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How to fold an origami elephant

A long tent with a flap at each end. One cut makes four thick legs, the trunk and tail fold down, the head's corners fold back as ears, a pleat curls the trunk, and it stands up.

You need: 1 sheet of A4 or Letter paper, grey on one side, scissors, a ruler, a black pen and a white gel pen. Hard, 17 steps, about 25 minutes.

Steps

  1. Fold the back end over. Lay the sheet sideways, grey side up. Fold the left end over to the right, creasing 4 cm from the edge. This flap becomes the tail.
  2. Fold the front end over. Fold the right end over to the left, on top, creasing 11.9 cm from the left fold (13.8 cm from the right edge). This flap becomes the trunk.
  3. Fold in half. Fold the top half behind, onto the back, so both flaps stay outside. The fold along the top is the elephant's back.
  4. Cut the trunk. Swing the trunk flap out to the right. Cut it to a strip 4.3 to 5.8 cm below the top fold, tapering to 9 mm wide 6.5 cm out. Cut off the rest and lay it back.
  5. Cut the tail. Swing the tail flap out to the left, cut it to a strip 2.5 to 3.1 cm below the top fold and lay it back. Round off the back's top corner above it with two cuts.
  6. Mark the legs. Fold the bottom edges up together, creasing 6.5 cm below the top fold. Everything under this crease will be legs.
  7. Open it again. Unfold the bottom strip, leaving the leg crease.
  8. Fold the back over. Fold the back end over to the front, creasing straight down 4.8 cm from the tail fold.
  9. Cut out the legs. Below the leg crease, cut away the paper within 2.5 cm of the fold and over 4.8 cm from it, through all the layers. That leaves a leg.
  10. Open it out. Unfold the back end again. The tent now has a back leg and a front leg on each side.
  11. Drop the trunk. On each side, fold the trunk strip down and a little forward, creasing from its top corner on the front fold. The grey side comes out.
  12. Snip the ears. Cut 3.5 cm back along the top fold from the front corner to free the ears, and round the corner off. Cut the chin from the front leg's top to the trunk's bottom.
  13. Ears back. Fold each loose corner down and back, creasing from the end of the cut to the top of the trunk. The white side shows: these are the ears.
  14. Drop the tail. On each side, fold the tail strip down and a little back, creasing from its top corner on the back fold, so it hangs from the rump.
  15. Pleat the trunk. 1.8 cm above the trunk's tip, fold the tip up, both layers together, creasing straight across the trunk.
  16. And back down. Fold the tip back down on a crease from the same spot at the back of the trunk, but 4.5 mm higher at the front, so the tip curls forward.
  17. Stand it up. Stand the elephant on its four feet and ease the two sides of the body a little apart, so it balances. Pinch the trunk layers together.

Trumpet!

Draw an eye on each side just in front of the ear, and a line inside each ear. Add a white tusk under the eye with the gel pen and three white toenails per foot.

How to display it

  1. Stand it on a shelf with its trunk curling forward. If it tips, ease the sides further apart.
  2. Fold a few in different greys and march them along nose to tail.

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