How to fold an Origami Crab - Step by step instructions

It's a great trick to be able to do; folding a crab from a square piece of paper. It makes a nice little gift, and it's great to see the looks on peoples faces when they see what you can do so easily. This article will give you a step to step description on how to fold a crab using nothing but some paper and your hands. Enjoy!

First, you'll need a square piece of paper. The size doesn't really matter, as long as it's square. When it comes to color, you can take every color you want. I would however recommend using a sheet with the same color on both sides. The model requires no cutting, so no need to search for scissors, but some glue might come in handy to fixate the model when you're done folding.

Step 2 is making the first folds. Fold the sheet to get the creases like in the picture. Fold edge to edge and diagonally. The order doesn't matter, the main purpose is to create creases.

Now we will be folding a little square from our big square. Bring in the side corners, as shown on the pictures.

Time for a little creasing again. Creasing is a very important part of the folding process, because it makes the folding easier in later steps, so don't skip out on the creasing!

After folding the corner out again, we'll have to do some more creasing. Hold the open side of your square away from you when you perform this crease. Then turn the square and perform the same crease, only this time with the open side of your square pointing towards you.

And yes, step 6 involves some more creasing. This time, we crease on the closed side of our square.

If you want to know how low (or high) you should put your crease, look at the creases you made in step 5. Your crease should be exactly where the creases from step 5 start.

Now put down your square, and open it up (like a birds beak) by lifting up the upper layer, and bringing in the sides. The creases you've made should help you do this, you shouldn't have to make any more folds in this step. All you have to do is fixate the folds you already made.

We're almost at the detailed part now. But first, we need to make one last crease in our model.

Now for the more detailed part. These steps are a bit more difficult, so take a good look at the pictures.

This is an easy step. All you have to do is fold up a part of the upper flap.

Now this part is a bit more complicated. You wil have to do a reverse fold. If you've never done a reverse fold before, it might be a little vague, so I've made lots of pictures to show you exactly how it's done.

Now the first reverse fold is done, we'll do another one, completing the scissors of our crab.

And finally: repeat step 11 and 12 for the other side of your crab, and you're done!

You can leave it at that, or you can pimp your crab with eyes, colors, glitter, whatever you want! These little crabs are a nice addition to, for instance, a birthday present. For example; I like to glue them to a birthday card and hide some money in them.

There are lots of ways to use these crabs, and making them is a great way to spend your time.

So there you have it. A fun way to make a crab, using nothing but some paper and your own hands. If you have any questions about some of the steps, or if you have some ideas on how to decorate the crabs, don't hesitate to comment!