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How to fold an origami bird tree

A real project. Pleat a tiered treetop and fold branches, then fill the tree: a parrot with reverse-folded head, hooked beak and pleated tail, an owl, a robin, a nest with eggs, a swallow and a squirrel. Stand it up.

You need: 17 pieces: pale blue A4, greens, browns, pale blue, red, orange and dark blue (sizes in steps). Scissors, glue, pens.. Challenge, 74 steps, about 100 minutes.

Steps

  1. Grass: straight edge. Start with the grass: a 29.7 × 4.8 cm green strip, green side up, lying long. Fold the top edge behind 5 mm.
  2. Trunk: new sheet. Set the grass aside. For the trunk, take a 4.8 × 10.8 cm brown piece, brown side up, standing tall.
  3. Trunk: taper it. Fold both long sides behind on a slant: 1 cm at the top, 3 mm at the bottom. The trunk spreads at its roots.
  4. Treetop: new sheet. Set the trunk aside. For the treetop, take a 17.2 × 11 cm green piece, green side up, lying long.
  5. Treetop: tier 1, fold up. Fold the bottom edge up, creasing 3.5 cm below the top edge. The white side shows for now.
  6. Treetop: tier 1, fold down. Fold it back down 4 mm higher. A ledge of leaves runs across: a pleat.
  7. Treetop: tier 2, fold up. Pleat again: fold the bottom edge up, creasing 3 cm below the first ledge.
  8. Treetop: tier 2, fold down. Fold it back down 4 mm higher. Three tiers of leaves.
  9. Treetop: corners behind. Fold each corner behind through all the layers, 3 cm along each edge.
  10. Treetop: round it. Fold the eight new corners behind, 1 cm each, for a big round treetop.
  11. Branch: new sheet. Set the treetop aside. For a branch, take a 11.6 × 1.8 cm brown strip, white side up, lying long.
  12. Branch: narrow it. Fold both long edges in to meet along the middle, for a brown stick.
  13. Branch: turn up the twig. Fold the left end up on a slant, 3 cm from the end, so it rises like a twig.
  14. Branch: new sheet. Set the branch aside. For a branch, take a 13.4 × 1.8 cm brown strip, white side up, lying long.
  15. Branch: narrow it. Fold both long edges in to meet along the middle, for a brown stick.
  16. Branch: turn up the twig. Fold the right end up on a slant, 3 cm from the end, so it rises like a twig.
  17. Egg: new sheet. Set the branch aside. For an egg, take a 1.9 × 2.5 cm pale blue piece, blue side up.
  18. Egg: round it. Fold the top corners behind 6 mm and the bottom corners 5 mm along each edge, for an egg shape.
  19. Egg: new sheet. Set the egg aside. For an egg, take a 1.9 × 2.5 cm pale blue piece, blue side up.
  20. Egg: round it. Fold the top corners behind 6 mm and the bottom corners 5 mm along each edge, for an egg shape.
  21. Nest: new sheet. Set the egg aside. For the nest, take a 5.6 × 3 cm brown piece, brown side up, lying long.
  22. Nest: twig row 1, fold up. Fold the bottom edge up, creasing 9 mm below the top edge.
  23. Nest: twig row 1, fold down. Fold it back down 2.5 mm higher, a pleat like a row of woven twigs.
  24. Nest: twig row 2, fold up. Again: fold the bottom edge up, creasing 6 mm below the first ledge.
  25. Nest: twig row 2, fold down. Fold it back down 2.5 mm higher, a pleat like a row of woven twigs.
  26. Nest: round the bowl. Fold the two bottom corners behind through all the layers, 1.4 cm along each edge, so the nest is a round bowl.
  27. Robin: new sheet. Set the nest aside. For the robin, take one 5 cm brown square, brown side up, as a diamond.
  28. Robin: body: top and bottom. Brown side up, like a diamond. Fold the top and bottom corners behind, about 1.2 cm from each tip.
  29. Robin: body: the sides. Fold the left and right corners behind the same way, so the body is round.
  30. Breast: new sheet. Set the robin aside. For its breast, take one 2.7 cm orange square, orange side up.
  31. Robin: breast: round it. Fold all four corners behind, about 7 mm from each tip, so it is round too.
  32. Owl: new sheet. Set the breast aside. For the owl, take one 7.5 cm brown square, white side up, as a diamond.
  33. Owl: make a triangle. Fold the top corner down to meet the bottom corner.
  34. Owl: corners down. Fold the left and right corners down to meet the bottom point.
  35. Owl: raise the ear tufts. Fold each flap up from its outer corner so the point stands straight up.
  36. Owl: fold the beak. Fold the top point of the square down, with the tuft corners lying on it, so its tip meets the point where the tufts cross.
  37. Owl: round the body. Fold the bottom point up behind.
  38. Parrot: new sheet. Set the owl aside. For the parrot, the hard part: one 8.3 cm red square, white side up, as a diamond.
  39. Parrot: crease the diagonal. Fold the left corner to the right corner, crease, and unfold.
  40. Parrot: make a kite. Fold the two lower edges in to lie along the centre crease.
  41. Parrot: narrow the tail. Fold the two upper edges in to lie along the centre crease too, making a long diamond.
  42. Parrot: turn it over. Flip the diamond over.
  43. Parrot: head up. Fold the bottom point up so its tip lands 2.5 cm above the side corners. This becomes the head.
  44. Parrot: fold in half. Mountain-fold it in half along the centre crease, head on the outside.
  45. Parrot: lay it down. Turn the model so the long fold is at the bottom and the head flap's fold is on the right.
  46. Parrot: pull out the head. Outside-reverse-fold the head out to the right, tilted a little up. Start the crease at the bottom right corner.
  47. Parrot: hook the beak. Outside-reverse-fold the last 1.7 cm of the head down and back, so the beak curls under.
  48. Parrot: perch it. Stand the parrot up, head at the top and the long tail pointing down.
  49. Parrot: tail band, fold up. Fold the end of the tail up, creasing about 4 cm above its tip.
  50. Parrot: tail band, fold down. Fold it back down 3 mm higher. The pleat makes a band across the long tail.
  51. Tail: new sheet. Set the parrot aside. For the squirrel's tail, take a 3.7 × 8.4 cm orange strip, white side up, standing tall.
  52. Squirrel: tail: fold in half. Take the long strip, white side up. Fold the left edge over to the right edge, so you have a tall narrow orange strip.
  53. Squirrel: tail: pleat it. Fold the top part down on a level line a little below the middle.
  54. Squirrel: tail: pleat back up. Fold it back up 4 mm lower, so a little step runs across the tail. It looks fluffier.
  55. Squirrel: tail: curl the top. Fold the top of the strip over to the left on a slanted line from the right edge, so it sticks out forward like a hook.
  56. Squirrel: tail: round it. Snip off the corners of the hook's end and the two corners on the outside of the bend, so the tail looks soft and bushy.
  57. Body: new sheet. Set the tail aside. For its body, take one 4.2 cm orange square, orange side up, as a diamond.
  58. Squirrel: body: white tummy. Fold the left corner in, about 1.2 cm, so a white triangle shows. This is the tummy.
  59. Squirrel: body: shape it. Fold the top corner well behind, the bottom corner a little behind and the right corner a little behind, so the body is pear-shaped.
  60. Head: new sheet. Set the body aside. For its head, take one 1.9 cm orange square, orange side up, as a diamond.
  61. Squirrel: head: shape it. Fold the right corner and the bottom corner behind. The left point is the snout and the top point is the ear.
  62. Flying bird: new sheet. Set the head aside. For the flying bird, take one 3 cm dark blue square, white side up, as a diamond.
  63. Flying bird: fold in half. Fold the right corner onto the left corner and crease firmly. The middle crease is where you will snip the tail.
  64. Flying bird: unfold it. Unfold it, so you can see the crease down the middle.
  65. Flying bird: make a kite. Fold the two lower edges in to lie along the centre crease.
  66. Flying bird: narrow the kite. Fold the lower edges to the centre crease again, making a long thin point.
  67. Flying bird: turn it over. Flip it over, keeping the long point at the bottom.
  68. Flying bird: snip the wings. Cut along both long outer edges from the bottom point, stopping 4 mm below the side corners. This frees the flaps behind.
  69. Flying bird: wings out. Fold each cut flap out from behind, creasing from the end of the cut, so it sweeps out and back as a wing.
  70. Flying bird: snip the tail. Cut up the middle crease from the bottom point, about 1.8 cm.
  71. Flying bird: fork the tail. Fold the inner edge of each tail half behind, creasing from the top of the cut to the outer edge 7 mm above the tip. The tips spread into a V.
  72. Sky: new sheet. Set the flying bird aside. Last, the sky: a pale blue A4 sheet, coloured side up, lying long.
  73. Build the scene. Glue the grass along the bottom, then the trunk, treetop, branches, eggs and nest, the robin, owl and parrot, the squirrel on the trunk and the swallow in the sky.
  74. Stand it up. Bend the sky gently towards you just right of the trunk, and stand the bird tree up on the table.

Tweet tweet!

Draw the birds' eyes, the owl's big round eyes, the squirrel's face, a knot hole in the trunk and speckles on the eggs.

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