Iris Folding Recycled Square Papercraft
My recycled square is the ideal beginner project for those dipping their toes into the world of iris folding. Equally, it would be perfect to make a super speedy card for a practised pro! You can find lots more of my patterns here. This design uses recycled materials such as packaging paper, recycled bags and envelopes (as traditionally used in iris folding). If you’d like to find out more about the origins of iris folding check out this post.
This website contains affiliate links. As an affiliate I may earn money from qualifying purchases. As an Amazon Influencer/ Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases, at no cost to you. Thank you if you do use one of my links – it helps keep my website going. Please see affiliate link and disclaimer page for more information.
This post will share with you a free Square iris folding pattern template for you to use. Terms of use can be found here. To find out how to iris fold check out this post or follow along with the YouTube tutorial for this recycled square further into the post.
Navigate the Recycled Square Post
How to Create Recycled Square Iris Folding
What You Will Need
You can find lots of the iris folding resources that I use here.
- Pattern (free download below)
- Card or card blank with outline cut out – you can use a craft knife or cutting machine
- Blue tack
- Scissors
- Tape (best to be in a heavy tape dispenser that you can use with one hand)
- Paper (Use recycled materials – inside of envelopes/ used packaging materials – or origami paper works well)
- Sparkly card (optional)
What To Do
The pattern has a sheet which goes through exactly what you need to do to create your Square. If you’re more of a visual learner you may find it easier to have a look at the YouTube video tutorial.
What Colours to Use on Your Iris Folding Recycled Square
It’s entirely up to you what colours you would like to use. See what recycled materials you have around and just go for it!
Card Blank or Mounted?
It’s entirely up to you if you’d prefer to work on a piece of card and then mount onto a card blank. You can work directly onto a card blank.
Whatever way you choose you’ll need to make sure that you cut out the reverse of the shape onto your card as you work on the back of the design.
If you decided to work directly onto the card blank then using a small paper insert inside the card will hide your working. For the Square aperture I used 260gsm dark blue cardstock. It was an off cut from a previous project.
Free Square Iris Folding Pattern Download
Use the download button below to get your free Square iris folding pattern.
Turning the Humble Square into a Special Occasion Card
The square iris folding pattern is, in my opinion, one of the most versatile patterns. In this post we’ve looked at recycled materials but by changing the materials you can make this a card for any special occasions. Check out this post for what materials I’d use to turn the humble square into a beautiful card for a special occasion. The video below goes through mounting tips to help make your card look professional.
Top Tip for Iris Folding Paper
The paper you use is important. You really want to use paper that is between 60-80gsm. This paper is quite thin but makes folds easier and ensures your card is not too bulky once complete. In this project we’ve used recycled materials. You can use origami paper and this is a good term to search for when looking for iris folding papers. When purchasing be sure to check on the size of the paper as origami paper can be very small.
If you’d like to find out more about the traditions of iris folding and using used envelopes then check out this post. I do love using recycled materials in my projects. Get friends and family to collect interesting papers for you!
Iris Folding Finds
I’m always on the look out for for iris folding resources. Here’s a few that we have that are good value:
Packs of interesting cards and papers are perfect for the centre of your iris folding designs. These can be thicker than what you’ve used in the rest of your design as there is no need to fold.
Find more free iris folding patterns here including heart, seascape, sun, bunny and rainbow archway.
Cutting Out Iris Folding Templates
When cutting out the Square you can use a cutting machine or you can use a craft knife. Yes, the scan and cut is so much easier and quicker but it’s still simple enough to do with a craft knife and much cheaper.
Brother Scan N Cut Options
Cricut Options
(image from Cricut)
Busy Busy Learning Facebook Groups
Click on the links below to join groups: