Handmade omikuji ideas: DIY crafts you can make and play with
Many people visit shrines to pray and draw omikuji during major events like New Year’s and entrance exams, don’t they?
It can be a bit worrying if you get a bad fortune, but the excitement of not knowing what you’ll get is fun, isn’t it?
This article introduces ideas for making your own omikuji.
With origami or recycled materials, you might be surprised at how easy they are to make.
Since most designs are simple, they’re great for crafts with children.
Give it a try as a little New Year’s entertainment!
Handmade omikuji ideas: DIY crafts you can make and play with (1–10)
Scratch-card fortune
Let’s make a handmade scratch-card fortune that’s fun to scrape while you wonder what will appear! Write the fortunes on construction paper and cover the parts you want to make scratchable with clear tape.
Then, mix acrylic paint and dish soap in a 1:1 ratio, paint it over the tape, and let it dry—that’s it.
If you want an even simpler method, you can just glue aluminum foil over the area instead of using paint.
You can customize it in lots of ways—like rock-paper-scissors cards or choosing household chore turns—so give it a try at home!
Candy fortune (omikuji)
These candy fortune slips look adorably like sweets.
All you need are origami paper and a pen.
Fold back about 5 mm on three edges of the origami paper, then fold it in half and stick it together with double-sided tape.
Fold the open parts on both sides, puff out the inside to make a pouch, then press in to shape it like a candy.
Draw faces—like the zodiac animals—cut both sides with a zigzag edge, tie up a fortune slip and put it inside, and you’re done! You can also handcraft a box from origami to line up the fortune slips, so give it a try.
[Origami] Mini Omikuji
![[Origami] Mini Omikuji](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/1zlWaWzX_b4/sddefault.jpg)
Let’s make a mini omikuji (fortune slip) that’s easy to craft with origami and can be redrawn many times! Prepare a small sheet of origami paper and make eight crease lines.
Fold the top and bottom edges back so they’re perpendicular to the creases, then unfold once, and cut eight slits up to those fold lines.
Roll the paper into a hexagonal column and glue it in place; fold the slit sections at the top and bottom inward to finish the fortune holder.
Cut off the pointed end of a toothpick, write the fortunes on it, place it inside the hexagonal column, and try your luck each day!
Easy omikuji with Koala’s March
The Koala’s March box is originally a hexagonal prism, so it’s perfect for repurposing into an omikuji fortune box! It’s very easy to make—just paste paper around the box.
Close the top that you opened to take out the contents and secure it with tape, then make a hole so you can pull out the fortunes.
Paste construction paper around the outside, and cover the top with paper too, making sure not to block the hole, and your omikuji container is ready! Wrap small strips of paper with messages like “Great Blessing” around the ends of straws and put them in the box, and you’ll have an omikuji setup to rival a shrine’s.
Shake-Shake Fortune
There are also omikuji where you shake a box and draw a stick, right? I’ve heard that in recent years, more children have never tried that type.
So why not do a craft together and let them experience it? For the tube part, which seems the hardest to make, use the cardboard core from a roll of plastic wrap.
Then attach a bottom, put in the chopstick sticks, and it’s done.
Traditionally, you draw a fortune again from the box that matches the number written on the stick, but it’s also fine to write the result directly on the stick.
Since writing directly with a pen can bleed, the trick is to wrap the stick with paper first and then write on it.
triangle omikuji
This is a three-dimensional, pyramid-shaped fortune slip made with origami.
Cut a sheet of origami paper in half, fold it in half, and then crease along the diagonals.
Fold two sides along those lines, then tuck the pointed tip inward.
Repeat this process four times, rotating the piece each time.
Pinch along the creases to naturally form a 3D shape.
Finally, secure it with glue so it doesn’t open, and place the fortune slip inside to finish.
It can also be used as a small gift box for candy or jewelry.
Fortune slip from a Shinto shrine
When you hear “omikuji,” the first thing that comes to mind is probably that five-folded one, right? Depending on the region, many shrines sell that type of omikuji.
In fact, you can even make it by hand.
First, download an omikuji template available online.
Then open it in PowerPoint and type in any text you like.
After printing, fold it into five sections and you’re done.
It looks just like the ones from shrines, so it could even be used for pranks.
Paku-Paku Fortune
Let’s put your fingers in, open and close it, and try telling your fortune! It’s a fortune-teller you can make in no time with just origami paper and a pen.
Fold the origami paper into a triangle and open it, then fold it into a triangle again so the diagonal creases cross.
Fold all four corners to the point where the creases meet, flip it over, and fold the corners toward the center the same way.
Finally, bring the four corners to the center and open the flaps around the sides, and your chatterbox (fortune-teller) is complete.
Write fortunes inside so you can tell one when it’s opened.
The folding is very simple, so try making it together with your child!
3D lottery box
Omikuji, the fortune slips drawn at the start of the New Year, are used to predict what kind of year lies ahead.
Of course, many people also draw omikuji not only during the New Year but for things like wishing for success on entrance exams.
Let’s try making a fun, game-like omikuji by hand.
You can use familiar items like origami paper to prepare.
Three-dimensional omikuji come in various shapes, such as simple triangles, pyramids, rectangles, and squares.
If you make them with colorful or patterned origami paper, they turn out very cute and fun.
Surprise Omikuji Coin Bank
Be amazed by the roulette that pops out the instant you put in money! It’s a fortune-telling piggy bank with a fun mechanism.
Cut a milk carton and make a coin slot, then build the mechanism using items like thick paper, rubber bands, kite string, and pieces cut from a plastic bottle.
Set the roulette, made from a plastic wrap core and cardboard, inside, and finish it off with big eyes that make it look like it’s staring intently at the money going in.
Since the mechanism is a bit complex, if you’re making it with a child, it might be best to have them handle the exterior decorations around the box.