The Beginner’s Guide to Origami

Origami is actually a very easy hobby to pick up and it’s a lot of fun. All you need is paper and you can use pretty much

These are the two basic folds in origami. Pretty much every fold is either a mountain fold, a valley
fold or a combination of the two.

With a Mountain Fold the crease bends the paper down and the
crease resembles a mountain.

With a Valley Fold the crease bends the paper up and the crease resembles a valley.

Common Origami Folds

Here are the most common folds with step by step instructions how to make them. These folds

do in these examples all the time when you’re folding other models. However these examples should

work so you’ll be able to figure out what you’re supposed to do when you’re following diagrams.

Note: These diagrams are intentionally exaggerated and distorted to show as many

flaps of paper and make them easier to follow. When you fold origami models on your own

almost all the time you’ll crease each fold very well and press everything completely flat.

Origami Bases

There are several bases in origami that are used to start many different models. For example the

birds. Often times you’ll see instructions telling you to start with particular base just to

save some time or space in instructions. There aren’t too many bases and you’ll see the
same ones repeated a lot of times in different models.

Folding Your First Model, the Traditional Origami Crane

Once you’ve got the hang of all the above folds and bases you’re more than ready to fold the

traditional paper crane. The crane will start off with a bird base and after that most of the work is already done. This

is probably the most famous model in origami and is the first thing I learned how to fold.

According to legend if you fold a thousand of these you get a ton of good luck or you're granted a wish.