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How to fold an origami beaver

Fold a corner behind for white teeth, then a plump kite body. Slit the tummy strip into four short legs and crimp the wide end down and out into a flat paddle.

You need: 1 brown square (15 cm), scissors and a black pen. Medium, 20 steps, about 18 minutes.

Steps

  1. Crease the middle. White side up, turned like a diamond, fold the top corner down to the bottom corner, crease and unfold.
  2. White face. Fold the left corner behind, 1.1 cm. Its white side now shows on the back: that will be the face.
  3. Kite. Fold the top and bottom edges at the left end in to lie along the middle crease, like a kite. The left end will be the head.
  4. Narrow the other end. Fold the edges at the right point in on creases from the point to 6.8 cm above and below the middle. That end is the tail.
  5. Fold in half. Fold the top half down onto the bottom half along the middle crease. The long fold on top is the back.
  6. Flat tummy. Fold the tummy point up 3.8 cm below the back, the front layer to the front and the back one behind, so the tummy is flat.
  7. Crease the tail line. Fold the right end over on an upright crease 7.9 cm from its tip, all layers together. The tail will bend here.
  8. Open it. Unfold the right end again.
  9. Crease a strip. Fold the bottom edge up 0.6 cm, all layers together, and crease it hard. This strip gives the legs.
  10. Open it. Unfold the strip again.
  11. Slit the legs. Cut along the strip crease from the front end in 1.9 cm. Snip up the tail line to the strip, then along it 2.1 cm forward.
  12. Front legs. Swing the front strip down on slanted creases from its inner end, the front layers forward and the back ones behind, a little apart.
  13. Back legs. Swing the back strip down the same way. Now the animal stands on four legs.
  14. Head: crease. Fold the left end over on an upright crease 4.6 cm from the tip, all layers together.
  15. Head: crimp. Fold it back on a crease slanting from the same top point, so the head dips a little. That's a crimp.
  16. Tail: crease. Fold the wide right end over again on the tail line, all layers together.
  17. Tail: crimp. Fold it back on a crease slanting from the same top point, so the tail drops down behind.
  18. Paddle: crease. Fold the tail over on a crease straight across it, 3.7 cm below the bend, from its lower edge.
  19. Paddle: crimp. Fold it back on a crease from the same lower point, so the end of the tail lies out flat behind like a paddle.
  20. Paddle end. Fold the pointed end of the tail behind, about 1 cm, so the tail ends square like a paddle.

Chomp chomp!

Draw a shiny eye, a dark nose and a small ear, a line between the teeth and a few scaly lines across the paddle.

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