How to Make a Kusudama Flower

Fold a square piece of paper in half diagonally. It should now look like a triangle.

Fold the triangle’s bottom two corners of up to its point. You should now have formed a square.

Fold each previous fold backwards halfway. The back-folded back edges should line up with the edges of the “square” underneath.

Expand the triangles you folded in the previous step. Lift one side triangle, insert a finger to open the pocket inside, and re-flatten it along the crease so that it is expanded into a diamond. Repeat on the other side. If you're feeling confused, take a look at the image for further guidance.

Turn the paper over.

Tuck in the triangular point sticking out on the left side. If you open the left area of the folded paper slightly, you’ll see that, underneath the top sheet of paper, there’s a fold that half-covers the diamond underneath. Simply fold the point of the diamond into the body of the shape below the piece of paper that is half-covering it.

Repeat with the triangular point on the right side.

Turn the paper over again.

Fold the left- and rightmost corners inward along the creases that already exist. The resulting outline should once again be a square.

Glue the top of the folded flaps where indicated by the image. Using a glue stick may be a good idea because it dries so quickly, but you can also use white liquid glue as shown here.

Bring the folded flaps together, fastening them in place. Squeeze the flaps together so that the glue takes, then pinch the creases together tightly so that the folds protruding into the cone stay somewhat centered. To hold the glued pieces together, secure them with a paperclip.

Make four more of these.

Apply glue to the central seam of each piece. This seam is where the folded edges meet (where they were glued together previously). Spread out the glue so that the centers of the pieces can stick together securely.

Begin pressing the pieces together. The five cones will make the Kusudama flower’s five petals.

Continue adding pieces until you’ve assembled the entire flower. Glue everything together in a circular formation.

Use paperclips to hold the petals together.

Wait for the glue to dry completely before removing the paperclips. Otherwise, the petals risk slipping apart.