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How to fold an origami princess tower

A storybook build. Fold a grey stone tower with a window, a steep pink roof, a climbing rose, the princess and her long braid, a rippling moat and a baby dragon, then stand it up.

You need: 19 pieces: light-blue A4, green, grey, pink, red, yellow, skin, gold, blue, purple, lilac and orange paper (sizes in steps). Scissors, glue, pens.. Challenge, 80 steps, about 90 minutes.

Steps

  1. Sky: crease the middle. Start with the sky: a light-blue A4 sheet lying long. Fold it in half, short edges together, and open it. It bends on this crease to stand.
  2. Ground: new sheet. Set the sky aside. For the grassy hill, take a 29.7 × 14.6 cm green piece, white side up, long side across.
  3. Ground: fold in half. Fold the bottom edge up to the top edge. The fold is the bottom of the scene.
  4. Ground: gentle slopes. Fold the top left and top right corners behind on long, gentle slants, 2.5 cm down the ends, so the grass rises in the middle.
  5. Tower: new sheet. Set the ground aside. For the tower, take a 9.4 × 20.4 cm grey piece, white side up, standing tall.
  6. Tower: fold up the bottom. Fold the bottom edge up on a crease 7.1 cm from it. The grey flap is the lower part of the tower.
  7. Tower: top band. Fold the top edge down 1.2 cm: a grey band across the top.
  8. Tower: sides in. Fold the left and right edges in 1.7 cm, through all layers. The white gap left between the band and the flap is a window high up.
  9. Roof: new sheet. Set the tower aside. For its pointed roof, take a 11.0 cm pink square, white side up.
  10. Roof: corners down. Fold the top left and top right corners down to meet on the middle line, like a paper plane. A coloured point on top.
  11. Roof: white trim. Fold the bottom part behind on a crease 5 mm below the coloured triangles. A thin white trim shows under them.
  12. Roof: make it steep. Fold the left and right corners behind on slants, from the top point to 4.0 cm either side of the middle of the bottom edge.
  13. Rose stem: new sheet. Set the roof aside. For the climbing rose's stem, take a 1.6 × 10 cm green strip, white side up, standing tall.
  14. Rose stem: fold in half. Fold it in half lengthwise, one long edge onto the other.
  15. Rose stem: thin it. Fold it in half lengthwise again. Press hard: a stiff, thin stick.
  16. Leaf 1: leaf: new sheet. Set the stem aside. For a leaf, fold the gallery rose's leaf from a 2 cm green square.
  17. Leaf 1: leaf: top edges. Fold the two top edges behind so they meet on the middle line.
  18. Leaf 1: leaf: bottom edges. Fold the two bottom edges behind onto the middle line too. A slim pointed leaf.
  19. Leaf 2: leaf: new sheet. Set it aside. Fold a second leaf the same way.
  20. Leaf 2: leaf: top edges. Fold the two top edges behind so they meet on the middle line.
  21. Leaf 2: leaf: bottom edges. Fold the two bottom edges behind onto the middle line too. A slim pointed leaf.
  22. Rose 1: new sheet. Set the leaf aside. Fold the gallery rose's flower from a 4 cm red square, a third of each size.
  23. Rose 1: head: make a triangle. Start with the red square, white side up, like a diamond. Fold the bottom corner up to the top corner.
  24. Rose 1: head: curl the middle. Fold just the tip of the top point down in front. This is the curled middle petal.
  25. Rose 1: head: left petal. Fold the left corner up on a slant from the middle of the bottom edge, so it crosses the middle and pokes out at the top right.
  26. Rose 1: head: right petal. Do the same with the right corner, crossing over the first petal. The two petals hug the curled middle.
  27. Rose 1: head: round the bottom. Fold the bottom point a little way behind so the bud sits round on its stem.
  28. Rose 2: new sheet. Set it aside. Fold a second rose the same way.
  29. Rose 2: head: make a triangle. Start with the red square, white side up, like a diamond. Fold the bottom corner up to the top corner.
  30. Rose 2: head: curl the middle. Fold just the tip of the top point down in front. This is the curled middle petal.
  31. Rose 2: head: left petal. Fold the left corner up on a slant from the middle of the bottom edge, so it crosses the middle and pokes out at the top right.
  32. Rose 2: head: right petal. Do the same with the right corner, crossing over the first petal. The two petals hug the curled middle.
  33. Rose 2: head: round the bottom. Fold the bottom point a little way behind so the bud sits round on its stem.
  34. Hair: new sheet. Set the rose aside. Now the princess, starting with her hair: a 6 cm yellow square, white side up, turned like a diamond.
  35. Hair: fold a kite. Fold the lower left and lower right edges in to meet on the middle line: a long yellow point hangs down.
  36. Hair: flat top. Fold the white top point behind, level with the top of the side flaps.
  37. Braid: new sheet. Set the hair aside. For her very long braid, take a 2.4 × 8.4 cm yellow strip, white side up, standing tall.
  38. Braid: sides in. Fold the left and right edges in to meet in the middle: a slim yellow braid.
  39. Braid: fold up the end. Fold the bottom 1.3 cm up.
  40. Braid: the hair tie. Fold it back down on a crease 3 mm higher. The little ledge is the hair tie.
  41. Braid: soft point. Fold the two bottom corners behind on slants, so the end of the braid comes to a soft point.
  42. Princess's head: new sheet. Set the braid aside. For her face, take a 3.4 cm skin-tone square, turned like a diamond.
  43. Princess's head: round it. Fold all four corners a little way behind to make a round face.
  44. Tiara: new sheet. Set her head aside. For her tiara, take a 2.5 cm gold square, white side up, turned like a diamond.
  45. Tiara: fold in half. Fold the bottom corner up to the top corner. The middle point stands up.
  46. Tiara: side points up. Fold the left and right corners up on slants starting 3 mm either side of the middle, so they stand up as two more points.
  47. Moat: new sheet. Set the tiara aside. For the moat, take a 16 × 4.6 cm blue strip, white side up, long side across.
  48. Moat: edges in. Fold the top and bottom edges in to nearly meet in the middle, leaving a 4 mm gap. The white gap is a ripple across the water.
  49. Moat: round the ends. Fold all four corners behind, 1 cm along each edge, so the moat has round ends.
  50. Dragon: new sheet. Set the moat aside. Last, the little dragon, folded like the gallery baby dragon at half size: a 7.5 cm purple square, purple side up, turned like a diamond.
  51. Dragon: body: fold up the belly. Purple side up, turned like a diamond. Fold the bottom corner up 5.7 cm, so a white triangle shows: the belly.
  52. Dragon: belly: pleat it. Fold the belly's point down on a level crease 3 cm above the bottom edge.
  53. Dragon: belly: fold it back up. Fold the point back up on a crease 6 mm lower. A little step crosses the belly, like a dragon's belly scales.
  54. Dragon: body: plump it. Fold the left and right corners behind on slants, 3.4 cm from the middle at the top and 6.4 cm at the bottom, for a pear shape.
  55. Dragon: body: fold the top. Fold the top point behind on a level crease 9.4 cm above the bottom edge.
  56. Dragon: head: new sheet. Set the body aside. For the head, take a 5.3 cm purple square, purple side up.
  57. Dragon: head: crease the brow. Purple side up. Fold the top edge down on a level crease 1.8 cm below it.
  58. Dragon: head: open it. Unfold it again. The horns will be cut from the strip above this crease.
  59. Dragon: head: fold in half. Fold the left edge over onto the right edge.
  60. Dragon: head: cut the horn. Snip the crease beside the fold. Above it, cut a horn 1.1 cm from the fold: up to a 7 mm top, then down. Snip the crease on out, round the far corners.
  61. Dragon: head: open it out. Unfold the middle fold: a round face with two little pointed horns.
  62. Dragon: head: pleat the snout. Fold the bottom edge up on a level crease 1.9 cm above it.
  63. Dragon: head: fold it back down. Fold it back down on a crease 6 mm higher. The step across the face is the top of the snout.
  64. Dragon: wings: new sheet. Set the head aside. For the wings, take a 9 × 7.5 cm lilac sheet, long side level, lilac side up.
  65. Dragon: wings: fold in half. Fold the left edge over onto the right edge. The fold is the middle of the back.
  66. Dragon: wings: crease a line. Fold the right edge over on an upright crease 5 cm from the middle fold.
  67. Dragon: wings: open it. Unfold that last fold. The crease lets you cut a notch in the wing's edge.
  68. Dragon: wings: cut the wing. Cut a curved top from the fold up to the far top corner. Cut the bottom: tip to the crease 3.4 cm down, snip up the crease, then down to the fold.
  69. Dragon: wings: open them. Unfold it: a pair of pointed bat wings with a notch in each.
  70. Dragon: flame: new sheet. Set the wings aside. For the flame, take a 2.3 cm orange square, orange side up.
  71. Dragon: flame: fold in half. Fold the left edge over onto the right edge.
  72. Dragon: flame: cut it. Cut a curve from the top of the fold out and round to the bottom, 5 mm from the fold, like half a teardrop.
  73. Dragon: flame: open it. Unfold it: a little flame.
  74. Dragon: tail: new sheet. Set the flame aside. For the tail, take a 1.5 × 6 cm purple strip, long side level, white side up.
  75. Dragon: tail: fold in half. Fold the top edge down to the bottom edge.
  76. Dragon: tail: taper it. Cut a long slant off the bottom edge, from 3 cm in down to 9 mm wide at the right end, so the tail gets thinner.
  77. Dragon: tail: bend the end up. Fold the last 3.75 cm straight up on a slanted crease, so the tail curls up.
  78. Dragon: tail: cut the point. Snip the top of the bent end to a point, two small slants meeting in the middle.
  79. Build the scene. Glue the hill on the sky, then the tower and roof. Add the rose up its side, the princess at the window with her braid hanging down, the moat and the dragon.
  80. Stand it up. Bend the sky gently towards you on the middle crease and stand the whole tower scene up on the table.

Once upon a time!

Draw the princess's eyes and smile, stone blocks on the tower, criss-crosses on the braid with a white bow, the rose swirls, the dragon's face and sparkles.

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