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How to fold an origami beach huts

A real project. Fold a lifeguard tower with turned legs and a zigzag staircase, three striped huts with paper-hat roofs, a slit-and-fold sandcastle, a ball, waves and a gull. Stand it up.

You need: 20 pieces: pale blue A4, blues, sand, golden sand, pink, teal, yellow, red, brown, grey and three roof colours (sizes in steps). Scissors, glue, pens.. Challenge, 80 steps, about 90 minutes.

Steps

  1. Sea: the horizon. Start with the sea: a 29.7 × 5.6 cm blue strip, coloured side up, lying long. Fold the top edge behind 6 mm for a straight horizon.
  2. Wave: new sheet. Set the sea aside. For a wave, take a 2.4 cm dark blue square, white side up, as a diamond.
  3. Wave: fold in half. Fold the bottom corner up to the top corner, for a blue triangle.
  4. Wave: curl the crest. Fold just the front layer's top point down to the right on a slant. White foam shows at the crest.
  5. Wave: lean it. Fold the left corner behind 7 mm each way, so the wave rolls to the right.
  6. Wave: new sheet. Set the wave aside. For the second wave, take another 2.4 cm dark blue square.
  7. Wave: fold in half. Fold the bottom corner up to the top corner, for a blue triangle.
  8. Wave: curl the crest. Fold just the front layer's top point down to the right on a slant. White foam shows at the crest.
  9. Wave: lean it. Fold the left corner behind 7 mm each way, so the wave rolls to the right.
  10. Wave: new sheet. Set the wave aside. For the third wave, take another 2.4 cm dark blue square.
  11. Wave: fold in half. Fold the bottom corner up to the top corner, for a blue triangle.
  12. Wave: curl the crest. Fold just the front layer's top point down to the right on a slant. White foam shows at the crest.
  13. Wave: lean it. Fold the left corner behind 7 mm each way, so the wave rolls to the right.
  14. Sand: new sheet. Set the wave aside. For the sand, take a 29.7 × 8.1 cm piece, coloured side up, lying long.
  15. Sand: top edge behind. Fold the top edge behind 6 mm, for a straight line where the sand meets the sea.
  16. First hut: new sheet. Set the sand aside. For the first beach hut, take a 5 × 6 cm pink piece, coloured side up, standing tall.
  17. First hut: stripes. Fold the left and right edges in 8 mm. The white back shows as a stripe down each side of the hut.
  18. First roof: new sheet. Set the first hut aside. For its roof, take a 4.6 cm square of a darker colour, white side up.
  19. First roof: fold in half. Fold the top edge down to the bottom edge. It is coloured on both sides now.
  20. First roof: point the top. Fold the top corners down on a slant, from the middle of the fold to 1.9 cm down each side, like a paper hat.
  21. First roof: white trim. Fold the front layer's bottom edge up 3 mm, over the corners. The white inside shows as trim under the eaves.
  22. Second hut: new sheet. Set the first roof aside. For the second hut, take another 5 × 6 cm piece in blue.
  23. Second hut: stripes. Fold the left and right edges in 8 mm. The white back shows as a stripe down each side of the hut.
  24. Second roof: new sheet. Set the second hut aside. For its roof, take a 4.6 cm square of a darker colour, white side up.
  25. Second roof: fold in half. Fold the top edge down to the bottom edge. It is coloured on both sides now.
  26. Second roof: point the top. Fold the top corners down on a slant, from the middle of the fold to 1.9 cm down each side, like a paper hat.
  27. Second roof: white trim. Fold the front layer's bottom edge up 3 mm, over the corners. The white inside shows as trim under the eaves.
  28. Third hut: new sheet. Set the second roof aside. For the third hut, take another 5 × 6 cm piece in yellow.
  29. Third hut: stripes. Fold the left and right edges in 8 mm. The white back shows as a stripe down each side of the hut.
  30. Third roof: new sheet. Set the third hut aside. For its roof, take a 4.6 cm square of a darker colour, white side up.
  31. Third roof: fold in half. Fold the top edge down to the bottom edge. It is coloured on both sides now.
  32. Third roof: point the top. Fold the top corners down on a slant, from the middle of the fold to 1.9 cm down each side, like a paper hat.
  33. Third roof: white trim. Fold the front layer's bottom edge up 3 mm, over the corners. The white inside shows as trim under the eaves.
  34. Legs: new sheet. Set the third roof aside. For the lifeguard tower, the hard part. Its legs are a 1.6 × 21.6 cm brown strip, white side up, lying long.
  35. Legs: narrow it. Fold both long edges in to meet along the middle, for a thin brown strip.
  36. Legs: left leg down. Fold the left end down on a slant, 2.4 cm left of the middle, so it hangs as a leg leaning out a little.
  37. Legs: right leg down. Fold the right end down the same way, 2.4 cm right of the middle. The middle is the beam under the cabin.
  38. Legs: feet. Fold the last 9 mm of each leg outwards on a slant, so the feet stand flat on the sand.
  39. Stairs: new sheet. Set the legs aside. For the stairs, take a 1.2 × 12.3 cm brown strip, white side up, lying long.
  40. Stairs: narrow it. Fold both long edges in to meet along the middle.
  41. Stairs: turn down 1. 1.7 cm from the right end, fold the rest of the strip down on a slant so it hangs straight down.
  42. Stairs: turn left 1. 1.9 cm further down, fold the rest to the left on a slant, so it lies level.
  43. Stairs: turn down 2. 1.1 cm further on, fold the rest down again: one step done.
  44. Stairs: turn left 2. 1.9 cm further down, fold the rest to the left on a slant, so it lies level.
  45. Stairs: turn down 3. 1.1 cm further on, fold the rest down again: one step done.
  46. Stairs: turn left 3. 1.9 cm further down, fold the rest to the left on a slant, so it lies level.
  47. Stairs: turn down 4. 1.1 cm further on, fold the rest down again: one step done.
  48. Cabin: new sheet. Set the stairs aside. For the cabin, take a 6 × 7.2 cm red piece, white side up, standing tall.
  49. Cabin: the window. Fold the top edge down 8 mm and the bottom edge up 2.2 cm. A white band is left between them: the window.
  50. Cabin: frame it. Fold the left and right edges in 4 mm, so red frames the window at both ends.
  51. Tower roof: new sheet. Set the cabin aside. For the tower's roof, take a 7 × 4 cm yellow piece, white side up, lying long.
  52. Tower roof: fold in half. Fold the top edge down to the bottom edge. It is coloured on both sides now.
  53. Tower roof: point the top. Fold the top corners down on a slant, from the middle of the fold to 1.2 cm down each side, like a paper hat.
  54. Tower roof: white trim. Fold the front layer's bottom edge up 3 mm, over the corners. The white inside shows as trim under the eaves.
  55. Sandcastle: new sheet. Set the tower roof aside. For the sandcastle, take a 6 cm golden sand square, coloured side up.
  56. Sandcastle: left third. Fold the left third over, like a letter.
  57. Sandcastle: right third. Fold the right third over on top.
  58. Sandcastle: open the right. Open the right third again.
  59. Sandcastle: open the left. Open the left third too. The two creases mark the keep in the middle.
  60. Sandcastle: two slits. Cut down both creases from the top edge, 1.8 cm long.
  61. Sandcastle: lower the walls. Fold the top of each side behind, level with the bottom of the slits. The keep now stands up between two walls.
  62. Sandcastle: slope the walls. Fold the outer top corner of each wall behind, 6 mm each way.
  63. Sandcastle: ledge, fold up. Fold the bottom part up on a level crease 1.6 cm above the bottom edge.
  64. Sandcastle: ledge, fold down. Fold it back down 3 mm higher, leaving a ledge like a bucket's rim.
  65. Pennant: new sheet. Set the sandcastle aside. For the pennant, take a 1.8 cm red square, white side up, as a diamond.
  66. Pennant: fold in half. Fold the left corner over to the right corner.
  67. Pennant: in half again. Fold the bottom corner up to the top corner, for a little red flag.
  68. Beach ball: new sheet. Set the pennant aside. For the beach ball, take a 4 cm red square, white side up, as a diamond.
  69. Ball: top and bottom in. Fold the top and bottom corners to the middle. Red wedges top and bottom, white ones at the sides.
  70. Ball: square it. Fold the left and right corners behind, level with the ends of the red folds.
  71. Ball: corners behind. Fold the four corners behind, 6 mm each way.
  72. Ball: round it. Fold the eight new corners behind, 2 mm each, for a round beach ball.
  73. Seagull: new sheet. Set the beach ball aside. For the seagull, take a 6.3 cm grey square, white side up, as a diamond.
  74. Seagull: fold a triangle. White side up, like a diamond. Fold the top corner down onto the bottom corner. The long top edge is the front of the wings.
  75. Seagull: head up. Fold the bottom point up through both layers, so its tip pokes 8 mm above the top edge. That is the head.
  76. Seagull: slim the wings. Fold each lower edge up to lie along the top edge, creasing from the wing tip. The wings get long and thin.
  77. Seagull: droop the wing tips. Fold each wing tip down a little on a slant, starting the crease on the top edge 2.9 cm out from the middle.
  78. Sky: new sheet. Set the seagull aside. Last, the sky: a pale blue A4 sheet, coloured side up, lying long.
  79. Build the scene. Glue the sea across the middle with its waves, the sand below, then the huts and roofs, the tower's legs, stairs, cabin and roof, the sandcastle, ball and gull.
  80. Stand it up. Bend the sky gently towards you between the huts and the sandcastle, and stand the beach up on the table.

Surf's up!

Draw a door and window on each hut, a white cross on the cabin, the castle's door and arrow slit, the pennant's pole and the gull's eye.

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