Pop-Up Pyramid

How to make a pyramid pop out of a plain piece of paper.

Step 1: Draw a Square With a Couple of Gaps

Step 2: Draw a Couple of Lines Next to the Square

Step 3: Repeat the Square and Line

Rectangles are OK, too.

Step 4: And Again

A couple more times should do it.

Step 5: Cut!

Bust out the razor and cut along the lines. Goes much faster if you do all the verticals first, and then do the horizontals.

Step 6: Pull!

Grab the center square and pull it out. Your plain piece of paper is now a funky bit of pop-up pyramidness.

Step 7: Get More Elaborate

If you have a serious case of OCD or a laser cutter you can take a simple idea to some ridiculous extremes.

Step 8: Change Direction

Instead of drawing squares and then lines, try drawing just squares with a 1/4 rotation in each successive square.

In other words, leave a gap on the right and left for the first, the top and bottom for the next, and back and forth and so on.

Step 9: Change Shapes

Here's an example of a circle design with a slight twist to it. It's too subtle to really see here, unfortunately.