Dollar Bill Origami

1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic by 116 people | Log in to rate

Ranked #7 in How-To, #71 overall

Fun with money...and you get to keep it too!

Isn't money grand? It can do all sorts of great things for you, like keep you fed, pay for that cell phone bill, and get you that great pair of shoes you've been eyeing up. What's even better is when you can play with your money and have it too.

Have some free time? Have a dollar? Any bill will do, and we even accept Canadian. These fun money origami patterns will keep you entertained for hours. Or at least until you rub a hole in that $20.

Photo used under Creative Commons from Thomas_Hawk.

What does dollar origami look like? 

dollar butterfly (2) by eikosi

dollar butterfly (2)

Dollar Shirt with Tie by P/\UL

Dollar Shirt with Ti...

Loose Origami Tipping by pheezy

Loose Origami Tippin...

paper memories by VinceHuang

paper memories

Dollar Bow Tie by foldsomething

Dollar Bow Tie

Dragonfly by Isaac Z. Schlueter

Dragonfly

Origami tips at Hot Java by Lisa Brewster

Origami tips at Hot...

Dollar Bill Snail by RangerRick

Dollar Bill Snail

Lang-modified Sonobe Unit Box by En Why See

Lang-modified Sonobe...

Tiny Origami Zoo by MrVJTod

Tiny Origami Zoo

My Desk by mikecpeck

My Desk

090606twentydollarshocker by joelogon

090606twentydollarsh...

Dollar Heart by cmpalmer

Dollar Heart

dollar butterfly by eikosi

dollar butterfly

dollar double crane by eikosi

dollar double crane

Dollar Baby Dragon by ToastyKen

Dollar Baby Dragon

change of heart by foldsomething

change of heart

shuriken by foldsomething

shuriken

Elephant by Isaac Z. Schlueter

Elephant

Bird in Flight by Isaac Z. Schlueter

Bird in Flight

Peacock by Isaac Z. Schlueter

Peacock

$3 Origami Flower by mmechtley

$3 Origami Flower

$3 Origami Flower by mmechtley

$3 Origami Flower

Dollar Shirt by P/\UL

Dollar Shirt

May 10th, 2007 by PunkJr

May 10th, 2007

automatically generated by Flickr

What do you want to learn to make? 

Here are some of the awesome things you can learn to make out of dollar bills with a little help from how-to videos. Of course there's much more to see on the lens, so check for cool links, photos, and tips in between.

A shirt 

The dollar bill t-shirt is an easy origami pattern to learn and makes the dollar look very dapper indeed.

If you prefer, see static step-by-step screenshots here.

Runtime:
views
Comments:

curated content from YouTube

Pants 

A shirt isn't complete without a pair of tiny pants to match.

Runtime:
views
Comments:

curated content from YouTube

A bowtie 

Aw, isn't this just the cutest? It's like having a little paper money nerd man.

Runtime:
views
Comments:

curated content from YouTube

Get her attention with a dollar bill! 

Money Origami. Romantic Folds Volume I

Money Origami. Romantic Folds Volume I "How to win someone's attention with a dollar" (romanticfolds.com)

by: Butch Studly

Amazon Price: (as of 11/16/2009)Buy Now

A heart 

Aw...how cute would it be to stuff stockings with money hearts this Christmas!

Runtime:
views
Comments:

curated content from YouTube

A ring 

It may not be exactly what she wanted, but with a big enough bill it could turn into any ring she wants!

Runtime:
views
Comments:

curated content from YouTube

Money origami roses 

Unforunately, this video doesn't show you how to make the roses, but they did come out very beautiful!

Runtime:
views
Comments:

curated content from YouTube

Christmas Bling! 

The color of money. No gift receipt required.

Used under Creative Commons from darkmatter.

A butterfly 

The dollar origami butterfly requires two bills.

This printer-friendly PDF shows you how to fold a butterfly, or check out the video below.

Runtime:
views
Comments:

curated content from YouTube

A puffy star 

Runtime:
views
Comments:

curated content from YouTube

Easy money origami instruction books 

Dollar Bill Origami

Dollar Bill Origami

by: John Montroll

Amazon Price: $11.21 (as of 11/16/2009) Buy Now

The Buck Book: All Sorts of Things to do with a Dollar Bill-Besides Spend It

The Buck Book: All Sorts of Things to do with a Dollar Bill-Besides Spend It

by: Anne Akers Johnson

Amazon Price: $10.17 (as of 11/16/2009) Buy Now

Origami with Dollar Bills: Another Way to Impress People with Your Money!

Origami with Dollar Bills: Another Way to Impress People with Your Money!

by: Duy Nguyen

Amazon Price: $5.95 (as of 11/16/2009) Buy Now

The Guide to American Money Folds

The Guide to American Money Folds

by: Jodi Fukumoto

Amazon Price: $18.95 (as of 11/16/2009) Buy Now

Dollar Bill Animals in Origami

Dollar Bill Animals in Origami

by: John Montroll

Amazon Price: $10.17 (as of 11/16/2009) Buy Now

A duck 

Runtime:
views
Comments:

curated content from YouTube

A peacock 

Runtime:
views
Comments:

curated content from YouTube

Double Your Money 

Design Originals Bks-Money Fol

Design Originals Bks-Money Fol

by: Norma Eng

Amazon Price: $11.99 (as of 11/16/2009)Buy Now

For every fan of paper folding money is a sure winner! Turn bills of any denomination into practical gifts that are really fun to receive. From photo corners to flowers pinwheels to party hats all the projects are quick and oh so easy!

A $5 Euro Frog in its Natural Habitat 

Courtesy of judi.licious through Creative Commons.

An elephant 

Runtime:
views
Comments:

curated content from YouTube

A spider 

Runtime:
views
Comments:

curated content from YouTube

A horseshoe crab 

Runtime:
views
Comments:

curated content from YouTube

Awesome Gift Idea for Kids! 

Funny Money Folds for Kids

Funny Money Folds for Kids

by: Jodi Fukumoto

Amazon Price: $8.95 (as of 11/16/2009)Buy Now

Kids will have a blast turning a few bucks into dozens of animals and silly shapes. Better yet, they might be more tempted to save all that money they get for birthdays and Christmas!

A space ship 

Runtime:
views
Comments:

curated content from YouTube

Little hang glider man 

How awesome is this!

[Used under Creative Commons from j0nb0n.]

A dog 

Runtime:
views
Comments:

curated content from YouTube

Money Folding, from the expert 

Money Folding 2 (My Favorite Origami , No 2)

Money Folding 2 (My Favorite Origami , No 2)

by: Florence Temko

Amazon Price: $7.95 (as of 11/16/2009)Buy Now

A starfish 

Runtime:
views
Comments:

curated content from YouTube

More money origami 

Nesting Crane Diagram by Mammaoca2008

Nesting Crane Diagra...

dollar butterfly (2) by eikosi

dollar butterfly (2)

dollar butterfly by eikosi

dollar butterfly

dollar double crane by eikosi

dollar double crane

Dollar Bow Tie by foldsomething

Dollar Bow Tie

change of heart by foldsomething

change of heart

shuriken by foldsomething

shuriken

tiny frog by kekremsi

tiny frog

Origami tips at Hot Java by Lisa Brewster

Origami tips at Hot...

Dollar Bill Snail by RangerRick

Dollar Bill Snail

Anatomy of a bag by Priki

Anatomy of a bag

The value of money by RedGlow82

The value of money

090606twentydollarshocker by joelogon

090606twentydollarsh...

Money Shirt by Rob Lee

Money Shirt

Gathering paper money by KaiChanVong

Gathering paper mone...

Turning money into clothes... by KaiChanVong

Turning money into c...

Benten money laundry 3 by panina.anna

Benten money laundry...

money is the root by thanker212

money is the root

Letztes Hemd by Gunnar Wrobel

Letztes Hemd

Computer Love rev-4 by Dramatic

Computer Love rev-4

Computer Love rev by Dramatic

Computer Love rev

Computer Love rev-3 by Dramatic

Computer Love rev-3

Computer Love rev-2 by Dramatic

Computer Love rev-2

Computer Love by Dramatic

Computer Love

DSC00007 by Bobd314

DSC00007

automatically generated by Flickr

A Hawaiian lei 

What a cute gift idea for the bride-to-be or graduate with a Hawaiian themed party!

Runtime:
views
Comments:

curated content from YouTube

Money Lei Making 

Money Lei Making in Hawaii 2: A Step-by-step Guide

Money Lei Making in Hawaii 2: A Step-by-step Guide

by: Laurie Shimizu-ide

Amazon Price: $12.96 (as of 11/16/2009)Buy Now

Mega huge money origami how-to sites 

These are a few of my favorite money origami sites. They have great screenshots that make you want to create your own little Noah's Ark out of money. Yay...
Money Origami from Clay
A few of my favs here are the gift box, Christmas tree, and spider.
The Origami Resource Center
This site truly has too many money origami patterns to mention, but besides being able to create that ark full of animals, you will also find instructions for a basket, a koi fish, a four-leaf clover, and a flower.
Dollar Bill Origami by Bob Nienhuis
Notable designs here include a dolphin and a Christmas tree.
Money Origami by Lisa Shea
Lisa created many of the videos featured here and has more designs on her site.

Visual collections of money origami 

Not all of these provide instructions, but they show off some really money folding talent! Or just way too much free time.
Dollar Bill Origami
I especially love the Abraham Lincoln character on this gallery!
Moneygami
A super fun gallery of money origami, and this one is my favorite!
The All American Business Shirt
A cute origami shirt with a twist.
Nice Packaging
Who wouldn't love to get this present!
The Sweedish Leisure Shirt
Another shirt with a thoughtful saying.
Money Laundering
A creative display of her folding talents!
Shopaholic
A nicely framed shot for a guy who claims to spend too much on his clothes!
Dollar Camera
A picture perfect shot. If only they were this cheap!
More Money Origami
A fun sea-creature scene.
$Dollar Bill Origami
Another fun collection of images, with a cute piggy bank.
The Canadian Hockey Shirt
Made from a Canadian $5 bill.

But...what if I don't want to use money? 

Folding a dollar bill enough times will wear it out, and it can become an expensive hobby. A dollar bill is 2.61 inches wide and 6.14 inches long. Measuring those goofy decimals can get tricky, so here are some different sizes of paper with the same ratio that you can try.
  • 11" x 4.7"
    This is just over half the width of a piece of standard printer paper.
  • 8.5" x 3.6"
    You can get three of these out of a standard piece of printer paper, with just a tiny sliver left.
  • 5" x 2 1/8"
    You can get six of these out of a standard piece of printer paper.
  • 12" x 5 1/8"
    You can get two of these out of a sheet of scrapbook paper, which is cool if you find a double-sided money pattern!
  • 5 7/8" x 2.5"
    This is close to real size, and you can get eight of these from a 12"x12" sheet of scrapbook paper.
  • 2 3/8" x 1"
    This isn't truly realistic, but it comes very close to the ratio of a dollar's length to width. So if you want your paper to be 4" wide, the long side should be 4 x 2 3/8, or 9.5".
  • 1" x 3/8"
    This is another close approximation you can use. If you want your long side to be 7" long, you would multiply 7 x 3/8 to get your short side of 3".

What say you? 

submit
  • Reply
    RollingLuggage RollingLuggage Nov 9, 2009 @ 4:51 pm
    Wonderful lens & Great information
  • Reply
    dmf32835 dmf32835 Oct 28, 2009 @ 8:16 pm
    Making the heart for your sweetheart would be a smooth move.
  • Reply
    ashleebarnes ashleebarnes Oct 14, 2009 @ 7:09 pm
    This is just too freakin cool! These would be great to put in treat bags for kids birthday parties.
  • Reply
    gravityx9 gravityx9 Oct 3, 2009 @ 12:02 pm
    wow, so many things that can be made! thx for the info! this will be fun to do
    as I LOVE to play with money!! :D
  • Reply
    lasertek lasertek Sep 23, 2009 @ 9:01 pm
    Interesting lens! I've tried to make the butterfly. Pretty amazing! Thanks for sharing what you know.

    Btw, if you got the time.. maybe you could visit my lens. Thanks.
  • Load More
Show All

Origami gifts better than cash 

Need a gift for the lady in your life and don't want to give cash? These origami necklace gifts are worth it! Just click on your favorite one to view details. PSST - many have matching earrings available!

iconicon iconiconiconiconiconicon

by KimberlyDawnWells

I AM: Kimberly Dawn Wells

I'm Squidoo's Community Organizer, which means my focus is on building the community: bringing in new lensmasters, developing...

(more)

Explore related pages

Instant Gift Wrap Ideas
It's easy and fun to wrap gifts without buying expensive papers and ribbons. You...
Origami for Christmas
I love to play with origami. A simple square of paper has the possibility of bec...
Origami Shirt
How to make origami shirt. Easy and advanced origami shirt folding instructions....
How to Make Origami
Origami (from oru meaning "folding", and kami meaning "paper") is the traditiona...
Origami Peacock
How to make origami peacock. Easy and advanced folding instructions. Diagrams ra...
Girls Love to Shop & Girls Love to Golf ~ Ladies Golf Shoes
Girls love to Shop! And some of us also love to golf! So this will be an evolvin...

Related Topics

Create a Lens!