Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Knowledge Tuesday: How to Create an Origami Crane (Written instructions + pictures)

If you look at the post before, I created a vlog showing how to create an origami crane. Here are the written instructions with pictures:

1. Get a square piece of paper. If you don't have one, you can take a rectangular sheet, fold it diagonally and cut off the end.


2. Fold the paper diagonally. Open it up and fold it diagonally the other way. When you open it up again, it should have a "X" crease like this:


3. Turn the paper over and fold it horizontally. Open it up, turn the paper clockwise and fold it down horizontally again. The paper should look like this:


4. Fold it down horizontally again. Take the corners and fold the paper inward. It should do this easily. Then flatten the sides down, so it looks like a smaller square, like this:


5. Take a side and fold it toward the middle. Do the same with the other side. It should look something like this:


6. Flip the paper over and repeat step 5. It should look kite-like, like this: 


7. Fold the top triangle down on both sides to create a crease. Then open one side up and gently fold it down, so it looks like this:



8. Flip the paper over. Repeat the last part of step 7 until it looks like this:



9. Take the paper and fold the insides in again like you did in step 5. It should look like this:



10. Flip the paper over and do the same for this side as you did in step 9. It should look like this:



11. Now see where the slender pieces can move up and down. Lift them up and fold them to the side. These parts will make the head and tail. It should look like this:



12. Take one of the pieces, bring it back down, open the side part a little and fold that slender piece on the inside, like this:



13. Repeat step 12 and flatten the pieces, so it looks like this:



14. Pick one side to be the head. Fold the tip of it down. Move the wings out to the sides a bit, and your finished product should look something like this:



Now you try it.

6 comments:

Golden Eagle said...

I love making paper cranes. :)

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

Gotta love the paper cranes. Origami is so fun...especially with the colored papers.

Jennifer Hillier said...

I had a friend in grade school who could make almost anything in origami and she all the pretty papers and everything. She tried to teach me to make cranes and... yeah... I have NO knack for it.

I really should try to learn. Cranes are good luck, right?

Unknown said...

Not sure I'll ever try this, but the pictures were fascinating! Like watching my brain unfold in reverse or something ... :-)


EJ

Alexander said...

I'm still searching for the pattern of the VERY SLENDER version of this crane. When one tries to fold a very big version of this origami pattern, the bird looks fatter and fatter the larger it gets. I'm referring to @ one foot and larger, they just look silly. The extra slender version can be six feet tall and looks stunning. Strong paper is needed, so the sculpture holds up over time. I did some years ago, and now find the almost no one knows this pattern. If you find a pattern for it anyone, please leave a link here !!!!!!!!

Cherie Reich said...

Alexander - If I do find something like that, I'll let you know. I know what you're talking about, but I haven't seen a pattern to create it.