Origami seed packets

Written by Cab

You've saved your seeds like a good downsizer, but how will you store them? Cab demonstrates a nifty DIY approach...

This is one of the most useful pieces of origami that I know, the traditional seed packet. Its quick, easy, handy, you can make it with any rectangular scrap of paper, and it makes an ideal re-sealable container to keep saved seeds in or in which to post selections of seeds to someone else.

To begin with, get some paper. Now, unlike nearly all other origami you want a rectangle. Half a page from a seed catalogue (like I've used here) is ideal, or half a sheet of A4 will do.

Fold it almost in half, leaving a strip of about half a centimetre at the top.

Now you've done that, fold the top strip down:

And now fold that down again; so to re-cap, thats fold almost in half leaving a little bit at the top, then you've folded that little bit down on top, then folded it down over again.

Now you've done that, turn the whole thing over; keep the folded down strip at the top, but turn that away from you, onto the table.

Now, fold the top left corner down to the bottom edge like this:

And then the top right corner down to the same edge, like this:

This is the most difficult bit coming now. If you can do this, award yourself a yellow belt in origami.

When you did the two fold-downs at the start, you created a sort of flap, and you've now got a bit of that on either side in front of you. Fold both of the corners up towards you and tuck underneath the flaps, starting on one side:

And then the other:

And thats it!

If you now unfold one 'end' of the seed packet, you can stuff your seeds in there, fold it back up and file your seeds away for spring. Scribble a label on so you don't get confused (I've made that mistake before), and thats all you need to do.