How To Make An Origami Lion

Origami Lion

At Labels Zoo we’re very proud of our website. We get a lot of positive comments from customers who love the animals almost as much as we do. I’ve been working through the animals to see which ones I can make out of paper. I now have a good stock of animals on my desk so I thought it was about time I shared them with you! In this post I’ll give you instructions for creating an origami lion.

Although I’ve been using the labels sheets themselves it’s actually easier to start with a plain sheet of A4 paper. I printed one side with a plain yellowy brown colour to represent the lions coat.

1. Most origami starts from a square piece of paper rather than an A4 shape so we need to cut the page down to a square. Make a diagonal fold from one corner of the page to the opposite edge of the paper. This should form a square with an obvious rectangle to be cut off.

2. You should now have a square of paper with a diagonal fold across it.

3. Fold along the dotted lines to meet the centre fold (just like making a paper plane)

4. Fold backwards along the dotted line to make a little tucked in flap on either side.

5. Fold backwards along the dotted line to make a diamond shape with one blunt(ish) end

6. Fold together along the centre fold

7. Fold back and forth along the dotted line to form a crease. Create a pocket fold (push in and up)

8. Fold along the dotted line and open up the ‘face’ of the lion

9. Fold the top of the ‘face’ down long the dotted line and then tuck the bottom under along the second dotted line

10. Make 3 zig-zag folds along the dotted lines to create the tail.

11. Make a small pocket fold in the end of the tail (push in and up to create a tip)

12. Draw eyes, nose and whiskers on to the face of the lion. Here’s my finished attempt.