| I came up with this origami squid a couple of years ago. I have always enjoyed origami and thought you might want to try it, too. This squid is a little tricky to make, but your hard work will pay off in the end. Have fun with it ! |
| (1) Begin with a piece of square origami paper, white side up. You can also use a piece of thin colored paper. If you use colored paper, don't worry about keeping the white side up. Just make sure that it's square. |
| (2) Fold in half to make a rectangle with the opening at the bottom. |
| (3) Fold the upper left corner to the center of the bottom line. |
| (4) Turn the paper over. With the opening at the bottom, fold the upper left corner to the center of the bottom line again. |
| (5) This is tricky. Open up the bottom of the previous triangle like you would an envelope. With the triangular "envelope" wide open, bring the side corners together and press down to form a square/diamond. |
| (6) Turn the paper around so that it looks like a diamond with the opening at the bottom. Fold the upper left and right edges to meet at the center crease. |
| (7) Fold the lower left and right edges to meet at the center crease. |
| (8) Turn the paper over. With the opening at the bottom, repeat steps (6) and (7). |
| (9) Flip the right side over like you would turn a page in a book. Turn the diamond over and repeat the page flipping. You should now have a diamond with smooth surfaces on both sides. |
| (10) Place the diamond on the table so that the small opening is at the bottom (very important). Fold the bottom left and right edges to meet at the center crease. |
| (11) Turn the paper over. With the small opening at the bottom, repeat step (10). |
| (12) Here is another tricky part. Look at the bottom left side and right side edges. Pull out the paper that's "tucked" into the sides and flatten it. You should get something that looks like the picture above. Turn the paper over. Repeat the same "un-tucking" on the back. Don't give up! You're almost there! |
| (13) Flip the right side over like you would turn a page in the book. Turn the squid over and repeat the same on the back. Both sides of the squid should look like the picture above. |
| (14) Find the small opening at the bottom. Gently blow into it to puff up your squid. |
| (15) All that's left now is to draw in your eyes and whatever else you please. |
Have fun building your own squid aquarium!