EASY · TRADITIONAL MODEL
Crane
The traditional Japanese crane, the orizuru. You start from the bird base, narrow the legs, make the neck, tail and head with inside reverse folds and fold the wings down.
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The steps, in words
Get your paper ready.
Lay a square sheet down as a diamond, with one corner pointing up and one towards you. If one side is coloured, put it face down and the white side face up.
Use smooth, properly square paper: in the next folds the corners have to meet exactly.
Fold the diamond in half, downwards.
Bring the top corner down onto the bottom corner. The fold runs from the left corner to the right corner. You get a triangle with the coloured side facing up.
Line up the corners well before pressing the fold.
Fold the triangle in half, to the left.
With both layers together, bring the right-hand corner over to the left-hand corner. The fold runs vertically from the top corner down to the bottom corner. You get a smaller triangle, with the right angle at the top and four layers.
Press this fold firmly: the next step works on these four layers.
Lift the top flap and squash it flat.
Take the two top layers, which are joined along the top edge, and lift them, hinged on the vertical fold, until they stand up. Slip a finger between those two layers, open them out and press them flat towards the right, so that the tip of the flap comes down to the bottom corner. The top edge of the flap lands on the vertical fold, leaving a coloured square standing on one corner. A triangle peeks out on the left: it is the other two layers, which do not move.
All the new creases start from the right angle at the top. Open the flap slowly, without pulling the paper.
Turn the paper over.
Turn it over from right to left, like turning the page of a book, keeping the top corner at the top. The triangle that peeked out on the left is now on the right, and its two layers are on top.
The turn is around the vertical line down the middle: the top corner stays at the top.
Lift the top flap and squash it flat, just as before.
Now the top flap is the other two layers, joined along the top edge and hinged on the vertical fold. Lift them until they stand up, slip a finger between them, open them out and press them flat towards the left, so that the tip of the flap comes down to the bottom corner. It is the same squash fold, as a mirror image.
If the first squash came out well, this one comes out the same: it covers the square you already had completely.
Bring the lower left edge to the centre line.
Fold only the front layer: the edge running from the left corner to the bottom corner comes down onto the vertical centre line. The crease starts at the bottom corner.
Keep the bottom corner sharp: the crease starts exactly there.
Bring the lower right edge to the centre line.
The same on the other side: fold the front layer so that its edge lies on the centre line. The two flaps meet in the middle and make a kite.
The two flaps should meet without overlapping.
Fold the top corner down.
Fold the top triangle down over the two flaps. The crease is horizontal and runs exactly where the flaps end at the top.
Crease it well: it is the hinge of the petal.
Unfold the top corner.
Lift the triangle back up. The horizontal crease stays.
The creases from these steps guide the petal fold.
Unfold the right flap.
Open the right flap again. Its diagonal crease stays.
No need to flatten it completely: the crease is already made.
Unfold the left flap.
Open the left flap again. You have one horizontal and two diagonal creases, making a triangle.
These three creases are the ones for the petal fold.
Lift the front layer with a petal fold.
Take the bottom corner of the front layer and lift it up, folding along the horizontal crease. The two sides fold in towards the centre along the diagonal creases, underneath the rising point. Flatten everything: you get a long diamond pointing up.
Help by pushing the sides inwards with your fingers as you lift the point.
Turn the paper over.
Turn it over from right to left, keeping the bottom corner at the bottom. On this side there is the preliminary base again, ready for the same petal fold.
The long diamond ends up underneath.
Bring the lower left edge to the centre line.
Fold only the front layer: the edge running from the left corner to the bottom corner comes down onto the vertical centre line. The crease starts at the bottom corner. It is the same as you did on the other side.
Keep the bottom corner sharp: the crease starts exactly there.
Bring the lower right edge to the centre line.
The same on the other side: fold the front layer so that its edge lies on the centre line. The two flaps meet in the middle and make a kite.
The two flaps should meet without overlapping.
Fold the top corner down.
Fold the top triangle down over the two flaps. The crease is horizontal and runs exactly where the flaps end at the top.
Crease it well: it is the hinge of the petal.
Unfold the top corner.
Lift the triangle back up. The horizontal crease stays.
The creases from these steps guide the petal fold.
Unfold the right flap.
Open the right flap again. Its diagonal crease stays.
No need to flatten it completely: the crease is already made.
Unfold the left flap.
Open the left flap again. You have one horizontal and two diagonal creases, making a triangle.
These three creases are the ones for the petal fold.
Lift the front layer with a petal fold.
Take the bottom corner of the front layer and lift it up, folding along the horizontal crease. The two sides fold in towards the centre along the diagonal creases, underneath the rising point. Flatten everything: you get a long diamond pointing up.
Help by pushing the sides inwards with your fingers as you lift the point.
Narrow the left leg.
Fold the front layers on the left side: the lower left edge goes onto the vertical centre line. The fold starts at the bottom point and runs up to the edge of the petal, so the left corner also folds in towards the centre.
Hold the bottom point with a finger so the fold starts exactly there.
Narrow the right leg.
The same on the other side: the front layers on the right go onto the centre line, with the fold from the bottom point up to the edge of the petal. The two edges meet in the middle.
The two edges should meet without overlapping.
Turn the paper over.
Turn it over from right to left, keeping the bottom point where it is. On this side the legs are still wide.
The top point stays at the top.
Narrow the left leg.
Fold the front layers on the left side onto the centre line, from the bottom point up to the edge of the petal, just as on the other side.
If the paper resists at the top, flatten the corner well before you crease.
Narrow the right leg.
The same on the right. Now both legs are thin, on both sides of the model.
The thin legs will become the neck and the tail.
Crease the neck.
Fold the thin leg on the left up and to the left, with all its layers. The fold starts on the centre line, just below where the legs split, and runs diagonally down to the outer edge. Crease it well: it is a guide for the next step.
The more slanted the fold, the lower the neck will lie.
Unfold the neck.
Bring the leg back down. The diagonal crease stays.
The crease helps the next fold land in the same place.
Reverse the neck inside and up.
Open the front and back layers of the body slightly and push the leg up along the crease, so it rises tucked between them. Flatten it again. This is an inside reverse fold: the neck sits between the layers, not in front of them.
If it is hard, open the body a little more and push the leg up from below with a finger.
Crease the tail.
Now the thin leg on the right: fold it up and to the right, with all its layers, on a fold that mirrors the neck. Crease it well.
If the neck and the tail end at the same height, the model looks balanced.
Unfold the tail.
Bring the leg back down. The diagonal crease stays.
Just as with the neck.
Reverse the tail inside and up.
With another inside reverse fold, push the right leg up along the crease, tucked between the front and back layers of the body, and flatten it again.
Open the body only as much as you need, so no extra creases appear.
Crease the head.
Fold the tip of the neck down and to the left, with all its layers. The fold crosses the neck near the tip. Crease it well; you will lift the tip back up in the next step.
A short head is easier to tuck in than a long one.
Unfold the head.
Lift the tip of the neck back up. The crease stays.
This crease guides the last reverse fold.
Reverse the head inside and down.
Open the two layers of the neck slightly and push the tip down along the crease, so it ends tucked between them. Flatten it again: it is another inside reverse fold, and the tip is the head.
Pinching the tip between two fingers gives a neater fold.
Fold the front wing down.
Fold the front petal down, with all its layers, on the horizontal line where you lifted it. It hangs in front of the body.
The fold runs right where the neck and the tail come out.
Fold the back wing down.
Fold the back petal down behind, on the same line. The two wings end one on top of the other.
You can turn the paper over, fold the wing and turn it back: the result is the same.
Spread the wings and open the body.
Take both wings and gently pull them apart, out to the sides. The middle of the body opens a little; flatten its top with a finger. The drawing shows the opened crane.
If you like, blow into the small hole underneath to puff up the body.
Your crane is ready.
The drawing shows the crane from the side, flat: the body, the neck with the head on the left, the tail on the right and the wings raised. In real paper the body has volume.
If a fold comes undone, press it again with your fingernail.