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Paper Play

Plants & flowers

Lily

The traditional lily, folded from the frog base: a slim flower with four petals opening outwards.

  • DifficultyChallenging
  • PaperSquare, 15 × 15 cm
  • Steps24
  • About25 min

Why this level: Four squash folds, four petal folds and many page-like layer turns: the order matters.

You need: 1 sheet of origami paper

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Start folding

Steps at a glance

  1. 1. Fold in half and unfold

    White side up. Fold the bottom edge to the top edge and unfold, then fold the left edge to the right edge and unfold.

  2. 2. Turn over

    Turn over so the coloured side is up.

  3. 3. Fold both diagonals

    Fold one corner to the opposite corner to make a triangle, then unfold. Repeat on the other diagonal.

  4. 4. Collapse into a square base

    Turn the paper so a corner points down. Using the creases, bring the top, left and right corners down to the bottom corner and flatten.

  5. 5. Squash the right flap

    Lift the top right flap upright, open its two layers and press it flat so its folded edge lies on the centre line. A coloured triangle shows above a white one.

  6. 6. Turn over and squash

    Turn the model over. Squash the top right flap the same way.

  7. 7. Turn a layer, then squash

    Turn the top right layer over to the left like a page. Squash the flap that is now on the right.

  8. 8. Squash the last flap

    Turn over, turn one layer from right to left and squash the last flap. Every side now shows a coloured triangle above a white one.

  9. 9. Crease for the petal fold

    Fold the two lower edges of the top layer to the centre line and unfold. Then fold the whole top down along the line joining the ends of those creases, and unfold.

  10. 10. Petal fold

    Lift the coloured layer below the horizontal crease upwards. Its sides swing in to the centre line, and the lower edges of the white layer underneath fold in along the creases. Flatten: a small diamond appears.

  11. 11. Turn over; petal fold

    Turn over. Crease the two lower edges on this side too, then petal fold the same way.

  12. 12. Turn two layers; petal fold

    Turn two layers from right to left to show a side that is not folded yet. Crease it and petal fold.

  13. 13. Petal fold the last side

    Turn over, turn two layers from right to left and petal fold the last side. This is the frog base.

  14. 14. Fold the small flap down

    Fold the small diamond flap in the middle back down along the horizontal crease.

  15. 15. Turn over; fold the flap down

    Turn over. Fold the small flap on this side down too.

  16. 16. Turn two layers; fold the flap down

    Turn two layers from right to left. Fold down the small flap that appears.

  17. 17. Fold the last flap down

    Turn over, turn two layers from right to left and fold the last small flap down. All four sides are now smooth diamonds.

  18. 18. Narrow the top

    Fold the two upper edges of the top layer to the centre line. The creases start at the top point.

  19. 19. Turn over; narrow the top

    Turn over. Fold the two upper edges to the centre line on this side too.

  20. 20. Turn two layers; narrow

    Turn two layers from right to left. Fold the upper edges of the new side to the centre line.

  21. 21. Narrow the last side

    Turn over, turn two layers from right to left and fold the upper edges of the last side to the centre line.

  22. 22. Turn it upside down

    Turn the model so the narrow end is at the bottom. The four points at the top become the petals.

  23. 23. Fold the petal tips out

    Fold the tips of the two front petals outwards and down along a slanted line. Fold the two back petals out the same way behind.

  24. 24. Open the flower and stand it up

    Gently pull the four petals apart so the flower opens, and stand it up. Your lily is done!

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