Fold the Forest is a 7-part origami series where every single piece belongs to the same fall scene. You fold them one at a time and build a complete forest diorama as you go. Bears, frogs, butterflies, mushrooms, leaves, acorns, and two full trees.
The thing I love most about this one: the leaf tutorial does double duty. The same folds you scatter on the forest floor also go on the tree branches. You learn one technique and it shows up in two places in the finished scene. Nothing is waste
It is also set up perfectly for doing with kids. Each piece is one session. When you introduce the frog, you can tell them the forest has a pond now, even if you cannot see the water. When the bear arrives last, the forest is finished. There is a built-in story running through the whole series.
A few things I noticed while putting the scene together:
Fold more leaves than you think you need. You will want them for the floor AND the canopy.
Fold two of almost everything. Two mushrooms. Two butterflies. Two frogs. Two bears. The pairs are what make the scene feel like a real place, not a craft display.
The maple leaves are the colour of the whole thing. Get the oranges and reds right on those and the rest of the scene falls into place.
If you are working through this series, share your progress here as you go. Even one piece. I want to see your forest at every stage, not just the finished scene.
And if you are doing this with kids or using it in a classroom, tell me how it is going. I am curious what stories they come up with for each creature.
What you are building toward
By the end of this series
A complete origami fall forest scene you can display as home decor through fall
Orange origami maple leaves for the tree branches and the ground beneath them
Two trees with origami canopies built from the same leaf folds that cover the for
The knowledge that one leaf tutorial can build both a tree and a forest floor
A set of fall origami projects you can return to every year
Green fan-folded leaves for the second tree and scattered across the scene
Follow the projects in order.
Leaves
Fold a handful in two or three greens -- some for the forest floor, some for the tree canopy. Every fall forest starts here.
The Acorn
Fold two -- one for the floor, one for a branch. In a real fall forest, acorns are everywhere.
The Maple Leaf
Fold a stack in orange, red, and gold -- some for the floor, some for the tree. This is where the forest becomes fall.
The Mushroom
Fold two in different colours -- a brown cap and a red one -- and place them in the mid-ground. Ask your child who might live underneath.
The Butterfly
Fold two in contrasting colours and suspend them above the scene. They bring the only movement to a still forest.
The Frog
This tutorial gives you two methods -- fold both. The forest has a pond now, even if you cannot see the water.
The Bear
Fold two in different shades of brown and place the larger one in the centre. Everything else orbits around it.