Origami · folding only · Confident · about 35 minutes

Traditional Lily

No scissors · No glue · No adult help needed

Square of origami paper, 150 x 150 mm (6 x 6 in)
Pencil (to curl the petals)

Finished

Blue dashes: valley fold (toward you). Pink dash-dot: mountain fold (away from you). Thick line with scissors: cut. Yellow: glue.

Start. Put the square down like a diamond, white side up, with one corner pointing up.
1. Fold and unfold: Fold the bottom corner up to the top corner. Crease well, then unfold.
2. Fold and unfold: Fold the left corner over to the right corner. Crease, then unfold.
3. Turn over: Turn the paper over so the colored side is up.
4. Fold and unfold: Fold the paper in half edge to edge: bring the lower left edge up to the upper right edge. Crease, then unfold.
5. Fold and unfold: Fold in half the other way: lower right edge to upper left edge. Crease, then unfold.
6. Push: Push the left and right corners in toward the middle. The creases fold by themselves and the top corner tips down toward you.
7. Squash fold: Keep going until the top, left and right corners all lie on the bottom corner. Press flat. This is a square base, white on the outside.
8. Open: Squash fold, part 1: lift the left flap until it stands straight up. Put a finger inside and open it a little.
9. Squash fold: Squash fold, part 2: press the folded top edge of the flap down onto the center line, so the flap spreads evenly to both sides. Press flat.
10. Turn over: Turn the paper over from side to side.
11. Squash fold: Squash the left flap on this side the same way: lift it, open it, and press its folded edge onto the center line.
12. Valley fold: Turn one layer: fold the top layer on the left over to the right, like turning a page.
13. Squash fold: Now an unsquashed flap is on the left. Squash it the same way.
14. Turn over: Turn the paper over again.
15. Valley fold: Fold the top layer on the left over to the right, like a page.
16. Squash fold: Squash the last flap the same way. This is the frog base, also called the lily base.
17. Valley fold: Turn one layer from right to left. Now the front is a smooth kite with no split at the bottom.
18. Valley fold: Fold the lower edges of the top layer in to the center line.
19. Valley fold: Fold the top triangle down over the flaps, along the line joining their top corners. Crease firmly.
20. Unfold: Unfold the top triangle and both side flaps. You now have three new creases.
21. Pull: Petal fold, part 1: lift the bottom corner of the top layer and swing it up on the flat crease. The sides fold in on the slanted creases.
22. Squash fold: Petal fold, part 2: keep lifting until the corner reaches the top point. Press the sides flat so their edges meet on the center line.
23. Valley fold: Fold the petal back down. Its sides stay folded in, so the bottom of this face is now narrow.
24. Turn over: Turn the paper over.
25. Valley fold: Turn one layer from right to left, like a page. Another smooth kite is on top.
26. Squash fold: Petal fold this kite the same way (make the three creases, then lift the corner up). Then fold the petal back down.
27. Valley fold: Turn two layers from left to right together, like turning two pages. A smooth kite is on top.
28. Squash fold: Petal fold this kite too, then fold its petal back down.
29. Turn over: Turn the paper over once more.
30. Valley fold: Turn two layers from left to right to find the last smooth kite.
31. Squash fold: Petal fold the last kite and fold its petal back down. All four corners of the square are now narrow petals.
32. Rotate: Turn the model around so the petal points are at the top and the closed point is at the bottom.
33. Valley fold: Fold the lower edges of the top layer in to the center line, starting at the bottom point. This makes the base of the lily thin.
34. Turn over: Narrow the other three faces the same way. Turn over for the back face, then turn two layers at a time to reach each inside face.
35. Open: Fold the four petals down and out, one at a time, so they spread evenly around the thin base. Four small points stay standing between them.
36. Curl: Curl each petal: roll its tip outward around a pencil, then slide the pencil out. Your lily is ready!

If something goes wrong

The square base will not fold flat. Make the corner-to-corner creases white side up and the edge-to-edge creases colored side up, and crease them all sharply.
A squash fold comes out lopsided. Open it again and line the folded edge up exactly with the center line before you press. Both sides of the new kite should match.
You cannot find a smooth kite to petal fold. Turn one layer at a time like a page until the front kite has no split at the bottom. Keep four layers on each side when you can.
The petal fold wrinkles at the sides. Make the three creases very sharp first, and lift only the top layer. Let the sides fold in on their own creases.
The petals uncurl. Roll each tip around the pencil a little more tightly and hold it for a few seconds before you slide the pencil out.