Origami Cat Tutorial
Use the step by step instructions and follow along with this adorable origami cat tutorial! When you’re done, check out this easy origami whale. This post contains affiliate links.
Origami, or paper folding, is a truly fascinating art technique. Using nothing but paper and folding, you follow a sequence of steps and a whole new creation forms! It’s amazing, and best of all it’s not necessarily very hard to do.
Since the materials are so accessible and easy to use, we love sharing more and more origami ideas in this space.
This sweet cat creation is on an intermediate level – it’s not very difficult, but a real beginner should consider starting with something simpler, such as a whale or origami fish.
The cat’s distinctive pointed ears and long tail make this paper craft take on a real feline form, and if you’d like you can decorate it further with markers and eyes to give it a unique personality.
What’s cool about this origami cat tutorial is that it can either lie flat or stand up on its own, giving you many options of where and how to display it – you can glue it flat onto a card or place it into a frame, or you can stand it up on a display shelf or on your desk.
You can use any paper you like for this project, but when it comes to origami I prefer a thinner paper such as copy paper or origami paper. Lightweight paper is easier to fold, especially when you need to make multiple folds close together or on top of each other. That said, feel free to try these crafts with stiffer craft papers if you’d like.
Another trick for origami is to use a smooth, straight edge to sharpen your folds. You can buy a bone folder that is designed especially for this, or you can experiment using a ruler or other objects with a smooth, straight edge. This is especially useful if you’ve chosen a stiffer paper that may not fold as easily.
Now that you’re all set up like a pro, choose your favorite color for an origami cat tutorial and let’s get folding!
You can stick to the head only, or make both pieces for a full origami cat: head and body!
What you’ll need
Colored origami or copy paper
Scissors
Glue
Markers
Optional: Bone folder or hard ruler to smooth out creases
Origami Cat Tutorial
1. You’ll be using two papers for this project – one for the cat’s head and one for its body. You can use two of the same color or choose different ones. Prepare the papers by making sure each one is square, cutting them down to size if needed. Our papers are 15 cm or about 6 inches squared, but you can also just fold your paper diagonally and trim off the part that sticks out to make an easy square of a random size.
Optional: Draw two eyes on white paper and cut them out (you can also decide to do this at the end of the project)
2. We’ll begin with the cat’s head. Take the paper you want to use for the head, and put aside the other one for now.
Fold the paper in half diagonally and unfold to leave a crease. Then fold it on the other diagonal to make another crease. Unfold it so you have a square paper with creases forming an X shape.
3. Take any corner and fold it to the center of the paper where the creases meet.
4. Take the folded edge and fold it over along the diagonal crease, so that the folded corner is on the inside where you can’t see it.
5. Take the top corner where the paper is folded, and fold it down to the open corner (the single layer of paper that has no folds yet.)
6. Take the other folded corner and fold it across to the same open corner.
You now have a square shape, with two triangle flaps meeting in one corner.
7. Fold the two triangle flaps upward, a little less than halfway, and point them outward so that the tips stick out of the edge of the main square. These will be the cat’s ears.
8. Take the corner that sticks up between the ears and fold it toward the center.
9. Take the corners that stick out from the sides of the ears and fold them in just a little (we do want the cat’s cheeks to stick out a little, we just don’t want them to be pointy, so we’re folding in just the tips of the corners)
10. Take the remaining corner and fold it until the center of the head (you can still see the original center crease to help you with this, or just estimate.)
That completes the shape of the cat’s head!
11. Flip the head over to the other side so you can’t see all the little folded parts.
12. Use a marker to add spots on the head if you want to.
13. Glue on paper or wiggly eyes, or draw eyes with a marker. Use a marker to draw a nose and mouth for your cat.
14. Put aside the finished head and take the other square paper.
15. Fold the paper in half diagonally, then unfold it to show a diagonal crease.
16. Fold two sides of the paper up to the crease, so it looks like the shape of a kite.
17. Fold the whole paper in half along the diagonal crease, keeping the folded parts inside.
18. Take the narrower tip and fold it over about halfway so that it sticks out past the open side. This will be the cat’s tail.
19. Fold the entire paper away from you along the edge of the tail.
20. Unfold the last two folds, so you are back to the skinny triangle but with some new creases.
21. Look at the upside-down V shape in the middle. Grasping the top layer of paper, fold the left side of the V up toward you and the right side of the V away from you (the opposite of how it was before)
22. Bring the tail tip forward and toward the middle. Flatten it so there is a kite shape in front of you.
23. Fold the tip of the tail upward and flatten it, forming a triangle whose bottom edge is even with the rest of the paper.
24. Fold the tail part in half – take the side of the triangle that’s in the middle of the project, and flip it over to line up with the outer edge.
25. You’ve now completed the body and tail of the sitting cat! Use a marker if you’d like to draw spots on the body.
26. Get the head that you made earlier and slide it onto the top corner of the body. Use glue or tape to make it stay more securely.
You’ve successfully made an origami cat. What will you be making next? Comment below!
Origami Cat Tutorial
Materials
- Colored origami or copy paper
- Scissors
- Glue
- Markers
- Optional: Bone folder or hard ruler to smooth out creases
Instructions
1. You’ll be using two papers for this project - one for the cat’s head and one for its body. You can use two of the same color or choose different ones. Prepare the papers by making sure each one is square, cutting them down to size if needed. Our papers are 15 cm or about 6 inches squared, but you can also just fold your paper diagonally and trim off the part that sticks out to make an easy square of a random size.
2. We’ll begin with the cat’s head. Take the paper you want to use for the head, and put aside the other one for now.
Fold the paper in half diagonally and unfold to leave a crease. Then fold it on the other diagonal to make another crease. Unfold it so you have a square paper with creases forming an X shape.
3. Take any corner and fold it to the center of the paper where the creases meet.
4. Take the folded edge and fold it over along the diagonal crease, so that the folded corner is on the inside where you can’t see it.
5. Take the top corner where the paper is folded, and fold it down to the open corner (the single layer of paper that has no folds yet.)
6. Take the other folded corner and fold it across to the same open corner.
You now have a square shape, with two triangle flaps meeting in one corner.
7. Fold the two triangle flaps upward, a little less than halfway, and point them outward so that the tips stick out of the edge of the main square. These will be the cat’s ears.
8. Take the corner that sticks up between the ears and fold it toward the center.
9. Take the corners that stick out from the sides of the ears and fold them in just a little (we do want the cat’s cheeks to stick out a little, we just don’t want them to be pointy, so we’re folding in just the tips of the corners)
10. Take the remaining corner and fold it until the center of the head (you can still see the original center crease to help you with this, or just estimate.)
That completes the shape of the cat’s head!
11. Flip the head over to the other side so you can’t see all the little folded parts.
12. Use a marker to add spots on the head if you want to.
13. Glue on paper or wiggly eyes, or draw eyes with a marker. Use a marker to draw a nose and mouth for your cat.
14. Put aside the finished head and take the other square paper.
15. Fold the paper in half diagonally, then unfold it to show a diagonal crease.
16. Fold two sides of the paper up to the crease, so it looks like the shape of a kite.
17. Fold the whole paper in half along the diagonal crease, keeping the folded parts inside.
18. Take the narrower tip and fold it over about halfway so that it sticks out past the open side. This will be the cat’s tail.
19. Fold the entire paper away from you along the edge of the tail.
20. Unfold the last two folds, so you are back to the skinny triangle but with some new creases.
21. Look at the upside-down V shape in the middle. Grasping the top layer of paper, fold the left side of the V up toward you and the right side of the V away from you (the opposite of how it was before)
22. Bring the tail tip forward and toward the middle. Flatten it so there is a kite shape in front of you.
23. Fold the tip of the tail upward and flatten it, forming a triangle whose bottom edge is even with the rest of the paper.
24. Fold the tail part in half - take the side of the triangle that’s in the middle of the project, and flip it over to line up with the outer edge.
25. You’ve now completed the body and tail of the sitting cat! Use a marker if you’d like to draw spots on the body.
26. Get the head that you made earlier and slide it onto the top corner of the body. Use glue or tape to make it stay more securely.
This is super cute! I’m going to put the directions and some paper out in the teen area of our library – they’ll like this project! Thank you!