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How to fold an origami bison

Fold a square in half, reverse-fold both ends, cut short sturdy legs and swing the big head down low. Then cut a shaggy cape for the hump, little horns and a beard.

You need: A 15 cm brown square; a 6 x 6.8 cm and a 1 x 3 cm dark brown piece; a 2.2 cm pale square; scissors and glue. Hard, 25 steps, about 40 minutes.

Steps

  1. Fold in half. White side up, fold the top edge down to the bottom edge. The fold at the top is the bison's back.
  2. Crease the legs. Fold the left end over on an upright crease 3.8 cm from the left edge, and the right end behind on one 6.1 cm from the right edge.
  3. Open them. Unfold both ends again. The two creases mark the inside edges of the legs.
  4. Ends back. Outside-reverse-fold the right end back over the body 4.2 cm from the right edge, and the left end 2.2 cm from the left edge. Each layer wraps round the outside.
  5. Cut the strips. Cut up both end folds, leaving 3.2 cm at the right and 5 mm at the left. Trim the right flap to a strip, 2.8 cm deep at its tip, and the left one to a point.
  6. Shape the nose. Snip the bottom corner off the neck strip's tip: from 1.5 cm below the top fold on the tip, to the bottom edge 1.2 cm in.
  7. Cut the legs. Cut up both leg creases to 5 cm below the top fold. Cut the belly between them in a shallow curve, 5.3 cm below the fold in the middle.
  8. Slim the legs. Trim each leg narrower toward the hoof: slant the rump and chest edges in 3 mm at the bottom and the inside edges 3 mm.
  9. Tail down. Outside-reverse-fold the tail strip on a crease from its top corner, so it hangs down at the back.
  10. Head down. Outside-reverse-fold the neck strip on a crease from its top corner, so the head swings out and down in front of the chest.
  11. Hump: new sheet. Set the bison aside. Take the dark brown 6 x 6.8 cm piece, coloured side up, long side up and down.
  12. Fold in half. Fold the right edge over onto the left edge.
  13. In half again. Fold the right half over onto the left.
  14. And once more. Fold the right half over onto the left once more, so you have a narrow stack of eight layers.
  15. Cut a point. Cut the bottom of the stack to a sharp point, cutting 1.2 cm up each side through all the layers at once.
  16. Open one fold. Unfold the last fold.
  17. Open the next. Unfold the next fold too.
  18. Open it out. Unfold the middle fold. The shaggy hump has a row of eight sharp points.
  19. Round the hump. Round off both top corners with two cuts each, a bigger curve on the right than on the left, so the top rounds into a hump.
  20. Horns: new sheet. Set the hump aside. Take the 2.2 cm pale square, white side up.
  21. Horns: fold in half. Fold the left edge over onto the right edge, so you cut both horns at once.
  22. Horns: cut a curve. Keep the fold as the back edge. Cut a curve from 6 mm along the bottom, bulging out, up to a sharp tip at the top of the fold.
  23. Beard: new sheet. Set the horns aside. Take the 1 x 3 cm dark brown strip, coloured side up.
  24. Beard: cut a point. Snip the bottom of the strip to a long point, cutting in from both sides.
  25. Glue it together. Glue the bison over the top of the beard so it hangs under the chin. Glue the hump over the shoulders, fringe hanging down, and add the horns.

Huff!

Draw a dark eye and a nostril on each side, and colour the hooves and the tail tip black. Stand it on its short legs.

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