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How to fold an origami arctic hare

Tip a triangle up so its fold is the back, cut a strip free and reverse-fold it into two long ears, cut the front paws, round the rump and crimp the head forward.

You need: 1 square sheet, 15 × 15 cm, pale blue-grey on one side, small scissors and a ruler. Hard, 14 steps, about 20 minutes.

Steps

  1. Fold in half. White side up, fold the top corner down to the bottom corner. The long fold at the top will be the hare's back.
  2. Crease the ear strip. Fold the top edge down 1 cm through both layers and crease it hard. The end of this strip will become the long ears.
  3. Open it. Unfold the strip again.
  4. Sit it up. Turn it so the right point is straight above the bottom point. The long fold is the back, the right point the head, the left point the rump.
  5. Crease the paws. Fold the bottom right corner in on a crease from 2 cm along the bottom to 2 cm up the side. Crease hard: this corner is the front paws.
  6. Open it. Unfold it again.
  7. Cut the ears free. Cut 7.5 cm down the ear crease from the chest edge, and just as far down the back fold, so the end of the strip stands free.
  8. Paws and rump. Cut 7 mm up the paw crease from the bottom and snip a small notch behind it. Round a big haunch with four short cuts down to the heel.
  9. Ears up. Outside-reverse-fold the loose strip up on a crease from the bottom of the ear cut, so the ears stand up and lean back.
  10. Point the ears. Snip both ear tips to a soft point in the middle of the strip.
  11. Ears apart. Fold the front ear forward on a crease straight up from the bottom of the ear cut, so the two ears open in a V.
  12. Cut the head square. Cut straight across the head, square to the back, 2.7 cm from the bottom of the ear cut. Leave the ears alone.
  13. Head down. Fold the head of each layer forward and down, on a crease from the bottom of the ear cut slanting down to the front edge.
  14. Head forward. Fold the head back up on a crease from the same corner, so it points straight forward. Glue the head layers together.

Hop to it!

Colour the ear tips black, draw a dark eye and a little nose, and sit your hare up on its big hind feet.

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