up the origami basket. Flatten out the bottom as it opens (the crease you made in step 18 shows where the bottom starts). Use your fingers to adjust the shape of the sides until they look good to you.
20. If the tucked-in tips seem loose, apply some glue to secure them.
21. Fold the green strip in thirds lengthwise to make the basket handle. Attach the handle to the pumpkin basket by gluing the ends inside the top of the basket.
22. If you’d like, cut out leaf and vine shapes from additional green paper and glue them on as extra decorations.
