Instructions for an Origami Chinese Flower
Though few creations can rival the natural beauty of a real flower, it is fun to make flower-inspired crafts with such materials as metal, clay or paper. Paper flowers possess a delicacy and charm similar to their real counterparts, but they last much longer, and make excellent handmade gifts. In China, the art of creating flowers and other objects with paper is an ancient practice known as origami. You can make a Chinese origami flower using any type of paper you desire.
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Instructions
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Draw a perfect square on a piece of a paper. Use a ruler to measure and draw the lines of the square, making sure all four sides are equal in length. Cut out the square with scissors. If your paper is already a perfect square, omit cutting. Note that the size of the square can range between three inches to six inches or larger.
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Position the square on a hard, flat work surface. Place the square so that its points are facing up and down, left and right; it should look like a diamond rather than a square.
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Fold the top point of the diamond down so it meets the bottom point. Sharpen the crease with the side of your ruler. Unfold the paper and turn it over.
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Position the paper so that the edges now face up and down, left and right; it should look like a square rather than a diamond.
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Fold the left edge of the square over so it meets the right edge. Sharpen the crease with the side of your ruler. Unfold the paper.
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Fold the top edge of the square down so it meets the bottom edge. Sharpen the crease with the ruler. Leave the paper folded. You should have a rectangular form.
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Grasp the rectangular form at its left and right sides. Push inward. Watch the form collapse slightly along the pre-existing creases. You will have a diamond-shaped form with one folded flap pointing toward the back of the form and one folded flap pointing toward the front of the form.
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Fold the front flap back so it meets the left point of the diamond. Fold the back flap back so it meets the right point of the diamond. Sharpen the creases with the side of the ruler. Make sure the form lies as flat as possible. Position the form so the its open end is pointed toward you.
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Fold the upper right edge of the top layer of the model over until it meets the center crease. Leave it folded. Fold the upper left edge of the top layer of the model over until it meets the center crease. Leave it folded.
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Turn the form 180 degrees so that its open end is pointing away from you.
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Trim the open end of the form with scissors so that it is rounded rather than pointed. The resulting form should look similar to an ice cream cone.
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Bend the form in half from top to bottom. Sharpen the crease with the side of a ruler. Unfold it.
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Grasp the pointed end of the form in one hand. Gently open the rounded end to form the bloom of a flower.
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Tips & Warnings
Practice making this flower on plain white copy paper before creating it in a paper of finer quality.
For an especially Chinese look, use Chinese rice paper to make this flower. It comes in a large spectrum of colors, and you can find it at many craft supply and stationery stores.
To add a stem to your Japanese paper flower, glue a green pipe cleaner to the flower's pointed end. Or, for a more delicate stem, wrap a piece of 20-gauge floral wire in green floral tape; glue the taped wire to the pointed end of the flower.
