All models

How to fold an origami santa's sleigh

A big Christmas build. Pleat, reverse-fold and trim a red sleigh with a curled prow, add gold runners, Santa, a sack and three presents, then fold a reindeer with antlers, harness it and stand the scene up.

You need: 11 pieces: red, gold, brown, peach, cream, green, blue and purple paper (sizes in each step). Scissors, ruler, glue stick, black pen, white gel pen.. Challenge, 58 steps, about 55 minutes.

Steps

  1. Sleigh: fold in half. Start with the sleigh: a 20 × 12 cm red piece, white side up, long side across. Fold the bottom edge up to the top edge: the fold is the floor.
  2. Sleigh: rim down. Fold the front layer's top edge down 1.4 cm, and the back layer's top edge down behind the same way. White shows.
  3. Sleigh: pleat the stripe. Fold the bottom 4 mm of each white strip back up. This pleat leaves a white trim along the rim with a red ledge under it.
  4. Sleigh: round the back. Cut the top left corner off in two short snips through all the layers, rounding the back of the sleigh.
  5. Sleigh: front end back. Outside-reverse-fold the right end back over the sleigh, on an upright crease 7 cm from the end. Each layer wraps round the outside.
  6. Sleigh: cut the prow strip. Snip up the front fold from the floor, leaving its top 2.4 cm. Then cut the folded-back end away below a line to 1.6 cm deep at its tip.
  7. Sleigh: lift the prow. Outside-reverse-fold the strip up on a crease from the bottom of the snip, so it stands up and leans forward. It turns red again.
  8. Sleigh: curl the prow. Outside-reverse-fold the top 2 cm of the prow forward and down, so its white inside shows as a curl.
  9. Sleigh: round the curl. Snip the two corners off the end of the curl, through both layers, so it looks rolled.
  10. Green present: new sheet. Set the sleigh aside. Now its load: take a 4 cm green square, white side up.
  11. Green present: sides in. Fold the left and right edges in to the middle, stopping just short so a thin white gap is left: the ribbon.
  12. Green present: top and bottom behind. Fold a thin strip at the top and the bottom behind, so the box has square corners.
  13. Blue present: new sheet. Set it aside. Take a 3.5 cm blue square, white side up.
  14. Blue present: sides in. Fold the left and right edges in to just short of the middle, leaving the white ribbon gap.
  15. Blue present: top and bottom behind. Fold a thin strip at the top and the bottom behind, so the box has square corners.
  16. Purple present: new sheet. Set it aside. Take a 3 cm purple square, white side up.
  17. Purple present: sides in. Fold the left and right edges in to just short of the middle, leaving the white ribbon gap.
  18. Purple present: top and bottom behind. Fold a thin strip at the top and the bottom behind, so the box has square corners.
  19. Sack: new sheet. Set the presents aside. Take a 5 cm brown square, brown side up.
  20. Sack: turn down the lining. Fold the top edge down 5 mm, so a white band shows: the open mouth of the sack.
  21. Sack: fold in the neck. Fold the two top corners behind on a slant, from 2.5 cm down each side to 1 cm either side of the middle of the top.
  22. Santa's coat: new sheet. Set the sack aside. Take a 6 cm red square, red side up, turned like a diamond. The top point is his hat, the side points his arms.
  23. Santa's coat: white cuffs. Fold the left and right points in by 8 mm, so small white triangles show at the ends of his arms.
  24. Santa's coat: hat bobble. Fold the top point down by 8 mm, so a white bobble shows at the tip of the hat.
  25. Santa's face: new sheet. Set the coat aside. Take a 4.5 × 6 cm peach piece, peach side up, short side across.
  26. Santa's face: hat brim. Fold the top edge down 5 mm. The white band is the fur brim of his hat.
  27. Santa's face: beard up. Fold the bottom edge up on a crease 1.9 cm above it. The white flap is his beard; the peach strip above it is his face.
  28. Santa's face: round the beard. Fold the two bottom corners of the beard behind, so it ends in a soft point.
  29. Runner: new sheet. Set the face aside. Take a 20 × 4 cm gold strip, white side up, lying flat.
  30. Runner: fold in half. Fold the bottom edge up to the top edge.
  31. Runner: in half again. Fold the top edge down to the bottom edge, so the strip is 1 cm wide and gold on both sides.
  32. Runner: turn up the front. Fold the right end up on a slanted crease starting 6 cm from the end, so it rises steeply forward.
  33. Runner: hook the tip. Fold the last 1.5 cm of the rising end back down towards the sleigh, making a hook.
  34. Load the sleigh. Glue Santa's face on his coat, then glue him between the sleigh's layers. Glue the sack behind him, presents in its mouth, and the runner under the floor.
  35. Harness: new sheet. Set the sleigh aside. Take a 20 × 2 cm gold strip, white side up.
  36. Harness: fold in half. Fold the bottom edge up to the top edge.
  37. Harness: in half again. Fold the top edge down to the bottom edge, so it is a 5 mm gold band.
  38. Antlers: new sheet. Set the harness aside. Take an 8 × 1.5 cm cream strip, white side up.
  39. Antlers: fold in half. Fold the bottom edge up to the top edge, lengthwise.
  40. Antlers: ends up. Fold each end up on a slant, starting 4 mm either side of the middle, so the two ends stand up in a V.
  41. Antlers: kink the tips. Fold the top 1.4 cm of each end outward, so each antler branches off to the side.
  42. Reindeer: new sheet. Set the antlers aside. Last, the reindeer: a 15 cm brown square, white side up, turned like a diamond.
  43. Reindeer: fold in half. Fold the top corner down to the bottom corner. The long fold at the top is the reindeer's back.
  44. Reindeer: crease the middle. Fold the right point over onto the left point and crease hard. This marks the back of the front legs.
  45. Reindeer: open it. Unfold it back into the triangle.
  46. Reindeer: crease the hind legs. Fold the left point over on an upright crease 3 cm left of the middle crease. This marks the front of the hind legs.
  47. Reindeer: open it. Unfold it again.
  48. Reindeer: neck back. Outside-reverse-fold the right end back over the body, on an upright crease 1.5 cm right of the middle crease.
  49. Reindeer: cut the legs. Cut the bottom point off level, 6 cm below the top fold. Cut up both leg creases to 2.5 cm below the top, and straight across between them.
  50. Reindeer: cut the neck. Cut up the neck fold to 2.25 cm below the top. From there cut the neck to 1.5 cm deep at its tip, and snip the tip off square 1 cm in.
  51. Reindeer: lift the neck. Outside-reverse-fold the neck up on a crease from its bottom corner, so it stands up and leans forward.
  52. Reindeer: head back. Fold the top 3.5 cm of each neck layer back down, on a crease slanting from the back edge to the front edge.
  53. Reindeer: head out. Fold the head back up on a crease from the same corner, so it points forward. Glue the two head layers together.
  54. Reindeer: snip the tail. Cut 4.5 cm along the top fold from the left point, so the two layers come apart there.
  55. Reindeer: tail down. Fold each layer of the left point down and back on a crease from the end of the cut, so it hangs as a short white tail.
  56. Reindeer: shape the rump. Cut up the tail crease from below, leaving its top 1.5 cm. Cut the rump from there to the back of the hind hooves. Cut the tail 2.4 cm long.
  57. Hitch up the reindeer. Glue the antlers behind the head. Stand the sleigh behind the reindeer, bottoms in line, and glue the harness from the prow along its side to the chest.
  58. Stand it up. Bend the harness gently in the gap behind the reindeer, reindeer towards you, and stand the whole team on the runners and hooves.

Ho ho ho!

Draw Santa's eyes and nose and a white moustache, a rope round the sack, white ribbons and bows on the presents, the reindeer's eye and nose, and bells.

What to fold next