All models

How to fold an origami cow

Fold a black square in half, reverse-fold both ends, cut and slim four legs, drop the tail, lift the neck and crimp the head. Add cream horns, a pink muzzle and an udder.

You need: A 15 cm square, black on one side, and a black scrap; a 1.7 cm cream square; pink scraps; scissors, glue and a white gel pen. Hard, 22 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 cow's back.
  2. Crease the legs. Fold the left end over on an upright crease 4.2 cm from the left edge, and the right end behind on an upright crease 6.6 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 4.9 cm from the right edge, and the left end 2.5 cm from the left edge. Each layer wraps round the outside.
  5. Cut the strips. Cut up both end folds, leaving 2.6 cm at the right and 5 mm at the left. Trim the right flap to a strip 2.2 cm deep at its tip, the left one to a 5 mm strip.
  6. Cut the legs. Cut up both leg creases to 4.2 cm below the top fold. Cut the belly between them in a shallow curve, 4.7 cm below the top fold in the middle.
  7. Slim the legs. Trim each leg narrower toward the hoof: slant the back and chest edges in 5 mm at the bottom, starting from the strips, and the inside edges 3 mm.
  8. Lift the neck. Outside-reverse-fold the neck strip up on a crease from its bottom corner, so it stands up leaning well forward.
  9. Tail down. Outside-reverse-fold the tail strip down on a crease from its top corner, so it hangs down behind the rump.
  10. Snip the neck. Cut along the back fold of the neck from its base right up to the tip, so the two layers of the neck come apart.
  11. Head back. Fold the top of each neck layer down over the neck, on a crease from its back edge 1.8 cm up, slanting down to the front edge.
  12. Head out. Fold the head back out on a crease from the same corner, so it points down and forward. Glue the two head layers together.
  13. Horns: new sheet. Set the cow aside. Take the 1.7 cm cream square, white side up.
  14. Horns: fold in half. Fold the left edge over onto the right edge, so you cut both horns at once.
  15. Horns: cut a curve. Keep the fold as the back of the horn. Cut a curve from 7 mm along the bottom, bulging out, up to a sharp tip at the top of the fold.
  16. Ear: new sheet. Set the horns aside. Cut a strip of the black paper 2.2 cm long and 9 mm wide, black side up.
  17. Ear: cut a leaf. Snip one end of the strip to a point and the corners off the other end, so it's a little leaf.
  18. Muzzle: new sheet. Set the ear aside. Take a pink piece 1.8 cm by 1 cm, pink side up.
  19. Muzzle: round it. Snip the four corners off the pink piece, 3 mm each way, so it's a rounded muzzle.
  20. Udder: new sheet. Set the muzzle aside. Take a pink piece 2.4 cm wide and 2 cm tall, pink side up.
  21. Udder: round it. Cut the bottom of the pink piece in a round curve from side to side, so it's shaped like a bag.
  22. Glue it together. Glue the cow over the udder so it bulges below the belly. Glue the horns and the ear behind the head, the muzzle over the nose tip.

Moo!

With a white gel pen, paint big patches on the body, white socks above the hooves, a tuft on the tail and an eye. Draw a nostril on the muzzle.

What to fold next