A dollar bill folded into a heart is the kind of small thing people keep. Tuck one into a birthday card, leave one on the table as a tip, or hand one over at a graduation. No glue, no tape, nothing to cut. One bill and about four minutes.
This walkthrough follows Art of Fold, who calls it the easiest heart you can fold from a dollar. His version runs on seven folds and skips the squash folds that make most money hearts fiddly. He starts with the front of the bill facing up, which lands the Great Seal on the face of the finished heart. Start with the back of the bill up instead and you get a paler heart with more cream showing, so fold one of each and pick.
A US dollar measures 156mm by 66mm. Cut scrap paper to those proportions and you can practise the whole sequence a few times before you crease real money. Art of Fold has a stack of dollar folds on his channel if you want to keep going.
Which bills fold best
Crisp ones. A bill straight from the bank holds a sharp crease and springs back into shape when you press it. A soft bill that has lived in a wallet for a year folds like cloth, and the lobes of the heart go floppy.
Stuck with a limp one? Lay it inside a heavy book overnight. That flattens the old creases enough to fold cleanly. Skip the iron - heat can scorch the ink.
Fives, tens, twenties and hundreds are all the same size as a one, so the folds do not change. The only difference is which portrait ends up on the face. For a bigger gift, fold a twenty and the heart says so without a word.
Ways to give a money heart
- Tooth fairy. A heart under the pillow beats a flat bill every time.
- Valentine's Day. Slip one into a card or a lunchbox.
- Graduation and wedding cards. Fold several and line them up inside the card.
- Tipping. Leave one for a server or a housekeeper who went out of their way.
Keeping it in a card without tape
Tape on a bill leaves a sticky mark and can tear it when it comes off. Cut two small diagonal slits in the card instead and tuck the bottom point and one lobe through them, the way a photo corner holds a print. A glue dot on the card, not the bill, also works. If you are making the card from scratch, our handmade card guide has a fold that leaves room for it.
Common mistakes
- Soft creases. Run a thumbnail or a bone folder along every fold. A heart with lazy creases opens up in your hand.
- Folding off-center. If the center crease in step 3 is crooked, one lobe comes out bigger than the other. Line the short ends up exactly before you press.
- Uneven corner folds. Fold all four corners from the same halfway point, then compare left and right before you flip it.
Want the same shape in paper? We have a paper origami heart and an origami starter guide with the base folds everything else builds on. For a cash gift with more presence, a money lei strings a whole run of bills together.
