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How to fold an origami lily pond

A real project. Fold a frog whose legs bend with outside reverse folds, a duck with a reverse-folded neck, a lotus, lily pads, reeds with cattails, a dragonfly and a turtle on a rock. Stand it up.

You need: 19 pieces: pale blue A4, blue, greens, pink, yellow, grey, brown, teal and lilac (sizes in steps). Scissors, glue, pens.. Challenge, 76 steps, about 90 minutes.

Steps

  1. Water: the far shore. Start with the pond: a 29.7 × 12.6 cm blue sheet, blue side up, lying long. Fold the top edge behind 6 mm for a straight far shore.
  2. Reeds: new sheet. Set the water aside. For the reeds, take a 1.2 × 21 cm green strip, white side up, lying long.
  3. Reeds: narrow it. Fold both long edges in to meet along the middle, for a thin reed green on both sides.
  4. Reeds: left reed up. Fold the left half up on a slant from the middle of the bottom edge, so it stands up leaning a little left.
  5. Reeds: right reed up. Fold the right half up the same way, leaning a little right. Two tall reeds rise from one foot.
  6. Cattail: new sheet. Set the reeds aside. For a cattail, take a 2.4 × 3 cm brown piece, white side up, standing tall.
  7. Cattail: narrow it. Fold both long edges in to meet along the middle.
  8. Cattail: round the ends. Fold all four corners behind, 4 mm each, for a soft brown cattail head.
  9. Cattail: new sheet. Set the cattail aside. For a cattail, take a 2.4 × 3 cm brown piece, white side up, standing tall.
  10. Cattail: narrow it. Fold both long edges in to meet along the middle.
  11. Cattail: round the ends. Fold all four corners behind, 4 mm each, for a soft brown cattail head.
  12. Rock: new sheet. Set the cattail aside. For the rock, take a 7.6 × 4.4 cm grey piece, grey side up, lying long.
  13. Rock: corners behind. Fold the two top corners behind 2 cm along each edge, and the bottom corners 8 mm.
  14. Rock: lumpy top. Fold the new top corners behind 6 mm each, so the rock has a lumpy rounded top.
  15. Turtle: new sheet. Set the rock aside. For the turtle, take one 6.3 cm green square, white side up, as a diamond.
  16. Turtle: crease a diagonal. Fold the left corner to the right corner, crease and unfold.
  17. Turtle: fold in half. Fold the bottom corner up to the top corner and crease it firmly.
  18. Turtle: open it again. Unfold it back into a diamond. You will snip along this crease later.
  19. Turtle: corners to the centre. Fold all four corners in to meet at the centre, where the creases cross.
  20. Turtle: head and tail. Fold the top flap's point back up on a crease 4 mm below the top edge to poke out as the head. Fold the bottom flap's point down on a crease 8 mm up for the tail.
  21. Turtle: snip the side flaps. Lift the left and right flaps and snip only the flap, along its middle crease, from its point to about 4 mm short of its folded edge. Lay them back down.
  22. Turtle: fold out the flippers. Fold each cut half out at a slant from the end of its cut, so its point sticks out about 1.1 cm past the side. Top halves go up and out, bottom halves down and out.
  23. Turtle: round the shell. Fold the four corners of the square in a little to round the shell. Fold the tip of the head down a little too.
  24. Turtle: turn it over. Flip it over. The smooth side is the turtle's shell.
  25. Front wings: new sheet. Set the turtle aside. For the dragonfly's front wings, take one 8.4 × 2 cm pale lilac strip, white side up, lying long.
  26. Dragonfly: front wings: fold in half. Fold the strip in half the long way, top edge down to the bottom edge.
  27. Dragonfly: front wings: round the tips. Fold the four corners at the ends a little behind, the bottom ones a bit more, so the wing tips are round.
  28. Back wings: new sheet. Set the front wings aside. For the back wings, take another 8.4 × 2 cm pale lilac strip.
  29. Dragonfly: back wings: fold in half. Fold it in half the long way, just like the front wings.
  30. Dragonfly: back wings: round the tips. Fold the four corners at the ends a little behind, the bottom ones a bit more.
  31. Dragonfly: new sheet. Set the back wings aside. For the dragonfly's body, take one 6 cm blue square, white side up, as a diamond.
  32. Dragonfly: body: corners in. Start with the blue square, white side up, like a diamond. Fold the left and right corners in to meet in the middle.
  33. Dragonfly: body: thinner. Fold the new left and right edges in to the middle again. Now it's long and thin.
  34. Dragonfly: body: turn it over. Flip the body over so the smooth blue side faces you.
  35. Dragonfly: body: head and tail. Fold the top point behind to make a flat head. Then fold the sides of the bottom half a little behind, so the tail gets thinner towards the end.
  36. Duck: new sheet. Set the dragonfly aside. For the duck, take one 8.3 cm yellow square, white side up, as a diamond.
  37. Duck: crease the diagonal. Fold the left corner to the right corner, crease, and unfold.
  38. Duck: make a kite. Fold the two lower edges in to lie along the centre crease.
  39. Duck: turn it over. Flip the kite over.
  40. Duck: flatten the back. Fold the left and right corners behind, creasing straight up and down 8 mm in from each corner.
  41. Duck: neck up. Fold the bottom point up to the top corner. This becomes the neck.
  42. Duck: fold in half. Mountain-fold it in half along the centre crease, neck on the outside.
  43. Duck: lay it down. Turn the model so the long fold is at the bottom and the neck flap's fold is on the right.
  44. Duck: pull up the neck. Outside-reverse-fold the neck so it stands up, leaning a little forward. Start the crease at the bottom right corner.
  45. Duck: make the head. Outside-reverse-fold the top 1.4 cm of the neck so it points forward. This is the head and bill.
  46. Duck: snip the tail. Cut along the bottom fold from the back point to right below where the flat back begins.
  47. Duck: flick up the tail. Fold the front tail flap up and back from the end of the cut, so it points up and its white side shows. Fold the back flap up behind the same way.
  48. Lotus pad: new sheet. Set the duck aside. For the lotus pad, take one 11.5 × 4.5 cm green piece, green side up, lying long.
  49. Lotus: lily pad: round it. Fold all four corners behind, a big bit each, so the pad is a wide oval.
  50. Petal: new sheet. Set the lotus pad aside. For a lotus petal, take one 4.9 cm pink square, pink side up.
  51. Lotus: petal: fold a kite. Pink side up, turn a small square like a diamond. Fold the top edges behind to the middle line, and the bottom point behind.
  52. Petal: new sheet. Set the petal aside. For the second petal, take another 4.9 cm pink square.
  53. Lotus: fold it the same. Fold it the same way: top edges behind to the middle line, then the bottom point behind.
  54. Middle petal: new sheet. Set the petal aside. For the tall middle petal, take one 6.2 cm pink square.
  55. Lotus: fold it the same. Fold this one the same way too. It is the tall petal in the middle.
  56. Lily pad: new sheet. Set the middle petal aside. For a lily pad, take a 5.2 × 2 cm green piece, green side up, lying long.
  57. Lily pad: corners behind. Fold each corner behind, 7 mm along each edge.
  58. Lily pad: round it. Fold the eight new corners behind, 2 mm each, for a wide round pad.
  59. Lily pad: new sheet. Set the lily pad aside. For a lily pad, take a 12 × 4.4 cm green piece, green side up, lying long.
  60. Lily pad: corners behind. Fold each corner behind, 1.5 cm along each edge.
  61. Lily pad: round it. Fold the eight new corners behind, 5 mm each, for a wide round pad.
  62. Frog: new sheet. Set the lily pad aside. For the frog, the hard part: a 14.4 × 12.4 cm bright green piece, white side up, lying long.
  63. Frog: edges to the middle. Fold the top and bottom edges in to meet along the middle. Now it is green on both sides.
  64. Frog: fold in half. Fold the bottom half up onto the top half. The fold along the bottom is the frog's tummy.
  65. Frog: round the head. On the right end, fold the top corner behind 1.8 cm each way and the bottom corner behind 1.2 cm, for a blunt round head.
  66. Frog: head over. Fold the head end over to the left, creasing 3.6 cm from the right end.
  67. Frog: head back. Fold it back to the right, 3 mm left of that crease. The pleat makes a ridge behind the head.
  68. Frog: thigh down. Outside-reverse-fold the left half down and forward, creasing up from the tummy fold just left of the middle. It hangs as a big thigh.
  69. Frog: knee back. Outside-reverse-fold the leg again, 2.6 cm down from the hip, so the shin and foot point straight back along the ground.
  70. Frog: slim the shin. Fold the top edge of the shin down on a slant, nothing at the knee and 1.4 cm at the toes: the front layer towards you, the back one behind.
  71. Front leg: new sheet. Set the frog aside. For the front leg, take a 1.5 × 4.2 cm green strip, white side up, standing tall.
  72. Front leg: narrow it. Fold both long edges in to meet along the middle.
  73. Front leg: the foot. Fold the bottom 1.3 cm forward to the right on a slant, so the foot points forward.
  74. Sky: new sheet. Set the front leg aside. Last, the sky: a pale blue A4 sheet, coloured side up, lying long.
  75. Build the scene. Glue the water along the bottom, then the reeds and cattails, rock and turtle, dragonfly, duck, lotus and pads, and the frog with its front leg on the big pad.
  76. Stand it up. Bend the sky gently towards you just left of the frog, and stand the lily pond up on the table.

Ribbit!

Draw the frog's eye and smile, the duck's and dragonfly's eyes, the turtle's shell and a few ripples on the water.

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