Antique Multi-folded Card

Someone posted a photo of this card on Pinterest:  "A watercolour-on-paper puzzle-purse Valentine, dated 1816, probably American, adorned with hearts and roses, symbols of love, and forget-me-nots; a magical folding technique enables this to be folded into a secure packet; once opened, it is difficult to reassemble; the folds are numbered, and as opened, gradually reveal separate images and poems. The prize at the centre is often a romantic image or poem, and perhaps a special memento, such as a ring or a lock of hair. (victoriana.com)"

I got busy and tried to replicate at least one...My first attempt was to discover, you have to use very light weight paper and 12"x12" is the easiest size to start with the folding.  If you look really closely at the photo you can see the diagonal fold lines.

Step-by-step:

After creasing at 4 inches and 8 inches across and top to bottom, start folding the corners in toward the middle.

Keep folding toward center, all four sides

Keep folding toward center

At this point, the "card" will fit into a small envelope

 Then I decided to see if I could actually use all the folds and make another one that would end up 4 inches square:

Click on the photo to see the directional arrows to begin folding

Start folding the corners

Begin folding with one corner toward the left, moving to the right

Keep going!

Nearly there!

Finally!  A four-inch square card.