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How to fold an origami outback sunset

A real project. Fold a kangaroo with a reverse-folded tail, an emu, a koala hugging a branch, a kinked ghost gum, a pleated red rock and a round sun. Stand it up.

You need: 16 pieces: orange A4, yellow, dark red, red-brown, cream, grey-green, greys, browns, green, blue-grey (sizes in steps). Scissors, glue, pens.. Challenge, 78 steps, about 120 minutes.

Steps

  1. Sun: corners behind. Start with the sun: a 12 cm yellow square, yellow side up. Fold all four corners behind, 3.5 cm along each edge, for an eight-sided shape.
  2. Sun: round it. Fold each of the eight new corners behind, 1 cm along each edge. Now the sun is round.
  3. Red rock: new sheet. Set the sun aside. For the big red rock, take a 12.4 × 6.6 cm dark red piece, coloured side up, lying long.
  4. Rock: fold both ends in. Fold the left end over to the right on an upright crease 4.1 cm in, and the right end over to the left 3.8 cm in.
  5. Rock: fold them back. Fold each end back out again 3 mm closer to the middle. The two pleats leave steep ridges down the rock.
  6. Rock: steep ends. Fold the two top corners behind, 2.6 cm along each edge.
  7. Rock: round the top. Fold the four new corners behind, 8 mm each, for a long rock with a flat top and rounded ends.
  8. Red earth: new sheet. Set the red rock aside. For the red earth, take a 29.7 × 8.6 cm piece, coloured side up, lying long.
  9. Red earth: top edge behind. Fold the top edge behind 6 mm, for a straight horizon.
  10. Gum trunk: new sheet. Set the red earth aside. For the ghost gum's trunk, take a 4 × 18 cm cream strip, white side up, standing tall.
  11. Trunk: narrow it. Fold both long edges in to meet along the middle, for a 2 cm trunk.
  12. Trunk: lean the top. Fold the top part over on a steep slant 3 cm up from the foot. The trunk kinks and leans like a real gum.
  13. Gum crown: new sheet. Set the gum trunk aside. For the leaves, take a 11 × 5.5 cm grey-green piece, coloured side up, lying long.
  14. Crown: corners behind. Fold all four corners behind, 1.8 cm along each edge.
  15. Crown: round it. Fold the eight new corners behind, 6 mm each, for a soft round crown.
  16. Crown: fold up. Fold the bottom part up on a level crease 3.3 cm below the top edge.
  17. Crown: fold down. Fold it back down 3.5 mm higher. The pleat makes a layer of leaves.
  18. Ears: new sheet. Set the gum crown aside. Now the koala, the hard part. For the ears, take a 4.9 × 1.6 cm grey strip, grey side up, lying wide.
  19. Ears: fluffy edges. Fold each end in 3 mm, so a white band shows. That is the fluff on the edge of each ear.
  20. Ears: round the ends. Fold all four corners behind, 6 mm in along each edge, so both ends are round. They will stick out as big ears.
  21. Legs: new sheet. Set the ears aside. For the legs, take another 4.4 × 1.3 cm grey strip, white side up, lying wide.
  22. Legs: in half. Fold the bottom edge up to the top edge.
  23. Legs: round the feet. Snip all four corners off the ends, 3 mm in, so each foot is round.
  24. Koala's body: new sheet. Set the legs aside. For the koala's body, take a 3.1 × 3.1 cm grey square, grey side up.
  25. Body: white chest. Take the big grey square, grey side up. Fold the top edge down 3 mm, so a white band shows. That is the koala's fluffy chest.
  26. Body: round the shoulders. Fold both top corners behind, 8 mm in along each edge.
  27. Body: round the bottom. Fold both bottom corners behind, 6 mm in, so the tummy is round.
  28. Branch: new sheet. Set the koala's body aside. For the koala's branch, take a 1 × 4.4 cm brown strip, white side up, standing tall.
  29. Branch: in half. Fold the strip in half from left to right, long edge to long edge.
  30. Branch: in half again. Fold it in half again from right to left, so you have a stick about 3 mm wide.
  31. Branch: pleat a knot. Fold the bottom part of the stick up on a crease 1.3 cm from the bottom.
  32. Branch: and back down. Fold it back down 1 mm higher up. The little step is a knot in the branch.
  33. Branch: a twig. Fold the top 8 mm out to the right on a steep slanted crease, so a twig sticks out sideways.
  34. Gum leaves: new sheet. Set the branch aside. For its gum leaves, take a 2.5 × 0.8 cm green strip, white side up, lying wide.
  35. Leaves: in half. Fold the bottom edge up to the top edge.
  36. Leaves: fold a V. Fold the left half over to the right on an almost upright crease at the middle, so the two halves open into a V of leaves.
  37. Leaves: point the tips. Cut each leaf's end into a long point, 5 mm back along both edges. Eucalyptus leaves are long and slim.
  38. Arms: new sheet. Set the gum leaves aside. For the arms, take a 4.4 × 1.3 cm grey strip, white side up, lying wide.
  39. Arms: in half. Fold the bottom edge up to the top edge. This grey band goes over the koala's shoulders.
  40. Arms: swing them in. Fold each end down and in on a slanted crease, so the arms reach across the tummy. The right arm stays a little higher.
  41. Arms: round the paws. Snip the corners off the end of each arm, so the paws are round.
  42. Head: new sheet. Set the arms aside. For the koala's head, take a 2.5 × 2.5 cm grey square, grey side up.
  43. Head: round it. Fold all four corners behind, 6 mm in along each edge, so the head is round.
  44. Emu's legs: new sheet. Set the head aside. For its legs, take a 1.4 × 10.2 cm grey strip, white side up, standing tall.
  45. Emu: fold the strip. Fold it in half lengthwise, the right edge over onto the left edge, so it is grey on both sides.
  46. Emu: two legs. Fold the top half down, on a crease across the middle that rises a little to the right, so the end swings out ahead: two striding legs.
  47. Emu: feet. Fold the last 7 mm of each leg forward along the ground: two big feet.
  48. Emu's neck: new sheet. Set the emu's legs aside. For its neck, take a 1.4 × 7.4 cm blue-grey strip, white side up, standing tall.
  49. Emu: fold the neck. Fold it in half lengthwise, the right edge over onto the left edge. The fold is the front of the neck.
  50. Emu: snip the beak. Cut off the top back corner on a slant, from the top of the fold to 7 mm down the open edge.
  51. Emu: head down. Outside-reverse-fold the top 1.8 cm straight down over the neck, on a level crease: each layer wraps round the outside.
  52. Emu: head out. Reverse-fold it back up on a crease from the same back corner, slanting down at 45°, so the head points forward. Glue the layers.
  53. Emu's body: new sheet. Set the emu's neck aside. For the emu's body, take a 8.4 × 6 cm brown piece, white side up, long side across.
  54. Emu: fold in half. Brown sheet, white side up, long side across. Fold the top edge down to the bottom edge. The fold along the top is the emu's back.
  55. Accordion: half. Fold the left edge over onto the right edge.
  56. Emu: half again. Fold the right edges over onto the left fold.
  57. Emu: and again. Fold it in half once more the same way, to a narrow stack 1.1 cm wide. Crease hard.
  58. Emu: snip the shag. Cut a long triangle off each bottom corner of the stack, 8 mm up the sides and meeting at the middle of the bottom edge.
  59. Emu: open it out. Unfold the last fold.
  60. Emu: open again. Unfold the next fold.
  61. Emu: open to the body. Unfold the first one too. The bottom edge is a row of shaggy brown feathers.
  62. Emu: round the body. Cut the top into a smooth dome: round the front from 2.9 cm along the back, and the back end from 3.6 cm along it, so it droops low.
  63. Kangaroo: new sheet. Set the emu's body aside. For the kangaroo, take a 9 cm sandy brown square, white side up, as a diamond.
  64. Kangaroo: fold in half. White side up, fold the top corner down to the bottom corner. The long fold at the top will be the kangaroo's back.
  65. Kangaroo: tip it up. Turn it so the long fold rises to the right and the bottom point is lowest. The left point is the tail, the right point the head.
  66. Kangaroo: crease the ear line. Fold the long top fold down 5 mm through both layers, and crease it hard.
  67. Kangaroo: open it. Unfold it. This crease marks the bottom of the ears.
  68. Kangaroo: crease the heel. Fold the left point over on a crease square to the bottom edge, 4.2 cm from the left point.
  69. Kangaroo: open it. Unfold it. This crease is the back of the heel.
  70. Kangaroo: cut the tail. Cut up the heel crease 2.4 cm from the bottom, then straight to the top fold 3 mm from the left point, leaving a long tail.
  71. Kangaroo: fold up a band. Fold the bottom edge right of the heel up 6 mm, through both layers. This band is the feet.
  72. Kangaroo: snip the ears. Cut along the top fold from the head point back 2.1 cm, and along the ear crease from the front edge back as far.
  73. Kangaroo: ears up. Fold the cut strip of each layer up on a crease from its lower corner, so they stand up as ears. Lean the back one a little further.
  74. Kangaroo: snout down. Fold the head point down through both layers, on a crease from the ear's lower corner to the front edge, so the snout points forward and down.
  75. Kangaroo: cut the chest. Cut the band's fold back 2.4 cm from the toes, and 4 mm in along the snout's fold. Cut the chest from one cut's end to the other.
  76. Sky: new sheet. Set the kangaroo aside. Last, the sky: a orange A4 sheet, coloured side up, lying long.
  77. Build the scene. Glue the sun low on the sky, the rock and earth over it, the gum with its crown on the left, the koala on the trunk, then the emu and the kangaroo.
  78. Stand it up. Bend the sky gently towards you between the emu and the kangaroo, and stand the outback up on the table.

G'day, outback!

Draw the animals' eyes and noses, leafy curves on the gum, tufts of grass on the red earth and a few birds flying home.

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