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How to fold an origami unicorn stable

A dreamy build. Fold a rainbow of five arches, a red stable with a white door and a pointed roof, a pleated hay bale and a heart, then the unicorn, and stand it up.

You need: 14 pieces: sky-blue A4, red, yellow, green, blue, brown, pink and gold paper, a 15 cm lilac square (sizes in steps). Scissors, glue, pens.. Challenge, 57 steps, about 75 minutes.

Steps

  1. Sky: crease the middle. Start with the sky: a sky-blue A4 sheet lying long. Fold it in half, short edges together, and open it. It bends on this crease to stand.
  2. Red arch: new sheet. Set the sky aside. The rainbow is five arches. First a 27 × 13.5 cm red piece, red side up, long side across.
  3. Red arch: corners behind. Fold both top corners behind, 7.9 cm along each edge. The top is three straight sides now.
  4. Red arch: round it. Fold the four new corners behind, a little way each, so the top turns into a smooth round arch.
  5. Yellow arch: new sheet. Set it aside. Take a 24 × 12 cm yellow piece, yellow side up.
  6. Yellow arch: corners behind. Fold both top corners behind, 7.0 cm along each edge.
  7. Yellow arch: round it. Fold the four new corners behind a little to round the arch.
  8. Green arch: new sheet. Set it aside. Take a 21 × 10.5 cm green piece, green side up.
  9. Green arch: corners behind. Fold both top corners behind, 6.2 cm along each edge.
  10. Green arch: round it. Fold the four new corners behind a little to round the arch.
  11. Blue arch: new sheet. Set it aside. Take a 18 × 9 cm blue piece, blue side up.
  12. Blue arch: corners behind. Fold both top corners behind, 5.3 cm along each edge.
  13. Blue arch: round it. Fold the four new corners behind a little to round the arch.
  14. Sky arch: new sheet. Set it aside. Take a 15 × 7.5 cm sky-blue piece, sky-blue side up.
  15. Sky arch: corners behind. Fold both top corners behind, 4.4 cm along each edge.
  16. Sky arch: round it. Round the four new corners behind the same way. This sky dome leaves the middle of the rainbow open.
  17. Grass: new sheet. Set the arch aside. For the grass, take a 29.7 × 10 cm green strip, white side up, long side across.
  18. Grass: fold in half. Fold the bottom edge up to the top edge. The fold is the bottom of the meadow.
  19. Grass: a gentle hill. Fold the top left and top right corners behind on long, gentle slants, 2 cm down the ends, so the meadow rises in the middle.
  20. Stable: new sheet. Set the grass aside. For the stable, take a 17 × 18 cm red piece, white side up.
  21. Stable: top band. Fold the top edge down 5.5 cm. The red band is the top of the stable wall.
  22. Stable: sides in. Fold the left and right edges in 3.25 cm, through all layers. The white gap left under the band is the stable door.
  23. Roof: new sheet. Set the stable aside. For its roof, take a 10 cm brown square, white side up, turned like a diamond.
  24. Roof: fold in half. Fold the bottom corner up to the top corner. A wide brown triangle: the pointed roof.
  25. Roof: the eave. Fold the bottom edge up 1 cm. The ledge is the eave along the bottom of the roof.
  26. Hay bale: new sheet. Set the roof aside. For a hay bale, take a 6.4 × 4.5 cm yellow piece, yellow side up, long side across.
  27. Hay bale: pleat it. Fold each end in on an upright crease 1.8 cm from the middle.
  28. Hay bale: pleat back. Fold each end back out on a crease 3 mm nearer the middle. The two raised ledges are the twine round the bale.
  29. Hay bale: round it. Fold all four corners behind, 6 mm along each edge, so the bale looks soft and squashy.
  30. Heart: new sheet. Set the hay aside. For a heart-shaped flower bed, take a 6 cm pink square, white side up, turned like a diamond.
  31. Heart: top down. Fold the top corner down to the middle.
  32. Heart: bottom up. Fold the bottom corner up to the top edge.
  33. Heart: sides up. Fold the bottom edge's left and right halves up to the middle line. Their corners poke up above the top as two bumps.
  34. Heart: round it. Fold the tips of the two bumps and the two side corners a little way behind. A round, plump heart!
  35. Horn: new sheet. Set the heart aside. For the unicorn's horn, take a 3 cm gold square, white side up, turned like a diamond.
  36. Horn: fold a kite. Fold the lower left and lower right edges in to meet on the middle line.
  37. Horn: slimmer. Fold the new side edges in to the middle again, from the bottom point, making a slim spike.
  38. Horn: flat end. Fold the short top point behind between the side corners. Glue the layers flat.
  39. Horn: turn it. Turn the horn round so its point aims up and to the right.
  40. Unicorn: new sheet. Set the horn aside. Last, the unicorn: a 15 cm lilac square, white side up, turned like a diamond.
  41. Unicorn: fold in half. Fold the top corner down to the bottom corner. The long fold at the top is the unicorn's back.
  42. Unicorn: crease the middle. Fold the triangle in half, right point onto the left point, and crease it hard. This crease marks the back of the front legs.
  43. Unicorn: open it. Unfold it back into the triangle.
  44. Unicorn: crease the hind legs. Fold the left point over on an upright crease 3 cm left of the middle crease. This crease marks the front of the hind legs.
  45. Unicorn: open it. Unfold it again.
  46. Unicorn: neck back. Outside-reverse-fold the right end back over the body, on an upright crease 1.5 cm right of the middle crease. Each layer wraps round the outside.
  47. Unicorn: cut the legs. Cut the bottom point off level, 6 cm below the top fold. Cut up both leg creases to 2.5 cm below the top, and straight across between them.
  48. Unicorn: cut the neck. Cut up the neck fold to 2.25 cm below the top. From there cut the neck flaps to 1.5 cm deep at their tip, and snip the tip off square 1 cm in.
  49. Unicorn: lift the neck. Outside-reverse-fold the neck up on a crease from its bottom corner, so it stands up and leans forward over the front legs.
  50. Unicorn: snip the folds. Cut along the neck's back fold to the nose, and 1 cm down the crease at its base. Cut 5 cm along the top fold from the left point.
  51. Unicorn: mane out. Fold the back edge of each neck layer out, 1 cm wide at the base and tapering to nothing 2.5 cm from the nose, so a white mane shows.
  52. Unicorn: head back. Fold the top 2.5 cm of each neck layer back over the mane, on a crease from the top of the mane slanting down to the front edge.
  53. Unicorn: head out. Fold the head back up on a crease from the same corner, so it points forward and down. Glue the two head layers together.
  54. Unicorn: tail down. Fold each layer of the left point down and back on a crease from the end of the cut, so it hangs as a white tail.
  55. Unicorn: shape the rump. Cut up the tail crease from below, leaving its top 1.5 cm. Cut the rump from there, curving in to the back of the hind hooves. Trim the tail slimmer.
  56. Build the scene. Glue the arches on the sky, biggest first, then the grass, stable, roof, hay and heart. Glue the horn behind the unicorn's head and stand her in front.
  57. Stand it up. Bend the sky gently towards you on the middle crease and stand the whole scene up on the table.

Rainbow dreams!

Draw the unicorn's sleepy eye, horn twists, mane and tail strands, the door's X brace and planks, straw on the hay, flowers in the heart, and white clouds and sparkles.

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