The diamond base is a traditional origami design that can be used as a starting point for many other origami creations—such as the origami tulip
This easy base consists of only five valley folds and starts with the origami kite base.
To fold this base, you will need a single square sheet of paper; however, origami paper works the best and will provide you with cleaner creases.
If you use a multi-color sheet, you will want to begin the fold with the white side facing up and the colored side facing down.
Step 1: Fold the paper in half diagonally and crease
Start by folding the paper in half diagonally, bringing the lower right corner to the top left corner. Crease well.
Step 2: Unfold the paper
Unfold the paper, leaving behind a diagonal center-line crease.
Step 3: Fold the bottom right edge to the center crease
Next, fold the lower-right edge over to the center crease. For a crisp fold, begin creasing at the small section first and work your way up.
Step 4: Fold the bottom-left edge to the center crease
Now fold the lower-left edge to the center crease. At this point, you have folded the kite base, but let’s keep going and turn it into the diamond base!
Step 5: Fold the top-right edge to the center crease
Next, fold the upper-right edge to the center crease.
Step 6: Fold the upper-left edge to the center crease
To finish things off, fold the upper-left edge to the center crease.
Flatten everything down well, and there you have it, the diamond base!
The Diamond Base: Continued Folding
The fun doesn’t stop with the diamond base. You can use this simple fold to create a variety of other origami creations—such as those listed below!
Click the images below to visit each step-by-step guide!
Origami Tulip
Gift that special someone a flower not even they can kill! The diamond base can make the stem of a beautiful tulip. Check out our origami tulip tutorial here. No watering is required!
Closing Thoughts
Origami bases are a fun and easy way to memorize all your favorite folds.
If you would like to learn how to fold more origami bases, check out our beginner’s guide to origami base folds. Or, if you’re looking for some cool things to fold, check out our growing collection of origami designs here.
Happy folding!