Not every origami project needs a perfect square. This little bookshelf is made from an ordinary rectangular sheet — A4 printer paper, a page torn from a magazine, even newspaper — and it still folds into something that stands up on your desk and actually holds things. That is the quiet magic of a good container fold: no scissors, no glue, just clever creases.

Once you have folded one, you will notice how flexible the design is. Fold a few and line them up and you have a tiny library; make it from sturdier paper and it becomes a case for cards or photos; scale the sheet up and suddenly you are looking at a desk organizer. The first attempt takes a little patience at the assembly step, but the second one will feel easy. Grab an A4 sheet and let's fold a bookshelf you can actually use!

This is a mini paper bookshelf you can make from almost any sheet of paper — A4 printer paper, newspaper, or classic origami squares. Put a few of them together and the same fold also works as a case or a small box. In this tutorial, we will use an A4 sheet.

It is simple and quick to fold, so let’s give it a try!

The whole model is finished in 9 steps.

How did it go? The trickiest part is the final assembly, but once you get the hang of it, you can finish the whole thing in just a minute or two.

The photos in this tutorial were made with origami paper. Increase the size of your sheet and you can use this fold in all sorts of ways.