I’ve always really liked things folded from paper money, Money Origami. Traditionally one uses a square sheet of paper when folding but when you use money you have to deal with rectangles of various aspect ratios since every country’s money is a different shape.
Plus every country uses different designs and colours on their money so you can end up with some really unique papercraft models.
More and more countries are switching over to plastic bills and as nice as that money is it’s just not the same not being able to fold it.
Anyways, lets take a look at some awesome looking origami models folded from paper money from countries all around the world.
First up is this absolutely beautiful caterpillar on a leave folded out of a believe a bill from Vietnam.
Caterpillar on Leaf, Designed and Folded by Tan Dang
Instructions not available
Up second is this excellent chicken which looks to me like it’s folded from a U.S. five dollar bill.
Chicken, Designed and Folded by 簡單的度過-2
Instructions not available
Here we have an absolutely beautiful Eastern-style dragon folded out of a ton of different bills. I’m not sure what country those bills are from but I’m loving the colours.
Ryujin, Designed and Folded by Alexandr Pak
Instructions not available
This little spiral shape is pretty cool. I’m not really sure how you would twist the paper like that.
Spiral, Designed and Folded by Hare
Instructions not available
These U.S. dollar bill cobras are pretty awesome, especially the little faces.
Cobras, Designed and Folded by Xun
Instructions not available
This flower pot is pretty awesome and the whole thing is folded from a single U.S. dollar bill! Mariano Zavala B. just made an excellent YouTube video showing how to fold it too.
Flower in a Pot, Designed by Herman Lau and Folded by Alexandr Pak
Video instructions available from Mariano Zavala B.’s YouTube channel
Here we have a piranha folded from a 1,000 Vietnam Dong Note. This is exactly why I like origami folded from money so much. It’s hard enough designing an awesome piranha like this but to have it also incorporate the pattern on the bill to make the face and eye is a fantastic touch which couldn’t have been easy.
Piranha, Designed and Folded by Tan Dang
Instructions not available
You can’t have a post about dollar bill origami without including probably the most famous model out there, Won Park’s dollar koi. The whole thing is folded from a single U.S. dollar bill, even all those scales.
Koi, Designed by Won Park and Folded by 簡單的度過-2
Diagrams available in Dollar Origami: 10 Origami Projects Including the Amazing Koi Fish
Next we have this adorable little Grim Reaper folded from 10 Russian Rubles.
Death, Designed and Folded by Hare
Instructions not available
Here we have a fantastic little elephant money origami folded from a U.S. dollar. I really like how it’s standing on the pennies which you can also use to get the scale of the model. The little tusks are really great too.
Elephant, Designed by Neal Elias and Folded by Xun
Instructions available in The Origami World of Neal Elias
Here’s another plant-in-an-object, this time a shoe folded from a Russian note.
Designed and Folded by Alexandr Pak
Instructions not available
I absolutely love this horse, it’s pose and the whole photo overall. I believe this is folded from Vietnamese money.
Horse, Designed by Nguyễn Hùng Cường and Folded by Giang Nam
Instructions not available
Some of these models are folded from multiple notes such as this rhino which is folded from three pieces of Vietnamese money.
Rhino, Designed and Folded by Tan Dang
Instructions not available
Here’s a tiny and kind of cute little frog.
Half Frog, Designed and Folded by Hare
Instructions not available
This next model is usually folded from a square but here the folder modified the design and folded it using a U.S. dollar bill.
Tea Time, Designed by Tomohiro Tachi and Modified and Folded by Xun
This cute little dog is folded from a single U.S. dollar bill.
Dog, Designed by Janessa Munt and Folded by Alexandr Pak
Diagrams available in The Dollar Bill Origami Book
Next we have this absolutely fantastic 3D bull design. It’s folded from the same Vietnamese bill as the piranha earlier in this post.
Bull, Designed and Folded by Dang Anh Kien
Instructions not available
Here’s another fantastic fish design folded from a 500 Vietnamese Dong note.
Fish, Designed and Folded by Tan Dang
Instructions not available
This train is another very popular model to fold out of paper money. The whole thing, all 3 train cars is from the same dollar bill!
Mooser’s Train, Designed by Emmanuel Mooser and Folded by Xun
Diagrams available in Moosers’ Train: The Origami Train Set
This is definitely one of the cutest little paper monkeys I’ve ever seen. It’s a little version of Sun Wukong from Chinese mythology.
Little Wukong, Designed by Tran Trung Hieu and Folded by Hare
Video Instructions available from Tadashi Mori’s YouTube channel
Here’s another excellent model once again folded from U.S. money.
Turkey, Designed by Janessa Munt and Folded by Xun
Diagrams available in The Dollar Bill Origami Book
This rose is absolutely beautiful and the whole thing is folded from a single note. I really love the colours used here.
Rose, Designed and Folded by Alexandr Pak
Instructions not available
This rabbit almost looks like a stuffed toy that you’d give to a kid.
Comic Rabbit, Designed by Riccardo Foschi and Folded by Hare
Video instructions available from Riccardo Foschi’s YouTube channel
The amount of detail on this deer crammed into a single U.S. dollar bill is very impressive!
Deer, Designed by Neal Elias and Folded by Xun
Instructions available in The Origami World of Neal Elias
Won Park’s camera is another very popular and impressive looking model folded from money. This one is folded from a Transnistrian Ruble note. Usually it’s folded from a U.S. dollar bill.
Camera, Designed by Won Park and Folded by Natalia Romanenko
Diagrams available in Dollar Origami: 10 Origami Projects Including the Amazing Koi Fish
You can even fold tiny detailed tessellations using bank notes!
Designed and Folded by Hare
Instructions not available
Our final image for this post is these two adorable little owls. It looks to me like they’re balanced on the edge of the glass with their feet and tails holding them there but I’m still a little bit nervous that they might fall into that fire. Since they’re made out of paper and everything.
Usually these owls are folded from a square sheet of paper but here they’re folded using money which modifies the design slightly.
Barn Owl Bonfire, Designed by Riccardo Foschi and Folded by Xun
Video instructions available from Riccardo Foschi’s YouTube channel
What did you think about all this dollar bill money origami? Let us know in the comments!
