The Three Card Monte - An Origami Wallet

 by oschene
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[This instructable appears here under the Instructables.com Terms of Service. It also appears here under my terms of service. Mine say that this content is free as in speech and free as in beer. If you paid to see this content, you've been imposed upon. Ask for your money back and buy yourself a beer.]

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 1: The Crease Pattern

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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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funkybassman105 says: Dec 28, 2011. 7:36 PM
do you have the proportions between the lines? i'd love to scale this up on bigger paper to fit cash.
Miss415 says: Aug 29, 2011. 2:36 AM
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!
sfry1 says: Aug 23, 2011. 6:01 AM
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 :)
ynnah23 says: Jun 1, 2008. 10:12 PM
I can't twist it..grr it's so hard..I already did it for 4 times.. comment back pls..
hellokitty4u in reply to ynnah23Jan 21, 2011. 2:54 PM
try to make one out of cardboard paper
oschene (author) in reply to ynnah23Jun 2, 2008. 2:11 AM
Look at the pictures of the different stages of the twist -- are all you creases going in the right direction?
IndianaJones98 in reply to oscheneOct 13, 2009. 5:22 PM
it's imposible, i can't twist it

comment back please
Valeil in reply to IndianaJones98Jul 10, 2010. 7:10 PM
It's not really a twist, so much as a "fold in multiple places at the same time, causing a twist-like illusion" thing.
evilghostbat says: Aug 21, 2010. 10:09 PM
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!
ricmerry says: Aug 20, 2010. 2:28 PM
Very nice. Thank you for sharing this with us.
darknessfalls says: Jul 23, 2010. 8:27 PM
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)
picaq says: Aug 10, 2009. 12:07 AM
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.
bromanuzak in reply to picaqJan 2, 2010. 11:47 AM
yes
bromanuzak in reply to bromanuzakJan 2, 2010. 11:47 AM
wheres the trompe l'oeil format
bromanuzak in reply to bromanuzakJan 2, 2010. 11:50 AM
found it
Valeil in reply to bromanuzakJul 10, 2010. 7:09 PM
Good job(:
BK-201 says: May 5, 2010. 5:39 PM
how is this twistable, you need like a youtube video... lol?
newton.95.dan says: Mar 7, 2010. 11:34 AM
 I dont know how to do the fold is step 7

oschene (author) in reply to newton.95.danMar 7, 2010. 4:26 PM
Did you look at all four photos?
newton.95.dan in reply to oscheneMar 7, 2010. 6:04 PM
 yea its just the 3rd and 4th picture that confuse me

luis_695 says: Feb 21, 2010. 5:11 PM
on adobe when i try to print it. it says "unable to start print job. is printer avaible''  why is that need help
oschene (author) in reply to luis_695Feb 22, 2010. 2:58 AM
That could be a lot of things: is your printer plugged in and on?
sassyjo says: Feb 14, 2010. 1:03 PM
The diagonal lines fold inward and the vertical lines fold out...right?
helendamnation says: Feb 6, 2010. 6:57 PM
Very cute and (once I figured out what I was doing) very easy. :)
PastTheVoid says: Jan 8, 2010. 7:53 PM
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.(>.<)
foobear says: Nov 4, 2009. 9:07 AM
 so beautiful
jumpertoad says: Oct 10, 2009. 10:25 AM
wow cool
twinsfan#7 says: Aug 6, 2009. 9:41 AM
I cant figure out how to twist it like you do
jake walker says: Jun 25, 2009. 8:23 PM
make a video that shows how to make it
[KRN] Leeber says: May 26, 2009. 5:59 PM
I didn't really get step 7 that much..
Real instructions says: Mar 31, 2009. 4:31 PM
i get how to make it but how do you add pictures
oschene (author) in reply to Real instructionsApr 1, 2009. 2:27 AM
Do you mean the card images? They're available in the next to last step. I put them together using a vector drawing program -- feel free to add your own.
Obelisk1101 says: Mar 23, 2009. 5:03 PM
This is a nice wallet! Great instructable.
MegaMaker says: Mar 16, 2009. 6:19 PM
Wow, that is really cool. Nice work.
wyocoyote says: Feb 9, 2009. 12:55 AM
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.
superbogan says: Sep 25, 2008. 11:28 PM
can you please post a template with card design on it
oschene (author) in reply to superboganSep 26, 2008. 2:30 AM
There are links on step 8.
15zhangfra says: Sep 16, 2008. 1:35 PM
cool
raykholo says: May 6, 2007. 9:09 AM
can you coat it with clear tape for reinforcement? very great design, though it might fall apart after a while.
oschene (author) in reply to raykholoMay 6, 2007. 9:39 AM
Yes. The corner locks tend to be quite sturdy. When I made one of these from a Tyvek envelope, it lasted for months. I use paper, mostly, and print bar codes on the backs of the cards (so I don't have to carry my library card or my supermarket card, etc.). I put a piece of clear duct tape over the codes, so that random moisture won't blur the bars.
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