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How to fold an origami hermit crab

Fold a kite into a cone-shaped shell with a rounded base and pleat ridges up its spire. Fold a long red diamond into a snapping claw and bent legs, and tuck it in.

You need: A 12 cm square of tan paper, an 8.5 cm square of red paper, small scissors, glue and a pen. Hard, 18 steps, about 30 minutes.

Steps

  1. Make a kite. White side up, point at the top right. Fold the two edges beside it in to lie along the diagonal, so it becomes a long point: the shell's tip.
  2. Fold the end over. Fold the white corner at the other end over along the edges of the flaps, so the whole shell is tan.
  3. Round the base. Fold the two wide corners behind on slants, 4 cm from each corner, so the base of the shell is round.
  4. Shell: first ridge. Fold the tip back toward the base on a crease straight across the shell, 7 cm from the tip.
  5. Shell: first ridge back. Fold the tip out again on a crease 5 mm nearer the base, leaving a step in the spire.
  6. Shell: second ridge. Fold the tip back toward the base on a crease straight across the shell, 4 cm from the tip.
  7. Shell: second ridge back. Fold the tip out again on a crease 4 mm nearer the base, leaving a step in the spire.
  8. The crab. Set the shell aside. Take the red square, white side up, turned like a diamond, and crease it in half from left to right.
  9. Crab: kite. Fold the two left edges in to lie along the crease.
  10. Crab: long diamond. Fold the two right edges in to the crease too, making a long red diamond.
  11. Crab: fold in half. Fold the bottom half behind along the crease.
  12. Crab: snip the claw. Snip 2.7 cm along the bottom fold from the left point, so its front and back layers come apart.
  13. Crab: open the claw. Fold the front layer's point up on a gentle slant from the end of the snip, so the claw opens wide.
  14. Crab: legs down. Fold the right half over to the left on a crease straight down from the top corner.
  15. Crab: legs out. Fold it back out on a crease from the same corner slanting down to the left, so the end points down: the legs.
  16. Crab: snip the legs. Snip 2.7 cm up the fold of the leg end from its point, so its two layers come apart.
  17. Crab: spread the legs. Fold the front layer's point back on a gentle slant from the end of the snip, so two legs stand apart.
  18. Into the shell. Glue the middle of the crab behind the round base of the shell, so the claw and legs poke out of the opening.

Anybody home?

Draw two big eyes on the crab, just in front of the shell.

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