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How to fold an origami guitar

Snip the top half of a square free and narrow it behind into a long neck, pleat a headstock at its tip, then cut the body into a curvy figure eight. Draw the sound hole, frets and strings, and it's ready to strum.

You need: 1 square sheet (15 cm), wood-coloured on one side, scissors and a black pen. Hard, 15 steps, about 20 minutes.

Steps

  1. Crease the middle. White side up, fold the left edge to the right edge and open it again.
  2. Fold in half. Fold the top edge down to the bottom edge. The top half will be the neck.
  3. Open it. Unfold the top half again.
  4. Find the waist. Fold the bottom edge up to the middle crease. This crease is the guitar's waist.
  5. Open it again. Unfold the bottom edge.
  6. Free the neck. Cut along the middle crease from each side, stopping 1 cm short of the centre, so the neck hangs from a narrow strip.
  7. Body sides in. Fold the left and right edges of the bottom half in to the centre crease. The body is now wood coloured.
  8. Narrow the neck. Fold the sides of the top half behind, edges to the centre crease, keeping the white side in front.
  9. Narrow it again. Fold the neck's sides behind again, halving its width to a quarter of the paper's.
  10. Headstock pleat. Fold the top of the neck down, creasing 2.5 cm below its top edge.
  11. Snip the fold. Snip 1 cm into the top fold from each side, so the neck can get thinner below the headstock.
  12. Fold it back up. Fold the flap back up on a crease 5 mm below the first, so the headstock stands above a little ledge.
  13. Slim the neck. Below the ledge, fold the neck's sides behind once more to 2 cm wide. The headstock stays wide.
  14. Shape the top bout. Snip in along the waist crease from each side. Round the body's top half, narrower than the bottom, and cut the headstock's corners off.
  15. Shape the bottom bout. Round the bottom half into a big bout, but leave the side folds uncut for 1.5 cm where it's widest, so the front flaps stay on.

Ready to rock!

Draw a round sound hole and a bridge on the body, frets across the neck, three tuning pegs on each side of the headstock, and six strings.

How to play

  1. Hold it by the neck and strum the strings with your thumb while you sing.
  2. Fold a few in different colours and start a paper band.
  3. Glue it to a birthday card for a friend who plays.

What to fold next