How to Make an Origami Bookmark

Start with a 21cm x 9cm rectangle of red origami paper laid flat. Orient it so the long side runs vertical. Fold the right edge over to meet the left edge so the paper now sits half as wide. Press the crease flat with your thumbnail. This long center crease sets the spine of the tie.

Open the paper back to full width but keep the long center crease visible. Take the top right corner and fold it diagonally so the top edge lines up with the center crease. Repeat on the left. The top of the paper now looks like a peaked roof - flat sides on the bottom, two diagonal edges meeting at the top center.

Lift the bottom edge of the paper and fold it upward, sliding the edge under the two diagonal flaps you just made. The bottom edge tucks inside the peak. This creates a hidden pocket that locks the front of the tie together later when you build the knot.

Now unfold everything back to the flat square. Do not unfold completely - you want all the crease lines you just made to stay visible. You should see a long vertical center crease, two short diagonal creases at the top forming an X, and a horizontal fold across the lower third. These are the guide lines for the next phase.

Fold both long edges into the vertical center crease so the paper narrows into a tall thin rectangle. As you press the upper section flat, pinch the top corners inward. Small triangular flaps will pop out to the left and right at the top. These triangles become the shoulders of the tie - the part that sits against the collar.

Lift the lower body of the tie up so the shoulder triangles fold outward and pull the collar shape into 3D. The top of the paper now reads clearly as a shirt collar with a tie body hanging from the middle. Press each crease flat with a bone folder or fingernail before moving on.

Open the upper section slightly and reverse-fold so the diagonal creases pull inward and meet at a single center point. The top now reads as two diamond shapes stacked vertically - the upper diamond is the knot and the lower diamond is the start of the tie body. Press both diamonds flat.

Find the two small triangular flaps at the top corners of the knot. Fold each one inward toward the center. These tiny tabs are the collar - the small edges that sit beside the knot on a real necktie. The tie now starts to look unmistakably like a tie rather than a piece of folded paper.

Pinch the middle of the knot and gently push the sides toward each other so a small dimple forms at the top. This is the exact dimple a real Windsor knot has - the 3D detail that takes the tie from "paper craft" to "folded gift." Stop pinching and the knot holds the shape on its own.

Flip the bookmark over and check the back is flat. Find a book, open it to your current page, and slide the long bottom tail down over the page from the top corner. The triangular knot hooks onto the page edge and the tie body hangs down the front like a real necktie. Job done. Put it in Dad's reading copy of whatever he is on, or stack three on his nightstand with a card.