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How to fold an origami emu

An accordion fold and two snips give the brown body its shaggy fringe. A blue-grey strip folds into the neck with a crimped head, and a grey strip into two long striding legs.

You need: A 14 × 10 cm sheet, brown on one side; a blue-grey strip 2.4 × 12.4 cm and a grey strip 2.4 × 17 cm; scissors, glue. Hard, 19 steps, about 35 minutes.

Steps

  1. Fold in half. Brown sheet, white side up, long side across. Fold the top edge down to the bottom edge. The fold along the top is the emu's back.
  2. Accordion: half. Fold the left edge over onto the right edge.
  3. Half again. Fold the right edges over onto the left fold.
  4. And again. Fold it in half once more the same way, to a narrow stack 1.75 cm wide. Crease hard.
  5. Snip the shag. Cut a long triangle off each bottom corner of the stack, 1.3 cm up the sides and meeting at the middle of the bottom edge.
  6. Open it out. Unfold the last fold.
  7. Open again. Unfold the next fold.
  8. Open to the body. Unfold the first one too. The bottom edge is a row of shaggy brown feathers.
  9. Round the body. Cut the top into a smooth dome: round the front from 4.75 cm along the back, and the back end from 6 cm along it, so it droops low.
  10. Legs: new sheet. Set the body aside. Take the grey strip 2.4 × 17 cm, white side up, standing tall.
  11. Fold the strip. Fold it in half lengthwise, the right edge over onto the left edge, so it is grey on both sides.
  12. Two legs. Fold the top half down, on a crease across the middle that rises a little to the right, so the end swings out ahead: two striding legs.
  13. Feet. Fold the last 1.2 cm of each leg forward along the ground: two big feet.
  14. Neck: new sheet. Set the legs aside. Take the blue-grey strip 2.4 × 12.4 cm, white side up, standing tall.
  15. Fold the neck. Fold it in half lengthwise, the right edge over onto the left edge. The fold is the front of the neck.
  16. Snip the beak. Cut off the top back corner on a slant, from the top of the fold to 1.1 cm down the open edge.
  17. Head down. Outside-reverse-fold the top 3 cm straight down over the neck, on a level crease: each layer wraps round the outside.
  18. Head out. Reverse-fold it back up on a crease from the same back corner, slanting down at 45°, so the head points forward. Glue the layers.
  19. Put it together. Glue the bottom of the neck behind the front of the body. Glue the legs' top fold behind the body, just behind the middle, 3 cm below the back.

Big bird!

Colour the beak dark and draw a big eye on the blue-grey head. Fluff up the shaggy feathers and draw three toes on each foot.

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