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How to fold an origami red panda

Fold a rusty body, two V-shaped pairs of dark legs, a dark belly band, a tapered bushy tail with pale rings, and a face with folded white cheeks and two ears.

You need: Rusty red: 15 × 9 cm, 8 cm square, 2 squares of 5 cm, 4.5 × 15 cm strip. Dark brown: 2 strips 4 × 14 cm, 1 strip 9 × 3 cm. Scissors, glue. Hard, 23 steps, about 45 minutes.

Steps

  1. Body: round it. Take the rusty rectangle, rusty side up. Fold all four corners behind, 2.5 cm in along each edge.
  2. Body: snip it smooth. Snip a little off each of the eight corners, 1 cm along each edge, so the body is smooth and plump.
  3. Tail: new sheet. Set the body aside. Take the rusty strip, rusty side up, standing tall.
  4. Tail: taper the base. Cut from each bottom corner, 1 cm in, up to the side 5 cm from the bottom, so the tail is narrow where it joins the body.
  5. Tail: round the tip. Snip both corners off the tip, 2 cm in, so the tail is round and bushy.
  6. Front legs: new sheet. Set the tail aside. Take a dark strip, white side up, standing tall.
  7. Front legs: in half. Fold the strip in half lengthwise, so it is dark on both sides.
  8. Front legs: fold a V. Fold the top half down on a crease across the middle that slants a little, so the two legs open into a narrow upside-down V.
  9. Front legs: level the feet. Cut straight across the bottom so both feet stand level.
  10. Back legs: new sheet. Set the front legs aside. Take a dark strip, white side up, standing tall.
  11. Back legs: in half. Fold the strip in half lengthwise, so it is dark on both sides.
  12. Back legs: fold a V. Fold the top half down on a crease across the middle that slants a little, so the two legs open into a narrow upside-down V.
  13. Back legs: level the feet. Cut straight across the bottom so both feet stand level.
  14. Belly: new sheet. Set the back legs aside. Take the short dark strip, white side up, lying wide.
  15. Belly: in half. Fold the bottom edge up to the top edge. This dark band is the belly.
  16. Ear: new sheet. Set the belly aside. Take a small rusty square, white side up.
  17. Ear: a triangle. Fold it in half from corner to corner, so it is a rusty triangle.
  18. Ear: and another. Set it aside and take the other small rusty square.
  19. Ear: a triangle. Fold it in half from corner to corner, so it is a rusty triangle.
  20. Head: new sheet. Set the ear aside. Take the 8 cm rusty square, rusty side up.
  21. Head: white cheeks. Fold each bottom corner up on a crease from 1 cm beside the middle of the bottom edge to 2.5 cm up the side, so white cheeks show.
  22. Head: round the top. Fold the two top corners behind, 1.5 cm in along each edge.
  23. Glue it together. Glue the tail and both pairs of legs behind the body and the belly band along its bottom. Glue the ears behind the head and the head on the front end.

Bamboo break!

Draw white eyebrows over dark shiny eyes, a dark nose and a little smile. Paint pale rings round the tail and pale insides in the ears.

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