Origami Swans

Hello, it's been a while since I've posted on here, it's been a lovely busy week, doing a lot of family outings!!  Now it's late on a Sunday and time to unwind, and for me, crafting helps me to unwind and focus my mind.  Well, most of the time....

This post theme is based around swans, origami swans to be precise.  When I was little, we had an origami book and I loved making the swans out of paper...  pretty much one of the few things I could make at that age!  Thankfully for me, I can still remember how to make them... mummy brain hasn't affected all my brain, phew!

My interest in making origami swans came about when I read the latest crafting competition by Trimcraft, that being that you can design any card, just so long as the only product going on it was paper.  No embellishments, no gems, ribbons..etc...  trickier than I thought, because you want to raid your gem stash or some ribbons to match your colours!  I did it though, but I decided to use origami as the main element of the card..

So, lets see the cards I made with my swans!

Two very different cards, one has more of a mummy baby feel to it, the other more romantic.  I've taken a few pictures to show you how to make your own swan..

Step one

You'll need a square piece of paper.  I strongly recommend that the paper you use isn't too thick as it can make it difficult in the later folds.  I like the look that you get from using double sided paper, as you can see a contrast in the wings which is the underside to the paper.  For my mummy swan, I used 15cmx15cm paper.

The piece I've picked is from Dovecrafts Leyton pack.  Mine actually comes from samples from a freebie that came with Crafts Beautiful June 2015 magazine, so sadly I don't know if this paper is double sided in the actual pack.

Lay the piece of paper with the main pattern you want for the body of the swan lying down.  Fold diagonally - just one fold so no need to repeat with the other side - in half.

Once you've done that, fold the edges into the center, much like you are folding a paper aeroplane, so that the edges meet in the middle and you get a diamond shape.  Feel free to use a tool to make the folds sharper.

Step two

Once you've done that, turn the paper over, and repeat the previous folds, bringing the edges in to meet in the middle, as in the photo.

Now fold the paper in half length ways on the fold you had made earlier, and you want it so that the "tail" bit is pointing upwards at the edge.

Step three

Now it's time to make the neck.  To help with this fold, fold the thinner bit of the body upwards, across the rest of the body, and sharpen the fold.  Then you open up the body, and where the folds meet in the neck, push that inwards, and bring the pieces of paper over the body, so that you whichever side you hold the swan, there is a fold over the body where the neck starts. 

Step four

To make the head, repeat the fold you completed for the neck, part of the way down the neck depending on how big you want the head.  So, fold the head down at an angle over the neck, open up and fold the two sides over the neck.

If you want to give the beak a bend, then repeat this same technique for the beak.

Ta dah!  One (somewhat blurry!) swan!!  You can then attach as you desire.  For my mummy baby card, I googled how to make origami hearts just to add a few more elements to the card.

I really enjoyed playing with papers in this way.  One of the things that can be a little sad is when your double sided paper has really nice paper either side - this way, you get to see both sides!  

I hope you like my cards, and thank you for taking the time to read this!

Sara

The heavy handed crafter