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How to fold an origami axolotl

Reverse-fold a strip into a long fin tail and a big round head. Fold, snip and open a fan of gill stalks, and fold a band whose ends bend down into legs.

You need: Pink paper: a 14 cm x 4 cm strip and a 9.5 cm x 2.2 cm strip. A 6.4 cm x 3.2 cm dark pink strip. Scissors and glue. Hard, 19 steps, about 35 minutes.

Steps

  1. Fold in half. White side up, long sides at the top and bottom. Fold the top edge down to the bottom edge. The fold is the axolotl's back.
  2. Tail back. Outside-reverse-fold the left end back over the body on an upright crease 6.2 cm from the left edge.
  3. Cut the fin. Cut the tail flap from its bottom corner at the crease to its tip on the top fold: a long, tall fin.
  4. Tail out. Outside-reverse-fold the tail out again on a crease from its top corner, so it stretches out straight behind.
  5. Head back. Outside-reverse-fold the right end back over the body the same way, 2.8 cm from the right edge.
  6. Round the head. Snip the two corners off the end of the head flap, two small snips each, so the head is big and round.
  7. Head out. Outside-reverse-fold the head out again on a crease from its bottom corner, so it points forward and a little up.
  8. Gills: new sheet. Set the body aside. Lay the dark pink strip coloured side up, long sides at the top and bottom.
  9. Gills: in half. Fold the right edge over onto the left edge: a square.
  10. Gills: corner to corner. Fold the bottom left corner up onto the top right corner, on a crease from the bottom right corner (the middle of the strip).
  11. Gills: snip a point. Through all the layers, cut the top into a long point: from 1.1 cm along each side from the bottom right corner up to the middle of the top edge.
  12. Gills: open. Unfold the last fold.
  13. Gills: open again. Unfold it: four thin gill stalks fanned out like fingers.
  14. Legs: new sheet. Set the gills aside. Lay the pink leg strip white side up, long sides at the top and bottom.
  15. Legs: in half. Fold the bottom edge up to the top edge.
  16. Legs: narrow. Fold the top edge down to the bottom fold: a slim band.
  17. Legs: down. Fold the ends down on slanted creases 2.8 cm from the left end and 2.3 cm from the right end, splayed apart.
  18. Legs: feet. Fold the last 0.7 cm of each leg out on a slanted crease: the feet.
  19. Glue it together. Glue the body on the legs, and the gills behind the back of the head, fanned up and back.

Say cheese!

Draw a small shiny eye and the axolotl's wide, happy smile just under it.

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