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How to fold an origami dollhouse

A real project. Pleat and cut a pink house with a pointed, white-trimmed roof and a white floor between the storeys. Fold a bed with pillows and a blanket, a window with tied-back curtains, a tiny picture, a sofa, a table and a lamp, glue them into the rooms and stand the house up, its side walls open like doors.

You need: 15 × 30 cm pink paper, then lavender, sky blue, rose, mint, honey, coral and gold pieces (sizes in steps). Scissors, glue stick, black pen, white gel pen.. Challenge, 36 steps, about 50 minutes.

Steps

  1. House: fold the bottom up. Start with the house: a 15 × 30 cm pink rectangle, white side up, standing tall. Fold the bottom edge up 5.5 cm. This pink flap is the downstairs wall.
  2. House: fold the top down. Fold the top edge down 10 cm, so it overlaps the bottom flap by 1 cm. This flap is the roof and the upstairs wall.
  3. House: pleat the floor. Fold the top flap's edge back up 6 mm. Now the paper zig-zags, and the white strip is the floor between upstairs and downstairs.
  4. House: cut the pointed roof. Cut through all the layers from the middle of the top edge down to each side edge, 5.5 cm below the top. Now the house has a pointed roof.
  5. House: trim the left roof edge. Fold 4 mm of the top layer along the left roof edge onto the front, right up to the tip. White trim!
  6. House: trim the right roof edge. Fold 4 mm along the right roof edge onto the front the same way, over the tip of the first trim. The roof now has a white edge all round.
  7. House: fold the side walls. Fold the left and right edges behind by 2.25 cm. These strips are the side walls; they swing forward when the house stands up.
  8. Wallpaper: new sheet. Set the house aside. For the living room wallpaper, take the 10.5 × 5.6 cm lavender piece, lavender side up, long side across.
  9. Wallpaper: skirting board. Fold the bottom edge up 5 mm. The white strip is the skirting board along the floor.
  10. Bed: new sheet. Set the wallpaper aside. For the bed, take the 5 cm sky blue square, white side up.
  11. Bed: the headboard. Fold the top edge down 8 mm. This blue strip is the headboard.
  12. Bed: the blanket. Fold the bottom edge up 1.35 cm, the blanket. Between it and the headboard, a 7 mm white strip is left: the pillows.
  13. Bed: fold in half. Fold the left edge over onto the right edge, so you can cut both sides at once.
  14. Bed: cut the legs and arch. Cut a shallow slant off the bottom, from 4.5 mm up at the fold to 5 mm from the open edge: the legs. Round the top open corner with two snips.
  15. Bed: open it. Open the bed out flat: an arched headboard on top, white pillows, a blue blanket and a little leg at each corner.
  16. Window: new sheet. Set the bed aside. For the window, take the 5 × 4 cm rose piece, white side up, long side across.
  17. Window: the curtains. Fold the left and right edges in 8 mm. The rose flaps are the curtains, the white between them is the glass.
  18. Window: tie the curtains back. Cut a slant off the bottom inner corner of each curtain only, from half way down to near its outer edge. The curtains look tied back.
  19. Window: top and sill. Fold the top edge down 5 mm and the bottom edge up 4 mm. Rose strips now run over the top of the window and under it, as the sill.
  20. Sofa: new sheet. Set the window aside. For the sofa, take the 5.5 × 3 cm mint piece, mint side up, long side across.
  21. Sofa: fold the arms in. Fold the left and right edges in 9 mm. These strips will be the arms.
  22. Sofa: snip the arms. Cut 1 cm down along each folded edge from the top. Only the arms come loose at the top.
  23. Sofa: open the arms. Unfold both arms back out flat, mint side up.
  24. Sofa: lower the arms. Fold the loose top of each arm behind, along the bottom of the snip. The arms are now lower than the back.
  25. Sofa: round the back. Fold the back's two top corners behind a little, so the back of the sofa is soft and round.
  26. Table: new sheet. Set the sofa aside. For the table, take the 6.5 × 0.9 cm honey strip, white side up, lying across.
  27. Table: fold in half. Fold the bottom edge up to the top edge. The thin strip is honey coloured on both sides.
  28. Table: turn down the legs. 1.5 cm either side of the middle, fold each end straight down on a slant (45°). The ends hang down as two legs under the table top.
  29. Lamp: new sheet. Set the table aside. For the lamp shade, take the 1.8 × 1.5 cm coral piece, coral side up.
  30. Lamp: slope the shade. Fold both top corners behind on a slant, so the shade is narrow at the top and wide at the bottom.
  31. Lamp: white rim. Fold the bottom edge up 2.5 mm, for a white rim where the light shines out.
  32. Picture: new sheet. Set the lamp aside. Last, the tiny picture: take the 2 cm gold square, white side up.
  33. Picture: frame the sides. Fold the left and right edges in 3 mm. The gold strips are the start of the frame.
  34. Picture: top and bottom. Fold the top and bottom edges in 3 mm too. Now gold frames the white all the way round.
  35. Move the furniture in. Glue the wallpaper downstairs, the bed and window upstairs, the sofa and table on the skirting line, the shade above the table and the picture over the bed.
  36. Stand it up. Stand the house up on its bottom edge. Swing both side walls round from behind and open them forward, like doors, so the house stands on its own.

Home sweet home!

Draw roof tiles and a white heart window in the roof, pillows, polka dots, window panes, a heart in the picture, the sofa's cushions and legs, and the lamp's stand.

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