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How to fold an origami ice palace

A frosty build. Fold eight-point snowflakes, two snowy hills, three pointed towers and a palace hall with a white door, the princess in her gown and tiara, and a reindeer, then stand it up.

You need: 19 pieces: blue A4, white, pale-blue, ice-blue, yellow, skin-tone and gold paper, a 15 cm brown square (sizes in steps). Scissors, glue, pens.. Challenge, 66 steps, about 85 minutes.

Steps

  1. Sky: crease the middle. Start with the night sky: a blue A4 sheet lying long. Fold it in half, short edges together, and open it. It bends on this crease to stand.
  2. Snowflake 1: new sheet. Set the sky aside. For a snowflake, take a 4 cm white square.
  3. Snowflake 1: corners in. Fold all four corners in to meet in the middle. It's a smaller square now, turned like a diamond.
  4. Snowflake 1: points out. Fold each tip in the middle back out on a crease a quarter of the way in, so it pokes out past the edge. Eight sharp points: a snowflake!
  5. Snowflake 2: new sheet. Set it aside. Fold a smaller snowflake from a 2.6 cm white square.
  6. Snowflake 2: corners in. Fold all four corners in to the middle, the same as before.
  7. Snowflake 2: points out. Fold the four tips back out past the edges again: eight points.
  8. Back hill: new sheet. Set the snowflake aside. For a snowy hill, take a 16.9 × 7.9 cm white piece, long side across.
  9. Back hill: corners behind. Fold both top corners behind, 5 cm along each edge.
  10. Back hill: round it. Fold the four new corners behind a little way, so the top turns into a soft, round snowy hill.
  11. Front hill: new sheet. Set it aside. For a second hill, take a 16.9 × 6.1 cm white piece, long side across.
  12. Front hill: corners behind. Fold both top corners behind, 4 cm along each edge.
  13. Front hill: round it. Fold the four new corners behind a little way, so the top turns into a soft, round snowy hill.
  14. Middle tower: new sheet. Set the hill aside. For the tallest tower, take a 10 × 10.3 cm pale-blue strip, blue side up.
  15. Middle tower: sides behind. Fold the left and right edges behind to meet in the middle at the back. A slim tower, pale blue on the front.
  16. Middle tower: pointed roof. Fold both top corners behind on steep slants, from the top middle to 3.8 cm down each side. A sharp, pointed tower roof.
  17. Middle tower: roof down. Fold the roof down on a crease 5 mm below its bottom corners.
  18. Middle tower: roof back up. Fold it back up on a crease 4 mm lower. The little ledge under the roof is the tower's icy rim.
  19. Left tower: new sheet. Set it aside. Fold a smaller tower the same way from a 6.8 × 7.6 cm pale-blue strip.
  20. Left tower: sides behind. Fold the left and right edges behind to meet in the middle at the back. A slim tower, pale blue on the front.
  21. Left tower: pointed roof. Fold both top corners behind on steep slants, from the top middle to 2.5 cm down each side. A sharp, pointed tower roof.
  22. Right tower: new sheet. Set it aside. Fold a smaller tower the same way from a 6.8 × 7.6 cm pale-blue strip.
  23. Right tower: sides behind. Fold the left and right edges behind to meet in the middle at the back. A slim tower, pale blue on the front.
  24. Right tower: pointed roof. Fold both top corners behind on steep slants, from the top middle to 2.5 cm down each side. A sharp, pointed tower roof.
  25. Palace hall: new sheet. Set the tower aside. For the palace hall, take a 21.2 × 14.5 cm pale-blue piece, white side up, long side across.
  26. Palace hall: top band. Fold the top edge down 5 cm. The pale-blue band is the top of the palace wall.
  27. Palace hall: sides in. Fold the left and right edges in 4.6 cm, through all layers. The white gap left under the band is the palace door.
  28. Hair: new sheet. Set the hall aside. Now the ice princess, starting with her hair: a 6 cm yellow square, white side up, turned like a diamond.
  29. Hair: fold a kite. Fold the lower left and lower right edges in to meet on the middle line: a long yellow point hangs down.
  30. Hair: flat top. Fold the white top point behind, level with the top of the side flaps.
  31. Gown: new sheet. Set the hair aside. For her ball gown, take a 9 cm ice-blue square, blue side up.
  32. Gown: the ruffle. Fold a 9 mm strip at the bottom up to show a white band: the ruffle at the hem.
  33. Gown: flare it out. Keep the middle third of the top edge. Fold each side behind on a long slant from there to the side edge, a quarter of the way up.
  34. Sleeves: new sheet. Set the gown aside. For puff sleeves, take a 6.2 × 1.9 cm ice-blue strip, blue side up, long side across.
  35. Sleeves: round the ends. Fold all four corners a little way behind, so both ends of the strip turn round and puffy.
  36. Bodice: new sheet. Set the sleeves aside. For the top of her gown, take a 5 cm ice-blue square, blue side up.
  37. Bodice: neckline and sash. Fold a thin strip at the top down and a slightly wider strip at the bottom up, so two white bands show: the neckline and the sash.
  38. Bodice: slim the waist. Fold each side behind on a slant, a little more at the bottom than at the top: wide at the shoulders, slim at the waist.
  39. Princess's head: new sheet. Set the bodice aside. For her face, take a 3.4 cm skin-tone square, turned like a diamond.
  40. Princess's head: round it. Fold all four corners a little way behind to make a round face.
  41. Tiara: new sheet. Set her head aside. For her tiara, take a 2.5 cm gold square, white side up, turned like a diamond.
  42. Tiara: fold in half. Fold the bottom corner up to the top corner. The middle point stands up.
  43. Tiara: side points up. Fold the left and right corners up on slants starting 3 mm either side of the middle, so they stand up as two more points.
  44. Reindeer: new sheet. Set the tiara aside. Last, the reindeer: a 15 cm brown square, white side up, turned like a diamond.
  45. Reindeer: fold in half. White side up, fold the top corner down to the bottom corner. The long fold at the top is the reindeer's back.
  46. Reindeer: crease the antler strip. Fold the top edge down 9 mm through both layers and crease it hard. The end of this strip will become the antlers.
  47. Reindeer: open it. Unfold the strip again.
  48. Reindeer: crease it in half. Fold the top edge down to the crease you just made and crease it hard. The antler tips get notched along this line.
  49. Reindeer: open it. Unfold the narrow strip.
  50. Reindeer: crease the middle. Fold the triangle in half, right point onto the left point, and crease it hard. This crease marks the back of the front legs.
  51. Reindeer: open it. Unfold it back into the triangle.
  52. Reindeer: crease the hind legs. Fold the left point over on an upright crease 3 cm left of the middle crease. This crease marks the front of the hind legs.
  53. Reindeer: open it. Unfold it again.
  54. Reindeer: neck back. Outside-reverse-fold the right end back over the body, on an upright crease 1.5 cm right of the middle crease. Each layer wraps round the outside.
  55. Reindeer: cut the legs. Cut the bottom point off level, 6 cm below the top fold. Cut up both leg creases to 2.75 cm below the top, and straight across between them.
  56. Reindeer: cut the neck. Cut up the neck fold to 2.5 cm below the top. From there cut the neck flaps so they narrow to 2.2 cm deep at their tip.
  57. Reindeer: lift the neck. Outside-reverse-fold the neck up on a crease from its bottom corner, so it stands almost straight up over the front legs.
  58. Reindeer: cut the antlers free. Cut 4.5 cm down the antler crease from the top, and as far down the back fold. Cut the head square 3 cm above that. Snip 2.5 cm along the top from the left point.
  59. Reindeer: head down. Fold the head part of each neck layer forward and down, on a crease from the bottom of the antler cut slanting down to the front edge.
  60. Reindeer: head out. Fold the head back up on a crease from the same corner, so it points forward and a little down. Glue the two head layers together.
  61. Reindeer: antlers apart. Fold the back antler away from you, back on a crease from the bottom of the antler cut, so the two antlers spread in a V. Leave the front one standing.
  62. Reindeer: notch the antlers. Snip 1.6 cm down the middle crease of each antler from its tip. Then cut a thin V there, so each antler ends in two points.
  63. Reindeer: tail down. Fold each layer of the left point down and back on a crease from the end of the snip, so a short white tail hangs from the rump.
  64. Reindeer: shape the rump. Cut up the tail crease from below, leaving its top 8 mm. Cut the rump straight from there to the back of the hind hooves.
  65. Build the scene. Glue the snowflakes on the sky, then the hills, towers and hall. Build the princess with her hair, face and tiara, and stand the reindeer in front.
  66. Stand it up. Bend the sky gently towards you on the middle crease and stand the whole palace scene up on the table.

Frosty and magical!

Draw the princess's eyes and smile, the palace doors and the reindeer's eye. Add white arched windows, snowflake arms, falling snow and sparkles on the gown.

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