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How to fold an origami desert oasis

A hot, sunny build. Fold two sloping dunes, a ringed palm trunk with drooping leaves, a round pool, a camel with a hump, a fennec fox and a pointed sun, then stand it up.

You need: 11 pieces: blue A4, pale and deep gold, brown, green, blue, light brown, cream and orange paper (sizes in steps). Scissors, glue, a black pen.. Challenge, 63 steps, about 110 minutes.

Steps

  1. Far dune: slopes. Start with the far dune: a 29.7 × 12 cm pale gold piece, gold side up, lying long. Fold both top corners behind on long slants that meet 4 cm left of the middle.
  2. Far dune: soft crest. Fold the sharp crest behind 8 mm. A long, low sand dune.
  3. Sun: new sheet. Set the far dune aside. For the sun, take a 6.3 × 6.3 cm orange square, white side up.
  4. Sun: crease a diagonal. Fold corner to corner, crease well, then unfold.
  5. Sun: crease the other diagonal. Repeat with the other two corners. The creases cross at the centre.
  6. Sun: corners to the centre. Fold all four corners in so their tips meet at the centre.
  7. Sun: fold the tips back out. Fold each tip back out, a quarter of the way in from the outside edge, so the point sticks out past that edge.
  8. Sun: turn it over. Flip the sun over. Now it has eight pointy rays.
  9. Near dune: new sheet. Set the sun aside. For a nearer dune, take a 29.7 × 8.5 cm deep gold piece, gold side up, lying long.
  10. Near dune: slopes. Fold both top corners behind on slants that meet 6 cm right of the middle, the left one longer. A dune with a steep side.
  11. Near dune: soft crest. Fold the crest behind 6 mm to soften it.
  12. Palm trunk: new sheet. Set the near dune aside. For the palm trunk, take a 2.4 × 13 cm brown strip, white side up, standing tall.
  13. Palm trunk: narrow it. Fold the long edges in to meet in the middle. A narrow trunk, brown on both sides.
  14. Palm trunk: fold down. Fold the top down on a level crease 8.5 cm above the bottom.
  15. Palm trunk: fold up. Fold it back up 4 mm lower. The little step is a ring on the trunk.
  16. Palm trunk: fold down. Fold the top down again 4.6 cm above the bottom.
  17. Palm trunk: fold up. Fold it back up 4 mm lower for a second ring.
  18. Long frond: new sheet. Set the palm trunk aside. For the palm leaves, take an 18 × 3.4 cm green strip, white side up, lying long.
  19. Long frond: fold in half. Fold the bottom edge up to the top edge. A thin strip, green on both sides.
  20. Long frond: pointed tips. Fold both top corners behind on long slants from the bottom corners to 5 cm along the top. Each end is now a sharp leaf tip.
  21. Long frond: droop the tips. Fold each tip down on a slanting crease 2.6 cm from the middle, so the leaves droop like a palm's.
  22. Short frond: new sheet. Set the long frond aside. For the top leaves, take a 14 × 3 cm green strip, white side up, lying long.
  23. Short frond: fold in half. Fold it in half lengthwise the same way.
  24. Short frond: pointed tips. Fold both top corners behind the same way, to 4 cm along the top, for two more leaf tips.
  25. Short frond: droop the tips. Fold the tips down on creases 2.4 cm from the middle, a little less steeply than before.
  26. Pool: new sheet. Set the short frond aside. For the pool, take a 11.4 × 3.8 cm blue piece, blue side up, lying long.
  27. Pool: white rim. Fold the top edge down 6 mm. The white strip is the shining far edge of the water.
  28. Pool: corners behind. Fold all four corners behind, 1.2 cm along each edge.
  29. Pool: round it. Fold the eight new corners behind 4 mm. A long, round desert pool.
  30. Camel: new sheet. Set the pool aside. Now the camel, the hard part: a 15 cm light brown square, white side up, turned like a diamond.
  31. Camel: fold in half. White side up, fold the top corner down to the bottom corner. The long fold at the top is the camel's back.
  32. Camel: 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.
  33. Camel: open it. Unfold it back into the triangle.
  34. Camel: crease the neck line. Fold the right point over on an upright crease 1.1 cm right of the middle crease, and crease it hard. The neck starts here.
  35. Camel: open it. Unfold it again.
  36. Camel: crease the back leg. Fold the left point over on an upright crease 2.3 cm left of the middle crease, and crease it. This marks the front of the back leg.
  37. Camel: open it. Unfold it again.
  38. Camel: cut the legs. Cut the bottom point off 7.2 cm below the top. Cut up the leg creases to 3.4 cm below the top and across between the back two. Slim the legs.
  39. Camel: shape the hump. Cut the back down from the hump to the tail end in two cuts, and in one cut to the neck crease 8 mm down. Cut 8 mm down the crease and trim the neck's corner.
  40. Camel: cut the neck. Cut the neck's edge from 1.6 cm down the neck crease to 1 cm below the top, 7.9 cm out. Cut the point off there, round the nose, cut 5.5 cm back along the top fold.
  41. Camel: tail back. Fold each layer of the left point over onto the body, on an upright crease from the end of the back's slope.
  42. Camel: cut the tail. Cut the folded point to a strip 7 mm wide along its top edge, and cut up the crease to it from below. Round the rump down to the back leg.
  43. Camel: tail down. Fold the tail back out on a crease from its top corner, so it hangs down behind the rump. Glue its layers together.
  44. Camel: neck back. Fold each layer of the neck back over the body, on the neck crease.
  45. Camel: neck down. Fold it out again on a crease from the top of the neck crease, so the neck reaches forward and down from the shoulders.
  46. Camel: bend the neck. Fold the end of each neck layer back along the neck, on a crease straight across it 2.4 cm from the shoulder.
  47. Camel: neck up. Fold it out again on a crease from the same bottom corner, slanting up and back, so the neck curves up high. Glue the layers together.
  48. Camel: head back. Fold the top 1.9 cm of the neck down along it, on a crease straight across from the back of the neck.
  49. Camel: head out. Fold it up again on a crease from the same corner, so the head points forward. Glue the layers together.
  50. Fennec's body: new sheet. Set the camel aside. Now the fennec fox. For its body, take a 4.4 cm cream square, white side up, turned like a diamond.
  51. Fennec body: triangle. Fold the bottom corner up to the top corner. A cream triangle: the sitting body.
  52. Fennec body: round the back. Fold the left corner behind, 8 mm along each edge, for a round rump.
  53. Fennec body: tail up. Fold the right corner up on a slant from just right of the middle, so it pokes out past the side: the bushy tail.
  54. Fennec's head: new sheet. Set the fennec's body aside. For its big-eared head, take a 5.1 cm cream square, white side up, turned like a diamond.
  55. Fennec head: make a triangle. White side up. Fold the top corner down to meet the bottom corner.
  56. Fennec head: corners down. Fold the left and right corners down to meet the bottom point.
  57. Fennec head: swing the ears out. Fold each flap back up from its outer corner to the middle crease, a bit below the top, so its point sticks far up and out as a big ear.
  58. Fennec head: flat top. Fold the little top point of the head behind, just above where the ears cross.
  59. Fennec head: slim the snout. Fold each side in along a line from the bottom point up to where the ear meets the head.
  60. Fennec head: turn it over. Flip the fennec over so the smooth side faces you.
  61. Sky: new sheet. Set the fennec's head aside. Last, the sky: a pale blue A4 sheet, coloured side up, lying long.
  62. Build the scene. Glue the far dune, the sun and the near dune on the sky. Add the palm with its leaves, the pool in front, then the camel and the fennec fox.
  63. Stand it up. Bend the sky gently towards you between the camel and the fox, and stand the oasis up on the table.

Welcome to the oasis!

Draw the sun's smile, the camel's sleepy eye, the fennec's eyes, nose and whiskers, and a black tip on its tail.

What to fold next