“Talking Mouth” Card: Ninja Cat

A ninja cat in a hood with little ears is drawn with markers right on the fold of the card. One cut and two folded-back corners — and the mouth opens when you open and close the card.

• Easy
• 1 Letter sheet
• 2 drawing blocks
• 1 cut

Make it with your phone cameraLesson code: 9800

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
• Glue stick — or PVA glue
• Glass — phone stand

Steps

Fold

1. Cut the sheet in half. Take the sheet from under the camera — don't touch the phone or the glass, the scale is already set. Fold the sheet in half, short edge to short edge, and cut along the fold into two halves.
2. Turn halves into squares. Lay one half crosswise over the other, corner to corner, and use a pencil to draw a line on the bottom half along the edge of the top one. Stack both halves exactly together, line side up, and cut off the strip — both layers at once. You’ll get two squares.
3. Fold the squares in half. Fold each square in half and crease the fold. Without unfolding it, fold it once more crosswise and pinch it right at the fold — that marks the middle of the fold.

Trace

4. Mouth: cut. Unfold one square and place it under the camera: fold under the dashed line, pinch mark under the solid line. You no longer need the sheet frame on the screen; trace the solid line — that’s where the cut will go.
5. Mouth: folds. From the ends of the cut to the fold, draw four dashed lines — you get a diamond, and that's the mouth. The middle dashed line is the fold of the sheet; you don't need to draw it.
6. Head: drawing. Draw the head with thin lines: the picture on the screen is your guide. The mouth line follows the cut.
7. Body: drawing. The template has moved to the body. Slide the sheet away from you along the fold until the head you drew sits under the faint head on the screen: the mouth line and the bottom edge of the hood line up. Draw the body.

Color

8. Color: body. Take the sheet out from under the camera and color it on the table: the picture on the screen is the sample. Color the outfit and tail black, and leave a thin white gap between the arms, legs and outfit. Color the scarf yellow, and shade the star and belt with a regular pencil.
9. Color: head. Color the hood and ears black, the insides of the ears and the cheeks pink, and the bangs brown; the face and fangs stay white. Black also goes on the eyes and on the outlines of everything light: face, fangs, scarf, palms and star.

Mouth

10. Cut line. Fold the insert along its fold with the drawing facing out. Cut along the mouth line from the fold to its end — both layers at once.
11. Corners. Fold both corners at the cut along the dashed lines and crease them with your fingernail. Flip the sheet over and fold them the other way. The folds are done — erase the dashed lines: they stand out on the white.
12. Inside the mouth. Unfold the insert back side up and color the diamond between the folds red. With the same marker, on the cover — the second square — color a patch about 2⅜ × 2 in around the pinch mark: it will show deep inside the mouth.
13. Push the mouth in. Flip the sheet over and fold it with the drawing facing in, then push both corners toward you with your finger. Close it, crease it and open it: the jaws pop forward.

Cover

14. Apply glue to one side. Fold the insert with the mouth inside and lay it on the cover, fold to fold. Apply glue to its top side — everywhere except the mouth opening — and flip it over onto the other half of the cover, like turning a page.
15. Other side. Apply glue to the other side of the insert the same way and close the cover. Press down with your palm for ten seconds, then open the card: the mouth opens.

Done. The card is done. Open and close it — the character talks.

Make it with your phone camera

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