Weddingbee Blog

This post was originally published on January 4th, 2010

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*Photograph by me

Paper cranes and I are like BFFs. When I was little, my father brought back an origami book from Japan, and I learned how to fold every piece of origami in the book by heart. I’ve since forgotten how to fold most of them, but not the cranes. I fold them when I’m bored, when I have random scraps of paper laying around, when I want an awesome engagement shoot (heh!), or just anytime.

*Photograph by Matt Miller

Since I have been blabbing lately a lot about cranes, I figured I should show you guys how to make them. I know that all crane-folders have their preferred methods, but this is how I’ve done ’em for 18 or so years!

For this tutorial, all you’ll need is something to fold! My favorite origami paper to fold with is the non-traditional paper. Traditional origami paper has more cotton in it, and is quite fibrous, so it can be hard to make sharp folds with it. I like the el-cheapo rainbow stuff you can get at most art stores. You can also use regular paper to play with, just make sure you cut/tear it down into a square first! Just nothing too thick, or it’ll be too difficult to make the later folds. Also, when beginning, a bigger piece of paper is usually easier for learning.

OK, we begin!

Here’s the super-duper-easy part. Typically, origami paper has a printed side and a blank side. First, you’re going to put your paper down white-side-up. Fold the paper diagonally, point-to-point. Then, fold it again! Unfold and now you have some lovely creases. Ooooh. Next, fold in half regular-ways, unfold, then fold the other regular-ways. Now unfold. You now have all of your starting creases. Yay!

Flip the paper over so the colored side is up. Here’s where it starts to get a little complicated, explaining wise. See those white fold lines (9)? You’re going to fold those lines inside, and make a diamond/square pleated doo-dad. The creases that you made in steps 1-8 will facilitate this pleating.

Next, fold the two bottom edges of the top layer to the center of the diamond(13). The fold-lines are shown in 12. Then, in 14, along the line created by the parts you folded in 13, you’re going to fold the tip down. Now, unfold these last three folds. Lovely creases, ooo.

The last fold you made, the horizontal one at the top, is now going to be used as a sort of hinge. Hold down that tip, and open up the top section so that the white part shows… as shown. Do this gently, and as you pull it downwards, crease both sides as shown in 17 and 18.

Now flip it over, and do the same things you did in steps 12-18 on the other side!

Remember how you folded the edges into the center before? You’re going to do that, except now with a skinnier doo-dad to work with! Fold the bottom edges of the top layer into the center (26-28), and then flip it over and do it to the other side (29). 29 leaves you with another two-layered-like doo-dad. The bottom point is actually made of two half-points. To me, this looks almost like chopsticks.

On one half, open up the fold so that it looks like a fox (30). I don’t know when or why I started calling it a fox, but always when I teach people how to do this, I call it a fox. Work with me here. Next, flip the fox’s nose up to touch his ears (31). Fold that chopstick-section closed again (32). In 33-35, fox it again. You’re almost finished!

See the gold circle? You’re going to pinch there. With your other hand, pinch the tip (green circle). Then, while holding down the yellow-pinch, hinge the pointed-up chopstick down. The angle doesn’t really matter, just pull it down until it looks about right to you. Now, pinch it again, and do the other side (37). To make the beak (38), you’re going to do another inverted pleat. Invert the tip, and then hinge it out like you did in 36. Usually, I pick the least pretty end to use for the beak. A pointy tail and smushy beak are much better than the other way around. To fluff the crane out, hold the wing tips and blow in the hole in the center while pulling (gently!) the wings outward. Voila!

You’re done! I hope I wasn’t too confusing. Don’t let the tutorial scare you. Grab some paper, and try it. It’ll make more sense then, I promise! Just remember, you can do this with pretty much any ol’ paper—it doesn’t have to be origami paper. As long as it’s a square (or you make it into one!), and not too thick, you’re set. Go forth and fold!

Who all out there hasn’t ever tried folding a paper crane? Does seeing how to make one make the thought more terrifying or less? Let me know if you want or need any clarifications! (Or if this was epic-fail-not-helpful-at-all!)