How to fold an origami straw scarecrow
Snip and fold a red shirt with straight-out sleeves, pleat a straw strip into drooping tufts, then fold a straw-haired head, a banded hat and a pole.
You need: Red 16.5 × 8 cm, yellow 25 × 3.2 cm and 6.3 cm, brown 8 × 3.7 cm and 1.5 × 8.6 cm pieces, scissors, glue and a black and a white pen. Hard, 21 steps, about 35 minutes.
Steps
- Shirt: crease. Red rectangle, red side up, long edges at the top and bottom. Fold the bottom edge up on a level crease 2.6 cm below the top.
- Shirt: open it. Open it again.
- Shirt: snip the sleeves. Cut along the crease from each side, 5 cm in.
- Shirt: body. Below the snips, fold each side behind on an upright crease 3.2 cm from the middle. Now the sleeves stick straight out.
- Shirt: ragged hem. Fold the two bottom corners behind on short slants, so the shirt tail is pointed.
- Head: new sheet. Set the shirt aside. Take the small yellow square, white side up, turned like a diamond.
- Head: hair. Fold the top corner down to the middle.
- Head: fringe. Fold the new top edge down again, halfway to the middle. A straight straw fringe runs across her forehead.
- Head: hair at the sides. Fold the side corners in, 2 cm from each tip, so her hair frames her face.
- Head: chin. Fold the bottom corner behind for her chin, and the two top corners behind a little to round her head.
- Hat: new sheet. Set the head aside. Take the brown rectangle, brown side up, long edges at the top and bottom.
- Hat: band. Fold the bottom edge up 1 cm. The white strip is the hat band.
- Hat: crown. Fold the top corners behind on slants from 2.2 cm in at the top to 9 mm in just above the band. A brim sticks out at each side.
- Pole: new sheet. Set the hat aside. Take the long brown strip, white side up, standing tall.
- Pole: fold in half. Fold the left edge over onto the right edge: a strong brown pole.
- Straw: new sheet. Set the pole aside. Take the long yellow strip, yellow side up.
- Straw: pleat 1. On the top edge, 8 cm from the middle on each side, fold the end straight in over the strip.
- Straw: fold it back. Fold it back out on a crease from the same spot, leaning in at the bottom. The end droops like a tuft of straw.
- Straw: pleat 2. 1.9 cm further out, fold the end straight in again.
- Straw: fold it back. Fold it back out on a crease from the same spot, leaning in at the bottom. The end droops like a tuft of straw.
- Put him together. Glue the pole behind the middle of the shirt and the shirt over the straw, so a tuft droops from each sleeve. Add the head, then the hat.
Shoo, birds!
Draw cross-stitch eyes, a stitched smile and a white patch on his shirt. Stand him in a plant pot to guard the seedlings.