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How to fold an origami toy shop

A real project. Pleat a roller bar into a striped awning, slope its ends, frame a shop window and fill its shelf with a teddy, balloons, a spinning top, a toy train and a rocking horse. Then stand it up.

You need: 20 pieces: teal A4, pale yellow, yellow, brown, tan, pink, green, blue, purple, grey, red and black bits. Scissors, glue.. Challenge, 54 steps, about 90 minutes.

Steps

  1. Awning: pleat the roller. Start with the awning: a 25 × 4.8 cm red strip, red side up, lying long. Fold the top edge down in front, creasing 1 cm below it.
  2. Awning: pleat, back up. Fold the flap back up, creasing 5 mm lower. The ledge across the top is the bar the awning rolls up on.
  3. Awning: white hem. Fold the bottom edge up in front, 4 mm. The white band is the hem along the front of the awning.
  4. Awning: slope the ends. Cut both ends on a slant through all layers, 9 mm in along the top edge down to the bottom corner. The awning leans out over the window.
  5. Sign: new sheet. Set the awning aside. For the shop sign, take a 9.2 × 2.9 cm yellow piece, yellow side up.
  6. Sign: neat edges. Fold the top and bottom edges behind 5 mm, for a neat painted board.
  7. Window: new sheet. Set the sign aside. For the window, take a 25.4 × 14.4 cm pale yellow sheet, yellow side up, lying long.
  8. Window: frame top and bottom. Fold the top and bottom edges over in front, 5 mm. The white strips are the window frame.
  9. Window: frame the sides. Fold the left and right edges over in front, 5 mm, to finish the white frame all round.
  10. Shelf: new sheet. Set the window aside. For the shelf, take a 23.4 × 2 cm brown strip, white side up, lying long.
  11. Shelf: fold in half. Fold the bottom edge up onto the top edge, for a thick brown plank.
  12. Shelf: bevel the ends. Fold both bottom corners behind on a slant, 6 mm along each edge.
  13. Balloon 1: new sheet. Set the shelf aside. For a pink balloon, take a 2.1 × 2.5 cm pink piece, pink side up.
  14. Balloon 1: round it. Fold all four corners behind, 6 mm along each edge, so it turns into a round balloon.
  15. Balloon 2: new sheet. Set the balloon aside. For a green balloon, take a 2.1 × 2.5 cm green piece, green side up.
  16. Balloon 2: round it. Fold all four corners behind, 6 mm along each edge, so it turns into a round balloon.
  17. Balloon 3: new sheet. Set the balloon aside. For a blue balloon, take a 2.1 × 2.5 cm blue piece, blue side up.
  18. Balloon 3: round it. Fold all four corners behind, 6 mm along each edge, so it turns into a round balloon.
  19. Teddy body: new sheet. Set the balloons aside. For the teddy's body, take a 3.8 cm brown square, brown side up.
  20. Teddy body: plump it. Fold the top corners behind 1.3 cm along each edge for round shoulders, and the bottom corners behind 7 mm.
  21. Ears: new sheet. Set the body aside. For both ears, take a 4.3 × 1.4 cm brown strip, brown side up. The head will hide its middle.
  22. Ears: round the ends. Fold all four corners behind, 4 mm along each edge, so both ends are round.
  23. Teddy head: new sheet. Set the ears aside. For the head, take a 2.9 × 2.8 cm brown piece, brown side up.
  24. Teddy head: round it. Fold all four corners behind, 6 mm along each edge.
  25. Muzzle: new sheet. Set the head aside. For the muzzle, take a 1.5 × 1 cm tan piece, tan side up.
  26. Muzzle: round it. Fold all four corners behind, 3 mm along each edge, for a soft oval muzzle.
  27. Spinning top: new sheet. Set the muzzle aside. For the spinning top, take a 3.5 cm purple square, purple side up, turned like a diamond.
  28. Spinning top: flat top. Fold the top corner behind, 1.2 cm down, for a flat top.
  29. Spinning top: blunt the sides. Fold the left and right corners behind, 4 mm, so the sides are round. The bottom point is where it spins.
  30. Knob: new sheet. Set the top aside. For its knob, take a 0.7 × 1.5 cm yellow piece, yellow side up.
  31. Knob: round the end. Fold both top corners behind, 2 mm, to round the knob you twist.
  32. Engine: new sheet. Set the knob aside. For the train engine, take a 6.4 × 3.3 cm blue piece, blue side up, lying long.
  33. Engine: crease the cab. Fold the right edge over to the left, creasing 2.4 cm from the right edge.
  34. Engine: open it. Open it out again.
  35. Engine: snip. Snip down the crease from the top edge, 1.5 cm.
  36. Engine: lower the boiler. Fold the top of the left part behind, level with the end of the snip. The tall part is the cab, the low part the boiler.
  37. Engine: round the nose. Fold the top-left corner behind, 6 mm along each edge, to round the front of the boiler.
  38. Chimney: new sheet. Set the engine aside. For the chimney, take a 1 × 2.3 cm black piece, standing tall.
  39. Chimney: funnel. Cut the lower part narrower on both sides, slanting in 2 mm from 9 mm below the top, so the chimney opens out like a funnel.
  40. Wagon: new sheet. Set the chimney aside. For the wagon, take a 5.2 × 2.6 cm red piece, red side up, lying long.
  41. Wagon: white rim. Fold the top edge down in front, 5 mm. The white band is the wagon's rim.
  42. Horse body: new sheet. Set the wagon aside. For the rocking horse, take a 6.6 × 2.9 cm grey piece, grey side up, lying long.
  43. Horse body: fold in half. Fold the left edge over onto the right edge.
  44. Horse body: cut the legs. Cut a slant from the fold 1.2 cm below the top down to 1.9 cm from the fold at the bottom. Then cut the open side on a slant, from 1 cm in at the top.
  45. Horse body: open it. Open it out: a body on four splayed legs, two seen from the side, ready to sit on a rocker.
  46. Neck: new sheet. Set the body aside. For the neck and head, take a 2.6 × 3.7 cm grey strip, white side up, standing tall and leaning left.
  47. Neck: fold in half. Fold the left half over onto the right half, the long way, so it is grey on both sides.
  48. Neck: fold down the head. Fold the top 1.3 cm forward and down on a slant, so the head points left: a horse's long face.
  49. Rocker: new sheet. Set the neck aside. For the rocker, take an 8.2 × 1.6 cm red strip, white side up, lying long.
  50. Rocker: fold in half. Fold the bottom edge up onto the top edge.
  51. Rocker: curve it. Cut the bottom corners away in two snips each, so the bottom edge curves up at both ends and the horse can rock.
  52. Shop wall: new sheet. Set the rocker aside. Last, the shop wall: a teal A4 sheet, teal side up, lying long.
  53. Open the shop. Glue the awning across the top, the sign above it and the window below. Then the shelf, balloons, teddy, top, train and rocking horse, as shown.
  54. Stand it up. Bend the wall gently towards you between the teddy and the spinning top, and stand the toy shop up on the table.

Open for business!

Paint white awning stripes, write TOYS on the sign, draw the teddy's face and paws, balloon strings, train wheels and the horse's mane, tail and saddle.

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