Origami Snail

Start off with an origami paper, color side down:

Fold it in half to make a triangle:

Open it back up and fold one end to meet the line in the center:

Fold the other end to meet the line in the center:

Now, fold the left side to meet the line in the center:

Repeat the fold for the other end:

Make a fold at approximately where the dotted line is in the picture above:

And make another fold down like so:

Fold the paper in half:

Make a crease on the right side like so:

Use that crease to help you push the right tip into the center:

Push the paper down flat:

Cut a small slit in the center along the tip and make a small fold down:

And you’ve got yourself an origami snail!

Simple Origami Yacht

Start off with the color side facing down…

Fold it along the line shown above and you should get the following:

Fold it again along the line shown above and you should get a smaller triangle like below:

Now unfold the paper and you should see the creases like so:

Cut along the horizontal crease as shown by the line above. You should then have the following:

Fold the paper into half along the vertical crease. The cut side should be facing you.

Now fold the bottom half to meet the center:

Open the top half like so:

and fold it under along the vertical crease:

Fold part of the bottom half under so that you can have a flat bottom on your yacht:

Fold the right tip up to complete your yacht:

There you have it, a simple origami yacht!

Origami Hat

Now fold your rectangle in half, below left.  The fold the top corners towards the middle as shown.       

Crease the folds so that the piece lays almost flat.  The take the bottom edge of the paper and fold it upwards.

Flip the piece over and fold the other edge upwards.  Then open up your origami hat!

Origami Box        

Using the mountain fold lines as guides, fold the four corners of the paper into its center.

Then fold the right edge and the left edge into the centerline.

Now fold the top edge down and the bottom edge up, as shown below.

Then I’m going to ask you to undo the last two-and-a-half steps!

The unfolded paper should like the one below.

Now put your finger behind point A and do a reverse fold as shown as shown in the next 3 photos.

One side of the box will be formed as you do this.

Do the same for point B and the other side of the box.

Now tuck in the flap as shown to form the third side of the box.

Turn the box around and repeat the sequence of the last 5 photos.   You now have an origami box!

Serving suggestion (candies optional):

All right, bring out your orange paper and let’s begin….

Halloween Pumpkin Origami

With a square orange origami, fold it in half like so:

Then, fold the paper into half again:

Open it up and you should see this:

Then fold the paper diagonally into a triangle like so:

And fold that in half to get a smaller triangle:

Open up the paper and you should see the following:

Now start to collapse the pre-folded piece of paper.

You will end up with the folded triangle shown below. This piece occurs so often in origami that it has its own name, the balloon base.

Now fold each of the four corners upwards as shown in the next three photos:

Now fold the four horizontal corners into the center as shown:

Use your finger to expand the little pocket as shown below. You are going to tuck the flap into the pocket.

However, the flap must first be folded in two to make it small enough for the pocket.

This sequence shows the flap folded, then tucked in.

Now fold and tuck in the other three flaps.

Now fold the front facing 2 flaps together so that the plain side is showing like below:

Now draw your pumpkin face on this plain side:

Finally expand the balloon as shown below…

and Voila! a pumpkin!

Add a “stem” to complete your own pumpkin:

Happy Halloween!

Repeat the squash fold for the other three corners, to give the kite shape shown below.

Now fold the lower edges of the kite into the centerline, then unfold. Fold the top corner down, then unfold.

You will now have crease marks on the piece, that will be used in the next step. Place your finger under the lower point of the kite, and fold upwards as shown. This is a petal fold.

Now repeat the petal fold three more times to give another, smaller kite.

Now fold one point of the kite downwards as shown. Repeat 3 more times for a diamond shape.

Next fold the upper edges of the diamond into the centerline. Repeat three more times.

Now turn the piece upside down. Start folding out the four petals of the flower as shown.

You can create a nice curling effect in the petals like this: hold the base of a petal in your left fingers, then run your right thumb and pen (or pencil) along the length of the petal.

Your thumb is in front and the pen in the back. (In the picture below, we’ve omitted the left hand for clarity).

Repeat this motion several times to cause the paper petal to curl.

And now your origami lily is complete!

tart with a square piece of paper. Then make a water balloon base.Next fold the tip of the balloon base down the centerline. The tip should cover about half of the folded length.

Now unfold the balloon base and squash fold it as shown.

You will end up with the pattern in the next photo. Now simply fold this in half to make the cow’s body.

To make the cow’s head, use another square of paper. Fold it in half with the colored side (if any) on the outside.

Next fold each half upwards, as shown in the next two photos:

Now crease the end of the folded rectangle, as shown below. The next three photos show how the head is folded. Each outside layer of the folded rectangle is squash-folded backwards.

Now reverse fold the nose of the cow (reverse folds are explained here). Then fold the cow’s ears forward.

Next, crease the neck of the cow at right angles to the head.

Then do a reverse fold, as shown in these two photos:

To make the neck fit into the body, reverse fold the bottom of the neck as shown below.

It can be tricky to get the right amount of fold: too little and it won’t fit into the body, too much and the head will be front heavy and fall forward.

You may want to use a small piece of tape or glue to keep the head in place.

Now your cow is done. It can be decorated with pens, markers or crayons.

Origami. It’s the cheese!

Start with a crisp new dollar bill. First, turn the backside to face up.

Then fold over just the white edge portions, as show in the second photo:

Now fold the bill in half, lengthwise.

Now fold the bill in half, lengthwise (is there an echo in here)?

Then fold the white edge near the end of the folded bill. Fold it away from you.

Next, fold the “1″ at that same end, so that the “1″ is centered in a little square of folded money.

Now curve the rest of the bill slightly, in preparation for the curve to be folded later.

Now lay the bill back down, and fold part of it upwards at 90 degrees, as shown.

The exact length of the horizontal portion depends on the size of your ring finger!

After you have folded the ring once and understand the process, the next time you should be able to measure your finger with the dollar bill and get fairly close to a perfect fit.

The piece of folded bill sticking up is now folded over the back of the horizontal piece, to end up straight down.

Then flip the whole piece over as shown.

Remember the curved piece?

Now roll it around to form a complete circle. Line up the folds as shown.

The wrap the vertical piece downwards….

…then back up through the center of the ring. Almost there!

Now we need to make the whole thing stick together.

Take the folded end flap containing the “1″, and tuck it into the edge of the vertical piece that you just wrapped.

See the photo for where to tuck.

You may need to use a fork, key, or other handy tool to open up that pocket slightly and get the flap tucked in.

And now the money origami ring is ready to wear!