Origami for the blind

Fortune teller

The fortune teller is an origami classic that all Danish children learn in the school.

Design

Traditional.

Type

Action.

Difficulty

Easy.

Paper

Square, about 15 centimeter.

Folding

See also vocabulary and general help.

1. First we will fold the 4 corners to the centre of the paper, a so-called blintz.
2. To do this, hold the paper horizontally with edges on the top, bottom, left and right.
3. Fold the bottom edge to the top.
4. Unfold, rotate the paper, and fold the bottom edge to the top.
5. Rotate the paper so that the folded edge is up.
6. Grab the lower, left corner of the upper layer. Fold it up and rightwards so that the left edge aligns with the folded edge.
7. Repeat with the lower, right corner of the upper layer. The two folded corners meet in the centre of the top edge.
8. The upper layer is now a right-angled triangle pointing downwards whereas the lower layer still is an unfolded 2 by 1 rectangle.
9. Turn the paper over left to right, keeping the folded edge up now having the unfolded layer as the upper layer.
10. As before, fold the lower left and right corners up along the folded edge.
11. Unfold the folded edge, leaving the four corners folded. The paper now forms a square with 4 folded edges and covered with 4 triangles that meet in the centre of the paper.
12. Now we will make another blintz, on the other side.
13. The 4 triangles should face you and the square should be horizontal with an edge on the top and the bottom.
14. Fold the bottom edge to the top edge.
15. Unfold and rotate 90 degrees to. The 4 triangles still face you.
16. Fold the bottom edge to the top edge. The 4 triangles are now hidden.
17. Rotate the paper to have the folded edge at the bottom.
18. Grab the lower, left corner of the upper layer and fold it up along the folded edge so that the left edge aligns with the top edge.
19. Grab the lower, right corner of the upper layer and fold it up along the folded edge so that the left edge aligbs with the top edge.
20. Turn the paper over with the unfolded side towards you and the folded edge at the bottom.
21. Fold the two bottom corners up to the folded edge so that they meet in the centre of the folded edge, like you did with the other corners.
22. Unfold the folded edge. Once again you have a square. Turn the paper so that the multilayer corners you just folded to the centre, are facing you, and so that the square is horizontal with edge at the top and bottom.
23. Fold the bottom edge to the top, hiding the just folded corners on the inside. The folded edge is at the bottom. The first four raw corners you folded, are on the outside at the centre of the bottom, folded edge. Two of the raw corners face you, the two other raw corners are on the back.
24. Grab the folded edge near the lower, left corner with one hand, and near the lower, right corner with the other hand.
25. Bring these corners upwards and towards each other. The centre of the two open edges above will break outwards, the front edge towards you and the back edge away from you. At the same time the two plus two corners at the end of the top edge will rise and meet in the top.
26. You now have a shape with a closed corner in the bottom, an open corner in the top where four points meet, and for triangular multilayer flaps around the centre. The hypotenuse of the triangles run between the top and the bottom, and the two short edges to the sides, with an open edge above and a closed edge below.
27. At the bottom on the outside you can find the four original, raw corners of the paper.
28. Grab these raw corners, one at a time, and pull them out and upwards. This reveals four pockets, open them by putting a finger into them.
29. Finished fortune teller.

Usage

Put the thumbs and index fingers into the pockets from below and move the four top points pairwise away from each other, alternating the directions.

Try the same movements with four fingers from one hand. That is a fun exercise in dexterity.

The four pockets may also be viewed as containers. Turn the model so that the pockets open upwards and place it on the table, and put something into each container. Traditionally the model has been called a salt cellar.