Origami: Paper Crane

mncrft432
Jan 31, 2016
4 min read

In this tutorial I'm going to teach you how to make a paper crane. Probably one of the most well know pieces of origami, this is a very simple piece that can be created from almost any size paper.

*Video version at the bottom

Folds and base types:

-Mountain fold

-Valley fold

-Crane base

What you will need:

-A sheet of paper (any size will do but bigger sheets will be easier to use. A rectangular piece of paper is fine too I explain how to turn it into a square in the tutorial.)

*Optional (You don't need these to fold these pieces)

-A bone folder

-Paper cutter

(Normal white line = Valley Fold)

(Dotted white line = Mountain Fold)

(Normal black line = Pre made fold)

(Curved arrow line = Fold from start to end)

Start off by turning your sheet of paper into a square. If your paper is already in a square just skip this step.

To turn a rectangular piece of paper into a square you need to make a diagonal fold. Make this fold from one corner of the paper to the other side of the paper without crossing over the other side of the paper (Normal line). Then fold the paper to were the edge meets the paper and repeat this step a couple of times to weaken the paper (Dotted Line).

Once you have made these folds, tear off the dotted line.

If you are using a piece of paper that has one side with color, put that side face down. When you fold the crane with the color side down, that side will show when the crane is complete.

Fold the paper horizontally, veritcally, and diagonally up to the edge like in the picture below. To make collapsing the paper into the crane base fold one of the diagonal folds in the opposite direction. For instance if you folded the others into a mountain fold, fold the leftover diagonal in a valley fold.

You can fold all of the sides the same way but the method that I am showing will make it easier to collapse into the crane base.

To collapse the piece of paper into the crane base you have to turn the paper so the diagonal that wasn't folded differently is pointing towards you. Then grab the other two corners, bring them to the center and fold them down.

If you used the folding method that I explained earlier, two of the corners will already be facing inwards, which will make it easier for you to collapse it.

If you collapsed it correctly it should look like this,

For this next step you want to make sure that the open side is facing towards you. Take the right and left corners and fold them to the center so that it looks like a kite. Do this step on both sides.

This step is unncessesary but will help if you are new to this type of origami. Take the top corner of the paper and fold it down until the bottom of the triangle touches the top of the flaps that we folded previously.

Once you've done this open it back up until you get diamond shape again. (The paper after we collapsed it)

Now we need to open the piece up and collapse it again. To do this take the open side and raise it up until it hits the top horizontal crease. Then fold the two flaps down so it becomes a diamond.

If you do it correctly it should look like this. Make sure you do it to both sides.

On the open side fold the right and left corners to the center.

If done correctly it should look like this. Make sure to fold both sides of the piece.

Once you have folded down both sides, take two flaps and fold them together to expose the inner side of the flaps. (The sides that don't have a gap in them.)

If you do this correctly it should look like this,

If you've made it this far good job! You're almost done!

Now take the two bottom folds and lift them until they hit the two inner triangles on the inside of the flaps. This will make your cranes head and tail. A good marker to show where to fold it would be the already made crease that is right underneath the crane's wings

The piece should look like this,

Now lets fold the crane's head. Take one of the smaller flaps and fold the edge down. Dont make the fold too big or else the head wont be the right size for the crane's body.

If you are like me and can't stand having a messy fold on the tail, choose the messiest side and fold that one as the head to mask the fold. (It works... kinda...)

There should be four different flaps on the sides of the piece. Pull the two bigger flaps out to inflate the crane's body. You could also blow into the hole that is located underneath the crane, but I prefer to pull the wings.