All models

How to fold an origami curled shrimp

One square. Narrow a kite into a deep head and slim tail, fold it in half, then make four slanted pleats that ridge the shell and curl the tail under. Snip and fan the tail.

You need: 1 square sheet (15 cm), coral pink on one side and white on the other, scissors and a black pen. Hard, 17 steps, about 30 minutes.

Steps

  1. Crease the middle. White side up, fold the top corner down to the bottom corner, crease, and unfold.
  2. Make a kite. Fold the two left-hand edges in to the middle crease, so the left point is long.
  3. Narrow it. Fold the new edges in to the middle crease again, from the left tip, all the way along. The right end stays deep: the head.
  4. Turn it over. Turn the paper over, so it is all coral and the head is on the left.
  5. Fold in half. Fold the bottom half behind along the middle crease. The fold is the belly, the head points left.
  6. Pleat 1: over. Fold the whole tail over to the left on an upright crease 9 cm from the head tip.
  7. Pleat 1: back. Fold it back on a crease just beside the first, wider apart at the belly than at the back, so a ridge forms and the tail bends down.
  8. Pleat 2: over. Fold the tail over again on a crease 2 cm further along.
  9. Pleat 2: back. Fold it back on a crease just beside the first, wider apart at the belly than at the back, so a ridge forms and the tail bends down.
  10. Pleat 3: over. Fold the tail over again on a crease 2 cm further along.
  11. Pleat 3: back. Fold it back on a crease just beside the first, wider apart at the belly than at the back, so a ridge forms and the tail bends down.
  12. Pleat 4: over. Fold the tail over again on a crease 2 cm further along.
  13. Pleat 4: back. Fold it back on a crease just beside the first, wider apart at the belly than at the back, so a ridge forms and the tail bends down.
  14. Pleat 5: over. Fold the tail over again on a crease 2 cm further along.
  15. Pleat 5: back. Fold it back on a crease just beside the first, wider apart at the belly than at the back, so a ridge forms and the tail bends down.
  16. Snip the tail. Snip 3 cm along the tail's folded edge from the tip, so its two layers come apart.
  17. Fan the tail. Fold the front layer's tip out sideways from the end of the snip, so the tail opens into a fan.

A curly shrimp!

Draw a dot eye on the head and two long feelers sweeping back over the shell.

What to fold next