Origami Yoshizawa Butterfly

This is possibly the most famous origami butterfly. It was created by Akira Yoshizawa who is the master of modern origami. He has many butterfly models but this is his most well-known model. This is the origami butterfly that was featured on Google's Doodle on March 14, 2012 which would have been Master Yoshizawa's 101st birthday. Yoshizawa passed away in 2005 but his legacy lives on through his many amazing models including this one.

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The March 14th, 2012 Google Doodle which featured Yoshizawa's butterfly was created by Robert Lang, another origami master.

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You can watch our origami Yoshizawa butterfly video instructions , or check out the step-by-step photos below.

Origami Yoshizawa Butterfly Step 1: Fold an origami waterbomb base . This is a commonly used base in origami. The waterbomb base video and link are below.

Origami Waterbomb Base Video

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Origami Yoshizawa Butterfly Step 2: Fold the upper layer on both sides down to the bottom tip.

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Origami Yoshizawa Butterfly Step 3: Flip paper over.

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Origami Yoshizawa Butterfly Step 4: Fold the bottom tip upwards so that about 1.5cm of the tip sticks out from the horizontal edge.

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Origami Yoshizawa Butterfly Step 5: Fold down the upper layers. As you do so, make a squash fold by pressing the paper flat on the side.

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Origami Yoshizawa Butterfly Step 6: Flip paper over.

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Origami Yoshizawa Butterfly Step 7: Fold down the tip.

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Origami Yoshizawa Butterfly Step 8: Now fold up the tip. This forms the butterfly's "head".

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Origami Yoshizawa Butterfly Step 9: Fold paper in half by making a mountain fold.

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Origami Yoshizawa Butterfly Step 10: Make a diagonal fold.

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Origami Yoshizawa Butterfly Step 11: Flip paper over and repeat Step 10 on the other side to complete forming the "wings".

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and your Origami Yoshizawa Butterfly is complete!

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