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How to fold an origami orangutan

Fold one long strip into two very long arms with crimped hands that hook over a branch, a wide dark face with cheek pads, and a body cut into a shaggy fringe.

You need: Orange: a 35 × 3.5 cm strip and a 10 × 16 cm sheet; a dark brown 10 × 7 cm piece, a brown 18 × 3 cm strip; scissors, glue. Hard, 18 steps, about 40 minutes.

Steps

  1. Arms: in half. Take the long orange strip, white side up, lying wide. Fold the top edge down to the bottom edge, so it is orange on both sides.
  2. Arms: round the hands. Snip the corners off both ends, so the hands are round.
  3. Arms: up they go. 3 cm either side of the middle, fold each end up on a slanted crease from the bottom edge, so the long arms reach up and lean out a little.
  4. Hands: reverse back. 3.5 cm from each end, outside-reverse-fold the hand back down along the arm, on a crease from the outer folded edge.
  5. Hands: hook them. Reverse-fold each hand out again from the same corner, so it bends inward like a hook, ready to grip.
  6. Body: new sheet. Set the arms aside. Take the orange 10 × 16 cm sheet, orange side up, standing tall.
  7. Body: in half. Fold the left edge over onto the right edge.
  8. Body: round the crown. Cut the top corner away in a round curve, then slant the side in, from 11 cm up to the top. The round top peeks over the face as the crown.
  9. Body: in half again. Fold the right edges over onto the left fold, so the paper is a narrow stack.
  10. Body: snip the fringe. Cut a slanted triangle off each bottom corner of the stack, from 1.4 cm up the sides to a point in the middle of the bottom.
  11. Body: open it. Unfold the last fold.
  12. Body: open again. Unfold the first fold. The bottom edge is now a shaggy fringe of four hairy tufts.
  13. Face: new sheet. Set the body aside. Take the dark brown piece, dark side up, lying wide.
  14. Face: cheek pads. Fold all four corners behind 2.3 cm, so the face is a wide disc. Its big round sides are the orangutan's cheek pads.
  15. Face: smooth it. Snip off the small corners all round, so the disc is smooth.
  16. Branch: new sheet. Set the face aside. Take the brown strip, white side up, lying wide.
  17. Branch: in half. Fold the top edge down to the bottom edge, so it is brown on both sides.
  18. Glue it together. Glue the arms onto the branch so the hands hook over it, the body over the middle of the arms, and the face on top, with the crown peeking above it.

Hang on tight!

With a white pen, draw small close-set eyes, a flat nose and a wide mouth, and the rims of the cheek pads. Add hair strokes and fingers.

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