Ship Mate Notes
BY MICHAEL G. LAFOSSE, ADAPTED FROM THE TRADITIONAL SAILBOAT BASE
Like a double-heart locket, this note is only complete with its mate. It is a puzzle and a trick, but above all it is an elegant vehicle for a two-page letter.
For a romantic touch, cut a heart from colored paper and paste it to one of the notes.
1 Begin with the display side of the paper facing up. Fold in half, corner to corner. Unfold.
2 Turn the paper over.
3 Fold in half, edge to edge, both ways. Unfold.
4 Rotate your paper to orient the diagonal crease so that it is horizontal. Fold the top and bottom corners to meet at the middle.
5 Your paper will look like this.
6 Using the valley and mountain creases, mountain-fold each of the two side corners in half and bring them up to meet each other, forming the sails of the ship.
7 Step 6 in progress. Notice that the center of the paper stays down while the tips of the sails move up. Continue to collapse the shape by moving the front edge of the “ship” to meet the back edge, with the sails sandwiched in-between.
8 The completed ship shape. You will need to make two.
9 Join the ships by fitting the sails of one into the front pocket of the other, and the sails of the other ship into the back pocket of the first.
10 The completed note. An interesting effect, which can provide some fun, is that you will not be able to separate these two notes from each other by pulling on the corners. Try it. No matter how hard you pull on opposite corners they will not separate. You must hold one by the edges and slide the other one out by pushing with your thumb at the middle of the slot.