Tutorial for making a three dimensional origami lotus using triangular paper units is explained here. I’ve tried to make the steps as clear as possible. Hope you enjoy making this beautiful paper lotus.

How to make an Origami Lotus:

We will need a total of 734 units for making this origami lotus model. The split up of the units by color:

Green –  318 units

Light Pink – 240 units

Dark Pink – 126 units

Yellow – 50 units

The tutorial for making the triangular units is given here.

A disclaimer before we begin: The quality of the images are not great… something wrong with my lighting!

Step 1:

We will start by making the leaves of the lotus flower. Start with one green units and increment the number of units by 1 for every row.

Step 2:

Keep increasing the number by 1 and inserting rows till you have 7 units in a row.

Step 3:

Now start reducing the number of units by 1 for every row till you have one unit. You will get this kind of a rhombus shaped structure. We would have used up 49 units for one leaf.

Step 4:

Repeat steps 1 to 3 and make 5 more such leaf units.

Step 5:

Attach two units together as shown. We will use 4 connecting units for two leaves. At least 4 connecting units become necessary to hold the structure well.

Step 6:

Similarly attach the six leaf units together.

Step 7:

Now we will start making the lotus flower. The step to make the flower is going to be a little different than usual. Generally we start from the bottom of the structure and move upwards. Here we will take a top down approach.

We will be using light pink color units here.

Just like how you made the leaves, start for the flower – begin with 1 unit and keep increasing by 1 for the next row.

Keep adding the units till you have 5 units in a row and then start decreasing the number of units by 1.

Step 8:

Make 5 more such units. We will need a total of 6 such units for one flower.

Step 9:

Now connect two light pink units together using 1 Dark pink unit. Do you see the dark pink unit at the center?

Step 10:

Now fill in using Dark pink units as shown.

Step 11:

Similarly keep connecting the light pink pieces together.

Step 12:

Finally join the ends together in the same manner.

The round structure gets formed as you can see below.

Step 13:

Now add a row of light pink. 30 units will get used up here.

And … 2 more such rows.

The flower is completed.

Just shape the flower a bit at the bottom.

I set the flower at the center of the leaves to see how it looks…already pretty!

Step 14:

For the center of the flower, make a ring out of 10 yellow units in each row.

Here are the first 2 rows.

Step 15:

Add one more row.

Step 16:

Bring the last row downward.

Step 17:

Add 2 more rows of yellow. All the 50 yellow units are consumed.

 

Step 18:

Set the yellow modules piece at the center of the lotus flower.

Here is another look of the completed three dimensional modular lotus flower.

I was happy with the way the lotus came out. Just wish I had taken better pictures… next in my to-do list is learning ‘basic photography’!

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Home  »  Art & Craft DIY • Modular Origami   »   3D Origami Penguin – Instructions

3D Origami Penguin – InstructionsPosted by Ramya On April 14, 2013 In Art & Craft DIY, Modular Origami 2 Comments

The 3D Origami Penguin is an easy modular origami model that is suitable for beginners and can be done with a total of just 147 units!

How to make a 3D Origami Penguin:

We will need a total of 147 units comprising of -

101 Black units

45 White units

1 Orange(/Yellow) unit

Step 1:

Start by making the first two rows of the model. Two triangular units are connected together making connector units.

Step 2:

Keep linking connector units together. As it can be seen, Row 1 uses 5 Black units and 7 White units. Row 2 uses 6 Black and 6 white units.

Step 3:

Row 3 inserted – 7 Black and 5 White units.

Step 4:

Row 4 made using 4 White and 8 Black units.

Step 5:

Row 5 inserted using 3 White units and 9 Black units.

Row 6 inserted using 2 White units and 10 Black units.

Step 6:

Invert the model.

Step 7:

Now insert the next row (Row 7). Invert each unit and insert the next row.

Step 8:

Inverted units (3 White and 9 Black units) are inserted to form Row 7.

Step 9:

Row 8 is now made by inserting units in the usual way (not in the inverted manner) with 4 White and 8 Black units.

Step 10:

Next row – row 9 is done using 5 White and 7 Black units.

Step 11:

For Row 10, insert 4 White and 8 Black units.

Step 12:

Insert one black unit at the center of the white units at the top.

Step 13:

Insert one white unit on either side of the black unit.

Step 14:

The rest of Row 11 consists of Black units.

Step 15:

Row 12 – the last row is inserted using black units only.

The body of the Penguin is done.

Step 16:

For the Penguin’s flippers, insert one black unit on either side of the body. Use glue when inserting the units.

as shown..

Step 17:

Apply glue and insert one orange unit for the bill.

Step 18:

Finally, glue on a pair of eyes…

And the 3D Origami Penguin is complete!

This modular origami panda bear assembly is quite simple and the steps are similar to the Hello Kitty Doll we made sometime before. The tutorial follows..

How To make a 3D Origami Paper Panda:

We will need a total of 808 units for this modular origami model.

These 808 units would comprise of 198 Black (B) units and 610 White (W) units.

The model is split into Head (416 units = 48 B + 368 W) and Body (392 units = 150 B + 242 W) of the Bear.

The tutorial on making a triangular units for modular origami is available   here.

Step 1:

Typically any modular origami model with triangular units starts with making a ring of units.

Here too, we will start by making Row 1 with 32 W (White) pieces.

Step 2:

We will continue adding Rows 2 to 4 in the same manner with 32 white units in each row.

Another view at this point to show how the units have been inserted.

Step 3:

Row 5 would have pieces as shown:

i.e., 3B – 4W – 3B. The rest of the row would all be white units. We have started making the black eye patches of the bear.

Step 4:

Now add units on top of the three black units (of Row 5) for making each eye patch.

As you can see we have inserted a total of 24 black units for one eye patch.

Step 5:

Repeat the above step for the other eye patch.

Add white units to complete each row.

Step 6:

A total of 13 rows with 32 units in each row complete the head of the bear.

Step 7:

Now, to make the body of the bear, we will start adding units in the same way as we made the head.

But here, we will be using 28 units in each row.

Make the base with 8 rows – 28 W (white) units in each row.

Step 8:

The next row (Row 9) would have 7 W units and 21 B units.

Step 9:

Add Rows 10 and 11 as shown.

Row 10 – 6 W and 22 B units

Row 11 – 5 W and 23 B units

Step 10:

Rows 12, 13 and 14 added fully with Black units.

The body of the bear is done.

Step 11:

Shove the body into the head of the bear. You can use glue to secure the model.

Step 12:

Now for some black construction paper ears…

Nose…

Legs….

And eyes…

The modular origami panda bear is complete.