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How to fold an origami ferret

Fold a long slim body and slit two strips free into four short legs. Crimp both ends down into a high arch, then crimp the head forward and the tail out.

You need: 1 brown square (15 cm), scissors and a black pen. Hard, 21 steps, about 35 minutes.

Steps

  1. Crease the middle. White side up, turned like a diamond, fold the top corner to the bottom corner, crease, and unfold.
  2. Kite. Fold the two edges at the left point in to lie along the middle crease, making a kite. The left point is the tail.
  3. Narrow the other end. Fold the two edges at the right point in to the middle crease too, so you have a long thin diamond.
  4. Fold in half. Fold the top half down onto the bottom half along the middle crease. The long fold on top is the ferret's back.
  5. Slim tummy. Fold the tummy point up 2.2 cm below the top fold, the front layer to the front and the back one behind, so the body is a slim strip.
  6. Crease a strip. Fold the bottom edge up 0.6 cm, all layers together, and crease it hard. This strip will give the legs.
  7. Open it. Unfold the strip again.
  8. Crease two upright lines. Fold the right part over on an upright crease 2.3 cm right of the middle, and the left part behind 2.3 cm left of it.
  9. Open them. Unfold both again.
  10. Slit the strips. Cut along the strip crease from each upright crease outward for 2 cm, and up each upright crease to the strip.
  11. Front legs. Swing the right strip down on creases from its root, the front layers forward and the back ones behind, a little apart. These are the front legs.
  12. Hind legs. Swing the left strip down the same way, front layers forward and back ones behind. These are the hind legs.
  13. Arch: front crease. Fold the right end over on an upright crease 1.5 cm right of the middle, all layers together.
  14. Arch: front crimp. Fold it back on a crease slanting from the same top point, so the front end bends down. That's a crimp.
  15. Arch: back crease. Fold the left end over on an upright crease 1.5 cm left of the middle.
  16. Arch: back crimp. Fold it back on a crease slanting the other way, so the back end bends down too. Now the back arches and all four legs stand.
  17. Head: crease. Fold the front end's last 4.3 cm up on a crease straight across it.
  18. Head: crimp. Fold it back down on a crease from the same bottom point, slanting a little, so the head points forward.
  19. Round snout. Fold the sharp tip of the head behind, about 6 mm, so the ferret gets a round snout.
  20. Tail: crease. Fold the back end's last 4.9 cm over on a crease straight across it.
  21. Tail: crimp. Fold it back on a crease from the same bottom point, slanting a little, so the long tapering tail sweeps out behind.

Dook dook!

Colour a dark bandit mask across the eye, then add a white eye, a black nose and a round ear.

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