Origami Rat

It may seem hard, but trust me, when you figure out how to do it, it’s fun and can get quite addicting!

Square paper of your choice.

Fold a square piece of paper of your choice in half to make a triangle (if using colored paper, fold it so the color is on the outside).

Open up the paper. Fold both of the corners to the center crease.

Flip paper over (sorry, had to use another paper because I forgot to add an image to this step and the next).

Fold the bottom point to the top point.

Flip the paper over.

Put your finger inside one of the flaps. Crease it down. Repeat for second flap.

Unfold the point, so the paper is a diamond shape.

Fold the top point to the bottom of the middle triangle’s point.

Crease the side corner to the middle point. Repeat for the other side point.

Unfold the top point front the middle point.

Fold the top point to the left side point.

Here’s where things might get a little tricky. Unfold the top point from the left side point. Ease out the paper from the crease (I marked it with pen, see photo). Crease it down.

This is also a bit tricky! Where I marked, push your finder under the flap and crease the paper down.

Open up the flap to the point where it isn’t unfolded, and still keeps it’s shape. Ease out the extra paper where I marked, like in step 13. At first, when you try to crease the paper down, it will be in the wrong spot. You want the new point to be touching the center, not to the left. To fix this, you will have to re-crease it so that the point is the other crease marked (sorry if that didn’t make sense).

Crease the first layer right point to the top point.

Unfold the crease. Open up the triangle some. Behind the triangle you opened, there should be a clearly defined triangle shape. Start pushing the triangle flap into the top part, until it is neatly tucked away. Close the top point down on it once it is tucked away (again sorry if that didn’t make sense!).

Flip the paper over. Fold the top triangle down. Tip over again.

Fold the top point up.

Fold the left middle triangle up. Then fold it towards the middle point. Unfold. Fold it in half again, but facing the right this time. Unfold. Fold the sides of the triangle together. Manipulate the point in a way that makes it touch the top corner. Repeat steps for the second triangle (pssst! It doesn’t matter what it looks like, since this will be the inside of the rat/mouse).

Fold the paper in half.

Fold the top flap upward. Repeat on other side.

Fold the tail all the way up to the head. Crease, then unfold. Repeat on other side.

Open up the body slightly. Fold along the crease you made in step 22. Repeat on other side. It would be best to make both leg crease line up (see top view).even if it is slightly off, it’s fine! No one’s perfect. This forms the feet!

Open up the tail slightly. Fold the tail down. Then, fold it up. Fold both flaps in the tail to the center. Fold the flaps into the center again (it makes the tail smaller).

Push your finger into one of the ear flaps. Fold it down, and crease. Repeat to other ear flap. Push your finger into the front pocket, then start to pull the head down carefully. Crease the small triangles at the chest to help pull the head down.

Fold the ears to the side of the head (if you want). Sink the back point down, to naturalize the rat/mouse’s shape (to sink down, put one finger inside the mouse to open it, and with another finger, push down on the back point). If your rat/mouse isn’t standing properly, push the sides of the leg from the inside and then try to let it stand on it’s own. You can curl the tail if you want, and add/change some things to the model. Have fun! Remember, all origamis are unique, even if they are made from the same instructions! 🐁

I hope you got this far! If not, try again!