The Three Card Monte - An Origami Wallet

The Three Card Monte - An Origami Wallet
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a) The Three Card Monte is a wallet made of letter paper. When made from paper with a card design printed on it, it has the trompe l'oeil effect of being three playing cards in a spread, the ones commonly used in a street hustle called, three card monte.

b) When open, the wallet gives easy access to three credit or identification cards and a finite amount of cash.

c) When closed, the model fits nicely into the breast pocket of your shirt.
 
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Step 1The Crease Pattern

The Crease Pattern
Download a crease pattern and print it out. There are two to choose from, depending on where you live. If you live in the United States, choose the American letter paper version; if you live in another part of the world, one afflicted with Napoleonic era scientism, you'll want the A4 version. (Both are below, for your convenience.)

a) In the printer dialog for Reader or kpdf or whatever your flavor is, please note that Page Scaling should be set for none. You want the lines to go all the way to the printable margins.

b) Note that mountain folds are signified with dash-dotted lines, valley folds by dashed lines. (For those unclear on the distinction).
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92 comments
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Dec 28, 2011. 7:36 PMfunkybassman105 says:
do you have the proportions between the lines? i'd love to scale this up on bigger paper to fit cash.
Aug 29, 2011. 2:36 AMMiss415 says:
I love this! Best origami project/ instructable EVER! You gave really clear, detailed & easy to follow directions. I did it first w/ just plain lined paper (from your pattern) then printed out the card design & it went really easy the 2nd time. I painted on a lite coat of modge podge (like a decoupage finish) to make it more durable but it takes a while to cure so I'm not sure just yet. I sprayed fixative on it first so the ink wouldn't smear.
Thank you!
Aug 23, 2011. 6:01 AMsfry1 says:
Great idea i made it from images and just guessed the scale so is a bit mis-shapen will print off the template and do another.

Thanks :)
Jun 1, 2008. 10:12 PMynnah23 says:
I can't twist it..grr it's so hard..I already did it for 4 times.. comment back pls..
Jan 21, 2011. 2:54 PMhellokitty4u says:
try to make one out of cardboard paper
Oct 13, 2009. 5:22 PMIndianaJones98 says:
it's imposible, i can't twist it

comment back please
Jul 10, 2010. 7:10 PMValeil says:
It's not really a twist, so much as a "fold in multiple places at the same time, causing a twist-like illusion" thing.
Aug 21, 2010. 10:09 PMevilghostbat says:
Though this is old this is a very neat wallet. I just designed a simple Coca Cola themed one using photo shop can't wait to print it out and see if it was laid out correctly!
Aug 20, 2010. 2:28 PMricmerry says:
Very nice. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Jul 23, 2010. 8:27 PMdarknessfalls says:
LOVE THE WALLET! sadly tho, cash barely fits in it, so its kinda hard to use... but still a SICK wallet (ended off making it ut of cardstock to make it stronger)
Aug 10, 2009. 12:07 AMpicaq says:
You should have won the paper wallet contest. Yours was the most original (yet still very useful)that I have seen and I can't believe the one that looks the most like a normal wallet won. Your card print-out made it look gorgeous.
Jan 2, 2010. 11:47 AMbromanuzak says:
yes
Jan 2, 2010. 11:47 AMbromanuzak says:
wheres the trompe l'oeil format
Jan 2, 2010. 11:50 AMbromanuzak says:
found it
Jul 10, 2010. 7:09 PMValeil says:
Good job(:
May 5, 2010. 5:39 PMBK-201 says:
how is this twistable, you need like a youtube video... lol?
Mar 7, 2010. 11:34 AMnewton.95.dan says:
 I dont know how to do the fold is step 7

Mar 7, 2010. 6:04 PMnewton.95.dan says:
 yea its just the 3rd and 4th picture that confuse me

Feb 21, 2010. 5:11 PMluis_695 says:
on adobe when i try to print it. it says "unable to start print job. is printer avaible''  why is that need help
Feb 14, 2010. 1:03 PMsassyjo says:
The diagonal lines fold inward and the vertical lines fold out...right?
Feb 6, 2010. 6:57 PMhelendamnation says:
Very cute and (once I figured out what I was doing) very easy. :)
Jan 8, 2010. 7:53 PMPastTheVoid says:
I did it! It took me a while to "twist", which for me was more of a "jam this here, pull out here, screw it up here, and fold these." Now I have to re-do it, cause i did the blank one.(>.<)
Nov 4, 2009. 9:07 AMRaisedByRobots says:
 so beautiful
Oct 10, 2009. 10:25 AMjumpertoad says:
wow cool
Aug 6, 2009. 9:41 AMtwinsfan#7 says:
I cant figure out how to twist it like you do
Jun 25, 2009. 8:23 PMjake walker says:
make a video that shows how to make it
May 26, 2009. 5:59 PM[KRN] Leeber says:
I didn't really get step 7 that much..
Mar 31, 2009. 4:31 PMReal instructions says:
i get how to make it but how do you add pictures
Mar 23, 2009. 5:03 PMObelisk1101 says:
This is a nice wallet! Great instructable.
Mar 16, 2009. 6:19 PMMegaMaker says:
Wow, that is really cool. Nice work.
Feb 9, 2009. 12:55 AMwyocoyote says:
Its lovely, real purdy, however seems like ya gotta origami fold ya cash to make it fit in thar. the cards work fine but them green backs don fit no good.
Sep 25, 2008. 11:28 PMsuperbogan says:
can you please post a template with card design on it
Sep 16, 2008. 1:35 PM15zhangfra says:
cool
May 6, 2007. 9:09 AMraykholo says:
can you coat it with clear tape for reinforcement? very great design, though it might fall apart after a while.
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Author:oschene
Oschene is Philip Chapman-Bell, a human resources drudge living in western Massachusetts. I probably should mention my deep and abiding enthusiasm for Open Source Origami. Clever catchphrase du jour...
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