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How to fold an origami squirrel

Fold a tall tail and curl its top over twice, a pear-shaped body with a white tummy and a pointy head with an ear. Glue them up and give it a tiny acorn.

You need: Rusty orange paper: a 9 × 21 cm strip, a 15 cm square and a 5 cm square. A 2 cm brown square for the acorn, scissors and glue. Hard, 13 steps, about 25 minutes.

Steps

  1. Tail: fold in half. Take the long strip, white side up. Fold the left edge over to the right edge, so you have a tall narrow orange strip.
  2. Tail: pleat it. Fold the top part down on a level line a little below the middle.
  3. Tail: pleat back up. Fold it back up 0.9 cm lower, so a little step runs across the tail. It looks fluffier.
  4. Tail: curl the top. Fold the top of the strip over to the left on a slanted line from the right edge, so it sticks out forward like a hook.
  5. Tail: round it. Snip off the corners of the hook's end and the two corners on the outside of the bend, so the tail looks soft and bushy.
  6. Body: new sheet. Set the tail aside. Take the big orange square, orange side up, turned like a diamond.
  7. Body: white tummy. Fold the left corner in, about 3 cm, so a white triangle shows. This is the tummy.
  8. Body: shape it. Fold the top corner well behind, the bottom corner a little behind and the right corner a little behind, so the body is pear-shaped.
  9. Head: small square. Set the body aside. Take the small orange square, orange side up, turned like a diamond.
  10. Head: shape it. Fold the right corner and the bottom corner behind. The left point is the snout and the top point is the ear.
  11. Acorn: tiny square. Set the head aside. Take the tiny brown square, brown side up, turned like a diamond.
  12. Acorn: shape it. Fold the top corner and the two side corners a little way behind. The bottom point is the tip of the acorn.
  13. Glue it together. Glue the tail behind the body's back so it rises up behind, the head on top of the body and the acorn in front of the tummy.

Crunch crunch!

Colour the acorn's cap dark. Draw an eye, a nose, a line in the ear, an arm and paws round the acorn, and a big hind leg and foot.

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