Easy DIY Mini Accordion

Yo, EJ.

Note: This accordion is not made to be exactly as a real accordion, and may be missing parts. Purposely.

Some of you may have noticed that this accordion was made with the accordion fold. Idk if it's origami or not, but it did work well. And it doesn't actually make sound. Well, maybe a rustle because of the paper, but nothing else.

Heh, did a little advertising up there. :p

why does my hand look so fat in these pics...

Okay, start by cutting two strips of red paper. They should be about a paper's length, since the size will be decreased in the folds.

Place one end of the strips horizontally on top of the other, which should be vertical.

Then fold the strip that's vertical down, over the strip that's horizontal.

Next, fold the strip that's horizontal over the strip that's been folded down.

The basic pattern is this: For the vertical strip, if you start up, fold down. Then up after the horizontal strip's been folded. Up, down, up, down.

For the horizontal strip, if you start on the right, move over to the left. Then right, left, right, left.

You should then have completed the fold. If you have a little of one strip remaining, you can just snip it off.

Once you've finished making the "bellows" you can seal the ends using either black tape or white tape. White is ideal for me because it's really not that hard to paint over it, and when you're making the base buttons, it's easier to fix mistakes by painting over them again. You may also use duct tape of varying colors.

Now that you've sealed the ends, you can make the base buttons. You should use tiny dots of white paint because they will feel like actual buttons.

Take white paint and a toothpick, and make tiny dots of the paint in many rows.

As you can see, the white tape mentioned in the previous step is ideal for drawing on the keys. If you'd like, you can glue cardboard under the keyboard to make it stronger. This is optional.

Fold the tape over itself so it will stick together and cut it in half to make the strap slimmer. Then paint it black (if you used white tape. If not, skip this) and glue it to the insides of the ends.

Happy birthday, you made yourself an accordion.