Origami Cranes

According to Google, Origami is the Japanese art of folding paper into decorative shapes and figures. These cranes are one of the more well-known origami crafts, as the legend says that folding a 1000 of these would be able to grant one wish. This might just a myth, but the cranes themselves are really fun to make and a great way to past time. They are very decorative and I have made a post titled "French braid (with origami)" to show how these birds can be used in hair.

Difficulty: Medium

Items needed:

- 1 sheet of origami paper / paper cut into a perfect square

Method:

*the pictures correspond to the steps.

1. Place the origami paper colourful side down on the table.

2. Fold the paper in half diagonally to form a triangle.

3. Fold the triangle in half to form a smaller triangle by taking the right corner and folding it to the left.

4. Take the top flap and open it.

5. Take the top corner and align it with the bottom corner. Crease the left and right edges.

6. Turn the paper over.

7. Repeat steps 4 and 5 to create a diamond shape.

8. Take both sides of the top layer and fold them to meet at the middle.

9. Turn the paper over and repeat step 8.

10. Unfold the two sides to reveal the diamond shape again.

11. Open the flap and fold the left and right sides inward (the creases made by the folds in steps 8 and 9 should help)

12. Turn the paper over.

13. Repeat steps 10 & 11.

14. Take both sides of the top layer and fold the lower halves to meet at the middle.

15. Turn the paper over and repeat step 14.

16. Take the right flap and fold it over to the left. Turn the paper over and repeat.

17. Take the both half of the top layer and fold it upwards.

18. Turn the paper over and repeat step 17.

19. Take the right flap of the top layer and fold it over to the left. Turn the paper over and repeat.

20. Take the left and right pieces between the top and bottom layer and pull them apart. Crease the edges, They will be the head and tail of the crane.

21. Slightly open the top corner of one of those pieces and bend the corner down to create the head of the crane. Crease the sides of the head so that the head will stay bent.

22. Bend the wings down to a 90º angle.