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How to fold an origami gazelle

Fold a square in half, reverse-fold both ends back, cut and slim the legs, then crimp the legs so it leaps. Lift the neck, crimp the head and glue on long curved horns.

You need: A 15 cm square, sandy on one side; a 4.5 cm dark brown square; scissors, glue and a black pen. Hard, 22 steps, about 40 minutes.

Steps

  1. Fold in half. White side up, fold the top edge down to the bottom edge. The fold at the top is the gazelle's back.
  2. Crease the legs. Fold the left end over on an upright crease 2.4 cm from the left edge, and the right end behind on one 6.8 cm from the right edge.
  3. Open them. Unfold both ends again. The two creases mark the inside edges of the legs.
  4. Ends back. Outside-reverse-fold the right end back over the body 5.6 cm from the right edge, and the left end 1.1 cm from the left edge. Each layer wraps round the outside.
  5. Cut the strips. Cut up both end folds, leaving 1.4 cm at the right and 6 mm at the left. Trim the right flap to a strip, 1.1 cm deep at its tip, and the left one to a point.
  6. Shape the nose. Snip the bottom corner off the neck strip's tip: from 5 mm below the top fold on the tip, to the bottom edge 1.3 cm in.
  7. Cut the legs. Cut up both leg creases to 2.7 cm below the top fold. Cut the belly between them in a shallow curve, 3.1 cm below the fold in the middle.
  8. Slim the legs. Trim each leg narrower toward the hoof: slant the rump and chest edges in 4 mm at the bottom and the inside edges 3 mm.
  9. Front legs up. Outside-reverse-fold the front legs straight up over the body, on a level crease from the belly corner of the legs.
  10. Front legs out. Reverse-fold them back down on a crease from the same corner, so the front legs reach forward and down.
  11. Hind legs up. Outside-reverse-fold the hind legs straight up over the rump, on a level crease from their belly corner.
  12. Hind legs back. Reverse-fold them back down on a crease from the same corner, so the hind legs kick out behind.
  13. Tail up. Outside-reverse-fold the tail strip up on a crease from its bottom corner, so it sticks up at the back.
  14. Lift the neck. Outside-reverse-fold the neck strip on a crease from its bottom corner, so it swings up in front of the chest.
  15. Snip the neck. Cut along the back fold of the neck from its base right up to the tip, so the two layers of the neck come apart.
  16. Head back. Fold the top of each neck layer down over the neck, on a crease from its back edge 1.7 cm up, slanting down to the front edge.
  17. Head out. Fold the head back out on a crease from the same corner, so it points forward and down. Glue the two head layers together.
  18. Horns: new sheet. Set the gazelle aside. Take the 4.5 cm dark square, white side up.
  19. Horns: fold in half. Fold the left edge over onto the right edge, so you cut both horns at once.
  20. Horns: cut a curve. Keep the fold as the back edge. Cut a curve from 7 mm along the bottom, bulging out, up to a sharp tip at the top of the fold.
  21. Glue on the horns. Glue the horns behind the top of the head, one on each side, so they sweep up and back in a long curve.
  22. Leap!. Tip it up at the front, so it springs up into the air.

Boing!

Draw a dark stripe along each side, the eye, the nose and rings on the horns, and colour the hooves and the tail tip black.

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