You too can learn how to make origami!

So, the art of folding paper intrigues you? Me too! If you want to learn how to make origami, you've come to the right place! Look below to find illustrated, step-by step instructions on how to make an origami crane. I will also tell you the story of origami. Yes, after you read this you know how to make origami cranes (plus two other designs)!



I will also review some great origami books. (Some of the best and newest designs can only be found in these books. These books are inexpensive and really give you a great head start in your quest to learn how to make origami.)

There are lots of books for sale on the web. For example, just click here to see some books for sale on Amazon.com about origami: Origami Books (This link will open up Amazon and show you the search results for 'Origami Books' on their site.) You'll see there are lots of titles available.

However, click here to see Amazing books on Origami by Robert Lang

His books are awesome!!! I cannot emphasize how much these books will help you as you learn origami! He has taken the art of origami and really expanded it beyond its original boundaries.

I also noticed that Amazon has a lot of quality Origami Supplies for sale. If you live in a town without a good art supply store (like me), these online sources can be really helpful. Plus, if you buy them using these links, it helps support this website. (Thanks! It doesn't cost you any extra, but it helps our site.)

OK, before I get to the illustrated step-by-step instructions on how to make origami cranes, I thought some background might be interesting. If not, just scroll down until you see the first photograph.

Some interesting things about how to make origami:

As I was gathering information to write this article about Origami, I ran across some interesting quotes. Here are some reasons you might want to learn how to make origami:

“Origami craft enhances one’s memory,” according to Sube Misako, an instructor in Origami, said while visiting Malaysia.

In another article, I found another argument for learning how to make origami:

“Origami requires mental dexterity, a different kind of spatial imagining that is translated in the act of folding and pulling a small square piece of paper. If children are made to think in three-dimensional transformable shapes, then they will surely make good engineers and designers.”

Did you know origami has been used to help the cause of peace and friendship?

According to the Mehr News, The Japanese Embassy in Tehran organized an origami workshop for Iranian students at the Melal Cultural Center on Wednesday, Aug 22, 2007.

A total of 100 girls and boys from several middle schools had previously been
selected by the embassy and the cultural center for the program, which was also
an introduction to some aspects of Japanese culture.

“Such cultural programs are meant to expand cultural and friendly ties between the Japanese and Iranian nations,” the embassy said in a statement.

So, people are learning how to make origami in the cause of peace between nations! Not a bad reason to learn how to make origami!

So, what’s the history of origami?

According to Wikipedia, “Origami (折り紙, origami) (literally meaning "folding paper") is the art of paper folding. The goal of this art is to create a given result using geometric folds and crease patterns. Origami refers to all types of paper folding, even those of non-Asian origin….

Origami originated in China as "Zhe Zhi" (Simplified Chinese: 折纸), Japanese name
"Origami" when Akira Yoshizawa made new advancements, including wet-folding and the Yoshizawa-Randlett system of diagramming. In the 1960s the art
of origami began to spread out, first with modular origami and then with various
movements developing, including the kirikomi.”

Step by step instructions on how to make origami cranes:

1) Take your bit of square paper and fold it in half.

2) Then, fold it in half again, so it’s a square 1/4 the size of the original bit of paper.

3) Open it up again to it’s original size and then fold it diagonally.

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4) Then, fold this triangle in half.

5) This next bit can seem a bit fiddly, but bear with me - you need to fold the top half of the triangle back on itself. Open the paper up into an right angle and using the folds that went in with steps 1 and 2 open it out into a bit of a mouth and flatten it, so it looks like you have a square over a triangle. (are you still with me?)

6) Turn it all over, and repeat step 5 so you now have a square shape.
And here it is from another angle.

7) Ok, you have what I tend to think of as an ‘open’ end and a ‘closed’ end for this square. With the closed end at the top you want to fold the right hand corner of the top layer to the centre fold.

8) Then repeat step 7 with the left hand side of the top layer, so it looks a bit like a kite.

9) Turn the paper over and repeat steps 7 and 8, so it looks even more like a kite.

10) Fold the top of the ‘kite’ down along the top edge of the folded in sections, turn over and repeat. You want to get quite a decent fold in here if you can.

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11) Here’s another fiddly bit. You need to reverse steps 7 and 8 so it’s back to being a square again, then, take the bottom point of the ‘open’ end and lift, folding it back on itself along the crease created in step 10. You should now see that the folds that went in for steps 7 and 8 can be used to fold the edges into the centre again. It should look a bit like a canoe at this point.

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12) Then you need to turn it all over and repeat step 11 on the other side (there’s a lot of ‘repeat on the other side’ for this thing).

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13) Now again, you’ve got a closed end, and an open end, which reminds me a bit of a pair of legs. With the legs pointing towards you, take the left corner and fold it into the centre, like in step 7. The edge of the paper should line up neatly with the centre fold.

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14) Then repeat on the other side.

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15) Then (you guessed it) turn it all over and repeat steps 13 and 14 on the other side.

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16) Now, try to imagine that you’ve got two open (slightly odd shaped) greetings cards, back to back in your hand. Close one along the centre line, then turn it over and close the other one. What you should have now, should look a bit like a goaty devilly thing, with horns and a long chin (or is that just me?)

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17) Take the ‘chin’ of the top layer and fold it up to meet the ‘horns’

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18) Then (do I really need to say this) turn it over and repeat step 17 on the other side. It should look a bit like a crown at this point, or maybe a tulip.

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19) You now need to do the same sort of ‘greetings card’ fold that you did in step 16, so it now looks like a bishops mitre.

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20) Holding the base of the ‘mitre’ in a pinch, pull each of the inner points out a little bit (it’s starting to look a little bit like a bird now, isn’t it?). One of these will become the head and one will become the tail of the crane.

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21) Decide which you would like to be the head and fold it back on itself so the top now points downwards.

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22) Now, the final step, hold each of the wings and pull apart so the body of the crane becomes 3 dimensional and puffy.

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Et Voila, you’ve made your own origami crane.

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Now, go and make a cup of tea to congratulate yourself. Then get some more paper and practice, practice practice. You now have a nice little skill to keep people amused at parties, or on the train, or down the pub.
You can thank me later.

(adapted from the Artfinder Blog, http://www.art2008.co.uk/blog/?p=219)

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See, I told you you'd be able to fold a paper crane. But really origami is so much more than cranes. It's even so much more than it was twenty years ago.

I think the best source for knowledge about Origami, especially information about where origami might be heading in the future is in these Amazing books on Origami by Robert Lang.

Also, if you buy the book using the link above, it helps support this website. Likewise, if you buy your Origami Supplies using this link, we get a little financial support from Amazon. So please consider helping this website!

I cannot emphasize this enough. His books will change the way you look at origami!

Have fun folding!!!

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