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How to fold an origami bear

Fold a triangle, crease the leg lines and cut out four thick legs and a round rump. Cut the ears free and stand them up, crimp the snout and crimp the head down below the hump.

You need: 1 square sheet, 15 × 15 cm, brown on one side, small scissors and a ruler. Hard, 19 steps, about 22 minutes.

Steps

  1. Fold in half. White side up, fold the top corner down to the bottom corner. The long fold at the top is the bear'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 ears.
  3. Open it. Unfold the strip again.
  4. Crease the middle. Fold the triangle in half, right point onto the left point, and crease it hard. This crease marks the back of the front leg.
  5. Open it. Unfold it back into the triangle.
  6. Crease the neck line. Fold the right point over on an upright crease 1.8 cm right of the middle crease, and crease it hard. The neck starts here.
  7. Open it. Unfold it again.
  8. Crease the back leg. Fold the left point over on an upright crease 3.6 cm left of the middle crease, and crease it. This marks the front of the back leg.
  9. Open it. Unfold it again.
  10. Cut the legs. Cut the bottom point off level, 5 cm below the top fold. Cut up the three leg creases to 3 cm below the top, and straight across between the back two.
  11. Round the rump. Cut the back so it slopes gently down to the tail end, then round the rump off in two more short cuts down to the back leg.
  12. Cut the head. Cut the right point off square 5.2 cm right of the neck crease. Shape the jaw from the leg out to the nose, and slope the top of the snout a little.
  13. Head back. Fold each layer of the whole head back over the body, on the neck crease in front of the front leg.
  14. Head down. Fold it out again on a crease from the top of the shoulder, so the head hangs low and forward and the shoulder stands up as a hump.
  15. Cut the ears free. Cut 3 cm back from the nose along the ear strip crease and along the top fold, freeing the strip. Slope the snout's top down a little from 1.6 cm in front of that.
  16. Ears up. Outside-reverse-fold the cut strip up on a crease from the end of the cut, so it stands up behind the head.
  17. Round the ears. Cut the ears off 1.5 cm up and round both top corners. Trim the front ear 2 mm smaller, so a brown rim shows round it.
  18. Snout down. Fold the front of each head layer back, on a crease from the dip in the top, slanting down to the jaw.
  19. Snout out. Fold it forward again on a crease from the same point, so the short snout points a little down. Glue the layers together.

Grrr!

Draw an eye on each side and colour the nose tip dark. Ink a few claws on each paw and stand your bear on all four legs.

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