Cat Face

A calico origami cat from a single square: one orange ear, one black ear, a pink nose and whiskers. You trace the fold lines and the face through the camera right onto the square — once it’s folded, everything lands in the right place on its own.

• Easy
• 1 3½ × 3½ in square
• 7 folds
• 0 glue

Make it with your phone cameraLesson code: 7414

On VanGami the template appears over your sheet through your phone camera — no printer needed. Trace it, cut, fold and glue. Below are all the steps in text.

What you’ll need

• Letter sheet — office paper, 80 gsm (20 lb)
• Markers
• Pencil — and eraser
• Scissors — small
• Glass — phone stand

Steps

Trace

1. Outline. Trace the solid line — the edge of the piece. You’ll cut along it.
2. Fold lines. Trace the dashed lines thinly, without pressing hard, as on the screen, and write its number next to each line — that’s the order of the folds. Each step will tell you which way to fold: you’ll fold with the drawing side down.
3. Draw. Copy the drawing with thin lines: the picture on the screen is your guide. It doesn't have to be exact to the millimeter.

Color

4. Color the face. Color the ginger patch orange; the second patch, eyes, mouth and whiskers black; and the nose, the insides of the ears and the cheeks pink. Leave the white parts white: that’s the fur.

Cut

5. Cut out: square. Cut with scissors along the solid line. Turn the sheet, not the scissors — the cut will come out neater.

Fold

6. Drawing side down. Flip the square drawing side down and turn it so one corner points toward you.
7. Triangle. Fold the square in half along the diagonal: top corner exactly onto the bottom corner. Crease the fold with your fingernail.
8. Corners down. Bring the left corner down exactly onto the bottom corner along line 2, then do the same with the right one along line 3. You now have a diamond, and you can see the drawn ears on it.
9. Left ear. Take the left corner you brought down — the one with the drawn ear and the number 4 — and fold it back up along the slanted line 4: it runs from the left corner of the diamond diagonally upward. The tip will stick out above the diamond — that’s the ear.
10. Right ear. Do the same with the right corner with the number 5: fold it up along line 5. The ear tips should be at the same height.
11. Flip it over. Flip the blank over like a page. Now you see the face, with the ears sticking up behind it.
12. Top. Fold the top corner between the ears — the one with the number 6 — down toward you along line 6. Fold only this corner: the ears behind it stay standing up.
13. Chin. Fold the bottom corner with the number 7 back along line 7 — that’s ⅜ in — and crease it. The cat is done.

Done. Done — ready to show off.

Make it with your phone camera

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