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How to fold an origami griffin

Fold a lion's body with a lifted neck and a flicked tail from one golden triangle. Add an eagle head with a reverse-folded beak and a brown wing cut into pointed feathers.

You need: A 15 cm golden square, a 5 cm yellow square, a 9 × 3.5 cm brown strip, scissors, a ruler, glue and a black pen. Hard, 29 steps, about 40 minutes.

Steps

  1. Body: fold in half. White side up, fold the top corner down to the bottom corner. The long fold at the top is the griffin's back; it faces right.
  2. Body: crease the front legs. Fold the right point over on an upright crease 2 cm right of the middle, and crease it hard.
  3. Body: open it. Unfold it. This crease marks the back of the front legs.
  4. Body: crease the hind legs. Fold the left point over on an upright crease 2.5 cm left of the middle.
  5. Body: open it. Unfold it. This crease marks the front of the hind legs.
  6. Body: crease the rump. Fold the left point over again on a crease 4.5 cm left of the middle.
  7. Body: open it. Unfold it. Left of this crease will be the tail.
  8. Body: neck back. Outside-reverse-fold the right point back over the body on an upright crease 1.5 cm right of the front-leg crease. Each layer wraps round the outside.
  9. Body: cut the legs. Cut the bottom point off level, 6 cm below the top fold. Cut up both leg creases to 2.8 cm below the top, and straight across between them.
  10. Body: cut the neck. Cut up the neck fold to 2.25 cm below the top. Cut the neck flaps to 1.5 cm deep at the tip, and snip the tip off square.
  11. Body: lift the neck. Outside-reverse-fold the neck up on a crease from its bottom corner, so it stands up and leans forward over the front legs.
  12. Body: free the tail. Cut up the rump crease to 8 mm below the top, then along to the left point, leaving a thin tail on the fold. Taper the hind legs.
  13. Body: swing the tail. Fold the thin tail down and back on a slanted crease from the top of the rump, so it hangs behind the hind legs.
  14. Body: flick the tip. Fold the last 1.3 cm of the tail up and out, so the end flicks back like a lion's tail.
  15. Head: new sheet. Set the body aside. Lay the yellow square yellow side up, as a diamond.
  16. Head: fold in half. Fold the bottom corner up to the top corner, so the white side is outside and the fold runs along the bottom.
  17. Head: cut the shape. Cut through both layers: round off the left corner and the top point, then cut straight down to the right corner, leaving a long point for the beak.
  18. Head: hook the beak. Outside-reverse-fold the long point down, creasing from the bottom fold 1.7 cm in from the tip. Its yellow inside shows as a hooked beak.
  19. Wing: new sheet. Set the body aside. Lay the brown strip brown side up, long side across.
  20. Wing: in half. Fold the right half over onto the left half.
  21. Wing: and again. Fold the right half over onto the left again.
  22. Wing: once more. Fold it in half once more the same way, to a stack about 1 cm wide. Crease it hard.
  23. Wing: cut the feathers. Cut the top of the stack to a point: two straight snips from 1.2 cm down each side to the middle of the top edge.
  24. Wing: open it. Unfold the last fold.
  25. Wing: open again. Unfold the next fold.
  26. Wing: open flat. Unfold it flat. Eight feathers run along the top edge.
  27. Wing: shape it. Cut the bottom right corner off on a slant up to the feathers, for the wing tip. Snip the top left corner off too, so the root is narrower.
  28. Wing: turn it. Turn the wing so the tip points up and the feathers face back.
  29. Glue it together. Glue the head over the top of the neck, beak pointing forward. Glue the wing's root on the back, behind the neck, feathers facing the tail.

Guard the treasure!

Draw a fierce eye behind the beak and claws on the front feet. Colour the end of the tail dark for its tuft.

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