Origami Part 2

More origami! Couldn't fit it all in one post 

so here are the rest of the projects:

Oops, wait, no, not that one. That is a very 

cool Tshirt I want to buy from Threadless, a 

site I found through Make and Takes.

Back on track now:

1 Fox Puppet

Start with a square and fold in half to form 

a rectangle, folded edge above.

Fold in both sides towards the midline.

Press open the side folds to form a triangle, like a house.

Tuck the rightmost panel behind the entire structure.

Repeat for the left side fold.

Note the diagonal line at the bottom right corner. 

This will be your next fold.

Separate the upper layer and fold 

the bottom right corner up.

Fold the entire width of the same layer up 

to meet the horizontal midline.

Turn over and repeat with the bottom layer. 

These will form the ears.

Separate the two layers of ears and fold each 

ear up above the midlines of each side.

Put your fingers into the opening between the ears

and pull apart to form the mouth.

Draw on eyes, nose, tongue and teeth and go hunting.

2 Fortune Teller

This is a children's toy that is found in many, many cultures. 

Start with a square and fold across both 

diagonals to obtain the middle point.

Fold each corner up to the middle point.

Turn over and fold each corner to the middle point again.

Write numbers or other symbols on the sections 

(and other secret symbols or fortunes in 

the layer underneath the numbers).

Turn over and press on the lines as shown.

The four square corners should pop up. 

Insert fingers of both hands into the pockets underneath

Turn over, find a friend and play the open-close-

open-close fortune telling game.

3  Eight-Page Book

I learnt this while I was working as a school crisis counselor before the kids were born. We used this in counseling workshops for teachers but it is such an easy little book to make for small kids out of the coloring sheet/kid's menu in restaurants.

Start with a rectangular sheet of paper, like printer 

paper. Fold into eight equal sections and open up. 

Cut or carefully tear across two sections, 

along the middle line, as shown.

Fold lengthwise in half.

Hold the two ends of this long rectangle and 

push the two ends together, so the middle section 

separates to form a square hole.

Push till the square hole disappears 

and the paper forms a cross.

Fold over the arms of the cross to form pages of a book.

I numbered the pages of the book

and unfolded them to show where 

they are in the original sheet.

4  Japanese Offering Box

I remember folding this a lot as a child, because it was a neat container for the discarded pits of sour prunes that was one of our favorite snacks. There is another version with pointy legs but I can't remember how to fold that. 

Start with a square and fold the corners towards 

the centre like with the fortune teller toy.

Fold this now-smaller square in half, 

with the folds on the outside.

Fold this triangle in half again.

Open out the upper layer to form a square.

Push down the top corner of the square 

so that the folded sides separate

and form a flat rectangle

Turn over and repeat for the other side. 

You will get a house-shaped structure like so

Turn one layer over (like flipping a page of a book) 

Fold one side (also one layer) to the midline as shown.

Repeat for the other side

Then flip the entire structure over 

and repeat the last three steps.

Pull apart the pointy tops like wings of a bird

and open up the box.

Fold the "wings" down to form handles

and fill with candy, use as a mini trash-can, 

or put a little potted plant in it.

Here's the link I promised in Part 1. My very talented 

Uncle Ronald (son of that grandma I mentioned in 

earlier posts; dad is her other son) is an origami whiz. 

He has been folding and designing origami patterns 

forever. His toes are probably curling, reading this now 

and beholding my very shoddy technique - fuzzy edges 

of paper from hand-tearing, inexact shapes and (worst!) 

failing to use my fingernail to press clean, sharp folds. 

Want to see how the masters do it? Here is his site on 

which there is just a tiny sample of his stuff. Check out the 

King Cobra - made up of thousands of individual pieces 

of paper folded to form the links in the body 

a single piece of 24 cm x 720 cm paper (Uncle Ron 

just wrote to correct me on this - sorry and thank 

you, UR!). A single piece of paper, people!

Hooo, now that is art.