Origami Instructions for a Beetle
Creating origami insects is a long tradition of paper folding in Asian cultures. Origami has been around for thousands of years old, though it is uncertain whether Japan or China first developed the technique. Many styles of paper folding exist and folds -- from simple to complex -- exist for different animals. Get started with your own origami beetle using this simple set of instructions. Later on, you can progress to more complex folds.
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Instructions
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Arrange the origami paper before you so that it looks like a diamond instead of a square.
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Fold in half horizontally from the top point to the bottom point. Crease the fold and reopen.
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Fold the top right edge of the paper down to meet the center crease. Crease the new fold. Repeat with the bottom right edge of the paper.
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Repeat step four with the top left and bottom left edges of the paper. Reopen all sides of the paper and fold down along the four new creases. You should end up with a long, thin diamond shape, with two small upright flaps.
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Fold the two flaps to the left and crease.
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Fold the points of the flaps down to meet the crease. Crease the new fold. Reopen.
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Fold the middle crease down to meet the bottom of the flaps. Crease. Open up flaps. Fold entire piece of paper over on itself along the middle crease at the base of the flaps. Fold back along the crease about 3/4 of the way down the flaps. Crease. The points of the flaps should be poking out from under the fold.
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Fold the top and bottom points of the origami paper backwards to create two short flat spaces.
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Fold the left side backwards about one third of the way in on itself. Crease.
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Fold the entire origami paper in half horizontally.
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Fold the left side up at a 90-degree angle, about halfway down its length. Crease and unfold.
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Unfold the left side just enough to flip it inside out along the new crease. You should end up with a 90-degree angle on the left side.
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Snip down the center of the 90-degree fold with scissors to create two prongs. Curl slightly around a pencil. Use the pencil to draw two eyes just behind each side of the 90-degree fold on the body of the beetle.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Digital Vision./Digital Vision/Getty Images
