Dodecahedron Modular Origami

Follow these steps to make a beautiful dodecahedron model. Even if you've never done origami before, the units are so easy to fold that you shouldn't have a problem. You should be able to follow just by looking at the steps but I'll explain them too. The hardest part is making all 30 units but if you can survive that you will soon have a dodecahedron model of your own. 

You will need:
-30 pieces of silver foil origami paper
-something to hang the ornament with such as string, a paperclip, or an ornament hook


I used 1.5 inch pieces which is on the smaller side but since it's foil it holds a crease really well. This ended up making an ornament that fit in the palm of my hand. 

Fold the paper in half, silver side in. Now fold the flap up to the middle crease and repeat on the other side. 

Position the unit as show in the picture, with the middle crease facing you. Now fold the bottom left corner to meet the top edge. Fold the top left corner to meet the bottom edge. 

Now you want to crease a diagonal line into the unit as shown. The best way that I can explain this is that you want to fold from one corner of the triangle to the other. 

Unfold the flaps a little so that you have a strip with creases in it. Once you make 30 of these, it'll be time to assemble.  

Start by connecting 3 units together. Open up the flap of one unit and insert a second one into it. Add a third one into the second one and then tuck the first one into the third one. You'll see how the crease lines match up and hold the units in place. 

Continue connecting units like this until a pentagon shape is made, as shown in the picture. Keep attaching more units and making more pentagons. It can get a little difficult to attach the last few units but keep at it and you'll get it. 

You can now add a string and thread it through where 3 units meet or similarly attach a bent paperclip or ornament hook. These look great hanging!