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How to fold an origami meerkat

Fold a long slim body, slit two strips free and swing them out as paws and bent hind legs, then crimp the head forward and the tail back and stand it up.

You need: 1 tan square (15 cm), scissors and a black pen. Hard, 17 steps, about 30 minutes.

Steps

  1. Crease the middle. White side up, turned like a diamond, fold the top corner to the bottom corner, crease, and unfold.
  2. Kite. Fold the two edges at the left point in to lie along the middle crease, making a kite. The left point is the tail.
  3. Narrow the other end. Fold the two edges at the right point in to the middle crease too, so you have a long thin diamond.
  4. Fold in half. Fold the top half down onto the bottom half along the middle crease. The long fold on top is the meerkat's back.
  5. Slim tummy. Fold the tummy point up 2.2 cm below the top fold, the front layer to the front and the back one behind, so the body is a slim strip.
  6. Crease a strip. Fold the bottom edge up 0.6 cm, all layers together, and crease it hard. This strip will give the paws and feet.
  7. Open it. Unfold the strip again.
  8. Crease two upright lines. Fold the right part over on an upright crease 2.6 cm right of the middle, and the left part behind 2.7 cm left of it.
  9. Open them. Unfold both again.
  10. Slit the strips. Cut along the strip crease from each upright crease outward (1.6 cm on the right, 3.3 cm on the left), and up each upright crease to the strip.
  11. Paws. Swing the short right strip out on a crease from its root, the front layers to the front and the back ones behind, a little apart. These are the two paws.
  12. Hind feet. Swing the long left strip out on a crease from its root near the left end, both layers together, so it sticks straight out. These are the feet.
  13. Head: crease. Fold the right end over on an upright crease 6.9 cm right of the middle, all layers together.
  14. Head: crimp. Fold it back on a crease slanting from the same top point, so the head bends down toward the paws. That's a crimp.
  15. Tail: crease. Fold the left end over on an upright crease 6.5 cm left of the middle.
  16. Tail: crimp. Fold it back on a crease slanting from the same bottom point, so the tail bends up past the back.
  17. Stand it up. Turn the meerkat a quarter turn so its head is on top, paws in front and tail on the table behind.

On lookout!

Colour a dark mask round the eye, a dark ear and a black nose tip.

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