The Chinese Zodiac: An Origami Story

Now that we've celebrate, rested, and adjusted our brains to the new year (well, sort of. I just dated a check "January 2013"), it's time to get back to work. I don't believe in New Year's resolutions, because if you were going to do it, it would not require all the theatrics and fanfare, would it? But I have concocted some new origami projects for 2014. To kick it off, I have summoned forth the twelve animals of the zodiac in a glorious procession to tell us the story of the Chinese Zodiac.

Origami Buddha in zen meditation
by Claudio Maranta

One day, God, Buddha, or the Wizard, whichever you prefer, invited the animals to a banquet. During the feast, they would decide which twelve animals would become the signs of the zodiac.

Origami Cat Tutorial

The Rat and the Cat were very excited. They decided they would go early to secure their places. The Cat made the Rat promise to wake him in time for the banquet. (If you are not bothered by the fact that the animals can talk but find it odd that the rat is bigger than the cat, then...too bad.)

Cat Nap by Philip Shulz

But the next day, in a fit of squeaky excitement, the Rat forgot his promise and rushed off to the banquet, leaving the Cat asleep. By the time he woke up, it was already too late, for twelve animals had arrived before him, and the Cat was excluded from the zodiac.

So there were the twelve animals for the twelve zodiac signs, and the lineup was complete. Buddha announced to the animals that there would be a race across the river to determine the order of the twelve signs. 

When the signal was given, the animals all rushed to the river. Each wanted to be the first to make it across, probably not realizing that after a few millenia it really wouldn't matter whose year came first in the cycle. 

Right before they set out, the Rat jumped up onto the back of the Cow (or Ox if you prefer) unnoticed by anyone. That's right, I said unnoticed.

They all ran and jumped into the river and swam as fast as they could. As the race was nearing its end, the Cow was ahead of all of them and was almost at the finish. Even though there was like, a flying dragon in the race. But whatever. 

Tutorial: Origami Flower

I made a post about origami flowers a while ago featuring this pretty flower right here. I couldn't find the instructions I used anymore, and I have no idea who designed this model. Luckily though, I was able to remember how I made it and created my own tutorial!

So without further ado, here is an origami flower tutorial, featuring Checkers, the naughty cat. (For more on cats, see this post.)

This is a relatively easy model, though not for beginners. For your first attempt, I recommend paper that is not too thick.

For more origami flowers and details about how to make the stem, check out my earlier post.


Happy folding!

EDIT: Someone very graciously pointed out that this is Ernesto Del Rio's Flor Del Rio. Thanks Serendipidade!

Cat Project

I recently discovered that I am a cat person. I love a warm, furry cuddly on my lap when I am down. I do not own a cat for the simple reason that both my sister and I are mildly allergic. And yet, whenever I see a cat, I have an urge to pet it and love it despite teary eyes and wheezy breathing.

I am posting useful links to these neat models.

(c) to their creators.

Old Man Whiskers based on Gilad Aharoni's Cat

Cat Nap by Philip Schulz

Cats: left to right Jo Nakashima's Cat, Hiroaki Takai's Cat & Jun Maekawa's Cat

My version of Cat Bookmarks by Jo Nakashima