Origami is the skill of folding a piece of paper over and over again to make lifelike figures. A little bird, a crown, a suitcase, a bunch of flowers, a small bear, a dinosaur, an aeroplane, an eagle, a man... any object, animal or person can be converted into paper with a little patience and practice.

The only the essential material in origami is paper in the form of small evenly shaped squares. Generally tools such as knives, scissors or sellotape are not used. All you need are your hands and the paper and, occasionally, tweezers, rulers and carpenter's squares to help you grip the paper better. Simply by folding the paper and folding it again you can accurately represent the figure you are making, although joining two separate parts by inserting one into the other is also frequent.

The type of to be used need not be special: any type can be used before moving on to more special papers to achieve more spectacular effects.

The origin of origami is oriental, and more precisely Japanese. Origami, meaning fold paper in Japanese, reached Europe in the 16th century, initially limited to the folding of textiles. Later it spread to the rest of the world and is currently enjoyed by a growing number of aficionados.

Advice
One of the main characteristics of origami is that you need not be an expert to fold a piece of paper, but it is important to take on a few pointers before getting stuck in:�
-�Use a piece of paper that is easy to handle.
-�Work on a hard, flat and clean surface.
-�Your hands should also be clean and dry. To make a figure you need to touch the paper quite a few times. Many are absorbent and extract dirt from hands that appear to be clean.
-�Make sure you fold the paper carefully and cleanly, especially on the apex.
-�The perfect fold is achieved by passing your thumb's nail along the fold.
-�You must follow the instructions to the letter without skipping any steps, otherwise the final result will not be the same. -�Make sure you execute each and every step with care.

Basic folds
Before starting to make paper figures, it is better to learn a few basic folding techniques. The most important are:
-�Valley fold: Consists of folding forwards, one edge of the paper over the other.
-�Mountain fold: Result of folding backwards, one edge of the paper over the other.
-�Folding and unfolding: Consists of folding and then unfolding, either valley or mountain style. The result is that a mark is left on the paper.
-�Mark: This the result of folding and unfolding.
-�Staggered folding: Consists of a valley fold followed by a mountain fold.
-�Sunken fold: This is a way of inverting a point towards the centre, so that when the sunken fold is finished, the figure will end up completely flat.
-�Split fold: This similar to the sunken fold and is used to change the direction of the points by folding them back.
-�Inside out fold: This serves to change the direction of a point by folding outwards.

Using these techniques as a starting point, and with a lot of patience and practice, all sorts of figures can be made. The imagination is an important ally, but if you prefer to seek advice, libraries and specialised shops offer a wide range of guides to start you up. These include step by step manuals that list all the folding and unfolding needed to make a particular figure. What are you waiting for?