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How to fold an origami wombat

Hem a sheet and fold it in half. Fold the corners behind into a round rump and a blunt head, swing a strip up into an ear, and fold the belly away between two slits so short legs stand.

You need: 1 sheet, 15 × 18 cm, brown on one side, small scissors and a dark marker. Hard, 16 steps, about 25 minutes.

Steps

  1. Hem the edges. White side up, short edges at the top and bottom. Fold the top edge down 1.5 cm and the bottom edge up 1.5 cm.
  2. Fold in half. Fold the bottom edge up to the top edge, hems inside. The fold at the bottom is the belly, the hemmed edges on top the back.
  3. Crease two strips. Fold the top edge down 1.5 cm, and the bottom fold up 1.7 cm, through all the layers. Crease both hard.
  4. Open them. Unfold both strips again.
  5. Crease the legs. Fold the left end over on an upright crease 3.75 cm left of the middle, and the right end over 3 cm right of it. Crease hard.
  6. Open them. Unfold both ends. The two upright creases mark the inside edges of the hind leg and the front leg.
  7. Three small slits. Cut up both leg creases from the belly fold to the bottom strip's crease. Cut along the top strip's crease from the right edge for 3.2 cm.
  8. Ear up. Swing the cut strip up on a slanted crease from the end of the slit, the front layers forward and the back ones behind, so it leans back.
  9. Rump and brow. Fold the top left corner behind 4.5 cm along each edge for the round rump. Fold the head's top front corner behind on a steep slant.
  10. Round the rump. Fold the two new corners of the rump behind, about 1.3 cm each, so the back curves smoothly down.
  11. Blunt nose. Fold the sharp corner at the end of the slope behind, about 1 cm, so the nose is blunt and round.
  12. Chin. Fold the bottom front corner behind on a long slant, 3.75 cm up the front and 2.25 cm along the bottom, so the head juts out over the front leg.
  13. Shorten the ear. Fold the tip of the ear behind about 1.1 cm, all its layers together.
  14. Round the ear. Fold the two corners at the top of the ear behind, just a little, so the ear is round.
  15. Belly up. Fold the strip between the two leg slits up inside, the front layer and the back layer each tucked between the body layers.
  16. Round the feet. Fold the bottom corners of both legs behind, about 1 cm each, so the wombat stands on four rounded feet.

Snuffle!

Colour a big dark nose on the tip of the head, draw a small eye above it, and a few claws on the feet.

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