Paper Crane

These cute little paper cranes are the perfect project for when you find yourself with nothing to do. They are quick and easy to make, can be personalised with different colours and are great for all ages. Make a bunch for decoration or give them as party gifts to your friends. They look especially great when they are together in different colours, patterns and sizes. You have to give them a try!

The only material that you will need is a square piece of paper.

It is best if you have origami paper, however you can also cut a square from a larger piece of paper. Just be sure that the measurements are as accurate as possible.

Lay the paper square out on a flat surface.

Pull the bottom right corner to meet the top left corner to form a triangle.

Press along the edge of the fold to crease.

Open the paper into a square again.

Fold the bottom left corner to meet the top right corner to form a triangle.

Press along the edge of the fold to crease.

Open out the square again.

The folds should create an X across the square.

Flip the square over.

Fold the top edge down to meet the bottom edge to form a horizontal rectangle.

Press along the edge of the fold to crease.

Open out the square again.

Fold the left edge across to meet the right edge to form a vertical rectangle.

Press along the edge of the fold to crease.

Open out your square again.

The folds should now form a plus sign over the X that you created before.

Turn the square so that it looks like a diamond, as shown in the photo above.

Push each side of the horizontal crease in towards each other, as shown in the photo above.

Now push the diamond created at the top down so that it lays flat on the diamond created at the bottom.

Press down across the entire diamond to secure all of the folds.

Lift up the top layer of paper at the left corner of the diamond.

Pull it across so that the bottom edge lines up with the centre crease, as shown above.

Press along the diagonal fold to crease.

Repeat on the right side.

Flip your diamond over.

Lift the remaining layer of paper at the left corner of the diamond.

Pull it across so that the bottom edge lines up with the centre crease, as shown above.

Press along the diagonal fold to crease.

Repeat on the right side.

Take the top point and fold it down so that the crease created sits just above the line created by the bottom two folds.

Push it back into its original position.

Flip your paper over and repeat.

Open out the side folds to form a diamond again.

Lift only the top layer of paper and push it towards the top of the diamond (it should fold at the crease made in the previous step).

The outer edges should fold in as you push the top layer upwards, as shown in the pictures above.

Press along all sides of the newly formed diamond to crease.

Flip your paper over and repeat on the other side.

The bottom of your diamond should now have two 'legs'.

Make sure that you work with this end of the diamond in the following steps.

Lift the top layer of paper at the left corner of the diamond.

Pull it across so that the bottom edge lines up with the centre crease, as shown above.

Press along the diagonal fold to crease.

Repeat on the right side of the diamond.

Flip your paper over.

Lift the remaining layer of paper at the left corner of the diamond.

Pull it across so that the bottom edge lines up with the centre crease, as shown above.

Press along the diagonal fold to crease.

Repeat on the right side of the diamond.

Lift the top layer of the diamond and pull it over towards the opposite side.

Lay it flat onto the other side and press along the centre to secure.

Lift the top layer only from the bottom point and lift towards the top, as shown above.

Pull it as far as it will go and then press along the bottom edge to crease.

Flip your paper over.

Lift the remaining layer from the bottom point and pull it towards the top.

Pull it as far as it will go and press along the bottom edge to crease.

Lift the top two layers of the paper on the right side.

Pull them towards the left side of the paper and lay it flat.

Press along the centre to crease.

Turn the paper shape 90 degrees.

Pull the two side pieces down very gently to form the wings.

You may need to place your fingers at the very bottom of the wings to help the body balloon.

Bend the top of the thicker spike down to form the head of the crane.

Your crane is complete!

You can make all different colours and sizes, just remember that the smaller they are, the more difficult they are to make.