As just about every American knows, Veteran’s Day is celebrated on November 11th. But did you know that November 11th is also National Origami Day? Celebrate this wonderful craft by making a turkey to put on your Thanksgiving dinner table:

Supplies: One square sheet of paper (larger is preferred, especially if you’re a beginner)

1. Fold your paper in half diagonally and then unfold. This will give you a guiding crease down the middle.

   

2. Fold the left and right edges to the guiding crease.

   

3. Fold the top point down on top of the two flaps.

   

4. Open the left and right flaps and tuck the top flap underneath. Flip the paper to the other side.

   

5. On the other side, fold the top left and right corners down diagonally so that they touch the guiding crease and form a diamond.

   

6. Unfold the corners you just folded (yes there is a lot of folding and unfolding in origami, I’m sorry!)

   

7. Flip the paper back over to the side you started on
8. Using the top diagonal crease you just made, open the top of the right flap and bring the top of the right end down towards the middle. The bottom of the right flap should fold back to the position it was in before, and you should have a triangle sticking out (the whole top part on the right side should look like a diamond sticking out). Repeat this with the left flap.

   

9. Fold the left and right top flaps outwards diagonally, and then fold those flaps down. These will be your turkey’s feet.

   

10. Fold the paper in half so that the “feet” are on the inside

    

11. Take the shorter end and fold it upward so that the top is perpendicular to the bottom. Then unfold the end and open up the bottom slightly, flipping the end inside out so that it follows the line you just made. This is called an outside reverse fold, and they can be tricky at first so you might need to start over if your paper has been folded too much (you’ve got this!). 

    

12. Repeat Step 11 again with the longer end. The longer end is going to be the neck and head of the turkey, while the shorter end is going to be the tail.

    

13. Make a crease for the head of the turkey, then do an outside reverse fold for that one.

    

14. Finally, for the beak make and INSIDE reverse fold (fold a crease downwards and unfold, then bring the tip down and pinch where the crease is)

    

Voila! Now you have the perfect decoration for Thanksgiving!