How to make a red packet paper fish
Red Packet Paper Fish: try all 10 steps in the 3D player. Turn and replay every move. Print the complete diagram sheet or save it as PDF.
An Origami Tutor red packet fish with a pointed head, a narrow waist and a pleated fan tail. Fold two red pieces and glue their small overlap together.
- You need
- Red paper colored on both sides: a 10 cm square and a triangular piece about 7.1 × 9.2 cm. Scissors for preparing the pieces, a little glue and a pen for the eye.
- Start
- Use paper that is red on both sides, from an opened large red packet or a plain sheet. Prepare a 10 cm square for the body. Cut a triangle about 7.1 cm wide and 9.2 cm high for the tail, with its point halfway down the left edge and its straight edge on the right. Set it beside the body square, which has a corner pointing up.
- Tips
- Keep both body edges on the middle line.
- Make the two tail pleats match, with every crease meeting the left point.
- Use only a little glue on the overlap so it stays flat.
Draw the fish’s eye
Press the fish flat. Draw one round eye near the pointed nose, ahead of the folded tail. The finished red packet fish, with its pointed head at the left and its pleated tail fanned out at the right.
Step-by-step diagrams
- 1
Fold the upper edge inward
Fold the upper right edge of the body square to the line between its left and right points.
- 2
Fold the lower edge inward
Fold the lower right edge up to meet it. Keep the left point sharp for the nose.
- 3
Make the narrow waist
Fold the thin right point behind, about a fifth of the way in from its tip. The short upright edge is the waist.
- 4
Start the upper tail pleat
On the tail triangle, fold the upper corner inward along a line from the left point to a spot about one sixth down the right edge.
- 5
Return the upper tail edge
Fold the tip back outward on the nearby line from the left point. Leave a narrow pleat between the two folds.
- 6
Start the lower tail pleat
Fold the lower corner inward to match the upper pleat, keeping the left point still.
- 7
Return the lower tail edge
Fold that tip back outward along the nearby line. The two pleats fan out from the same left point.
- 8
Fold the tail root behind
Fold the narrow left point behind along the upright line, roughly a third of the way across the triangle.
- 9
Slide the tail under the waist
Place the short straight root of the tail behind the waist, overlapping by about 7 mm. Keep the two pleats spread above and below the middle.
- 10
Glue the tail overlap
Apply a little glue inside the overlap behind the waist and press the two pieces together.
- ✓
Finish
Press the fish flat. Draw one round eye near the pointed nose, ahead of the folded tail. The finished red packet fish, with its pointed head at the left and its pleated tail fanned out at the right.
Fold next
Dog face ↗
Fold floppy ears and a little muzzle, then give your paper dog a face.
Cat face ↗
A traditional triangle cat head with two pointed ears and a straight forehead.
Fox face ↗
The traditional pointed fox face, recorded in Japan in 1878, with two tall ears.
Turtle ↗
The common cut turtle with four pointed feet, a small head and tail, and a colored shell. One slit divides the rear feet while leaving the shell underneath whole.