How to fold an origami spoonbill
A pink long diamond with a neck flap, folded in half. Outside reverse folds pull up the neck and turn the head; a grey strip folds into the long spoon bill and another into two long legs.
You need: A pink 15 cm square, white on the back; a grey strip 2.2 × 6 cm; a dark pink strip 1.4 × 17 cm; glue and a black pen. Hard, 20 steps, about 30 minutes.
Steps
- Crease the diagonal. Pink square, white side up, turned like a diamond. Fold the left corner to the right corner, crease, and unfold.
- Make a kite. Fold the two lower edges in to lie along the centre crease.
- Long diamond. Fold the two upper edges in to the centre crease too, making a long diamond with a point at each end.
- Turn it over. Flip the long diamond over.
- Neck flap. Fold the bottom point up on a crease 2 cm below the side corners. This long flap becomes the neck and head.
- Fold in half. Mountain-fold it in half along the centre crease, the flap on the outside.
- Lay it down. Turn it so the long fold is at the bottom and the flap's fold is on the right.
- Pull up the neck. Outside-reverse-fold the flap up and out, starting the crease at the bottom of its fold, so the neck stands up leaning forward.
- Turn the head. 5.8 cm up the front of the neck, outside-reverse-fold the rest forward, tipped a little down: the head.
- Round the face. Outside-reverse-fold the last 1.6 cm of the head straight back along it, so the head ends round.
- Short tail. Outside-reverse-fold the left point back over itself, 5 cm from its tip, so the body ends in a short tail.
- Bill: new sheet. Set the body aside. Take the grey strip, white side up, lying along the way the bill will point.
- Bill: in half. Fold it in half lengthwise, the bottom edge up onto the top edge, so it is grey on both sides.
- Bill: thin handle. Fold the top edge behind on a slant, from 2.5 mm above the bottom fold at the left end to the top edge 4.2 cm along.
- Bill: round spoon. Fold the two corners at the right end behind, 4 mm along each edge, so the wide end is a round spoon.
- Legs: new sheet. Set the bill aside. Take the dark pink strip, standing tall.
- Fold the strip. Fold it in half lengthwise, the right edge over onto the left edge, so it is coloured on both sides.
- Two legs. Fold the top half down on a slanted crease across the middle, so it swings out ahead: one leg stepping forward.
- Feet. Fold the last 1.2 cm of each leg forward along the ground.
- Put it together. Glue the legs behind the belly and the narrow end of the bill behind the round face, so the spoon reaches forward.
Sweep, spoonbill!
Draw a dark eye on the head, just behind the bill.