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How to fold an origami possum

Fold a corner behind for a white face, then a long kite body. Slim the rump into a thin tail, slit the tummy strip into four legs and crimp the head and tail.

You need: 1 grey square (15 cm), scissors and a black pen. Medium, 17 steps, about 20 minutes.

Steps

  1. Crease the middle. White side up, turned like a diamond, fold the top corner down to the bottom corner, crease and unfold.
  2. White face. Fold the left corner behind, 2.3 cm. Its white side now shows on the back: that will be the face.
  3. Kite. Fold the top and bottom edges at the left end in to lie along the middle crease, like a kite. The left end will be the head.
  4. Narrow the other end. Fold the edges at the right point in to the middle crease too, so you have a long thin diamond. That point is the tail.
  5. Fold in half. Fold the top half down onto the bottom half along the middle crease. The long fold on top is the back.
  6. Flat tummy. Fold the tummy point up 2.4 cm below the back, the front layer to the front and the back one behind, so the tummy is flat.
  7. Slim the rump. Fold the bottom edge up on a slant from 9.5 cm before the tail tip to the tip, front layers forward and back ones behind.
  8. Crease a strip. Fold the bottom edge up 0.6 cm, all layers together, and crease it hard. This strip gives the legs.
  9. Open it. Unfold the strip again.
  10. Slit the legs. Cut along the strip crease from the front end in 2.5 cm, and from the back end in 2 cm.
  11. Front legs. Swing the front strip down on slanted creases from its inner end, the front layers forward and the back ones behind, a little apart.
  12. Back legs. Swing the back strip down the same way. Now the animal stands on four legs.
  13. Head: crease. Fold the left end over on an upright crease 5.7 cm from the tip, all layers together.
  14. Head: crimp. Fold it back on a crease slanting from the same top point, so the head dips forward. That's a crimp.
  15. Tail: crease. Fold the right end over on an upright crease 7.2 cm from the tip, all layers together.
  16. Tail: crimp. Fold it back on a crease slanting from the same top point, so the long tail droops down behind.
  17. Curl the tip. Turn the last 2 cm of the tail up with an outside reverse fold: front layers forward, back layers behind, on the same slanted crease.

Playing possum!

Draw a shiny black eye, a dark nose tip and a round black ear on top of the head.

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