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How to fold an origami tree frog

Fold a strip into a plump body and slit and reverse-fold a bulging eye. Fold a band into a zigzag hind leg and a front leg, and sit it on a folded twig.

You need: Green paper: a 7.2 cm x 6 cm strip and a 14.1 cm x 3.6 cm strip. A 10 cm x 2.4 cm brown strip. Scissors and glue. Hard, 18 steps, about 35 minutes.

Steps

  1. Fold in half. White side up, long sides at the top and bottom. Fold the top edge down to the bottom edge. The fold is the frog's back.
  2. Round it. Snip the corners round: two snips off the top left corner and one off the bottom left for the rump, two off the bottom right for the chin.
  3. Crease the eye strip. Fold the top 1.1 cm down, all layers, and crease it hard.
  4. Open it. Unfold it again.
  5. Slit the eye. Cut along that crease from the head end 1.8 cm in.
  6. Eye up. Outside-reverse-fold the freed strip up on a slanted crease from the end of the slit: a bulging eye, white side out.
  7. Twig: new sheet. Set the body aside. Lay the brown strip white side up, long sides at the top and bottom.
  8. Twig: in half. Fold the bottom edge up to the top edge.
  9. Twig: narrow. Fold the top edge down to the bottom fold: a thin twig.
  10. Legs: new sheet. Set the twig aside. Lay the green leg strip white side up, long sides at the top and bottom.
  11. Legs: in half. Fold the bottom edge up to the top edge.
  12. Legs: narrow. Fold the top edge down to the bottom fold: a slim band.
  13. Thigh. Fold the left end back to the right on a slanted crease 7.8 cm from the end, so it points forward and down: the thigh.
  14. Shin. Fold the end back to the left on a slanted crease 3 cm further along: the shin.
  15. Foot. Fold the end forward again on a slanted crease 2.6 cm along, level: the long foot.
  16. Front leg. Fold the right end straight down on a slanted crease 2.3 cm from the end: the front leg.
  17. Hand. Fold the last 1.3 cm forward: the hand.
  18. Glue it together. Glue the legs on the body, the band along its belly, so the body tips head-up. Glue the twig behind the feet.

Ribbit!

Draw a big black pupil in the eye, a long smile under it and a round sticky pad on the tip of each foot.

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