Origami objects are not strictly for decoration; they can also be functional.
Origami is the Japanese art of paper folding. Virtually any object can be represented by this art, from plants to animals to household objects. The king's crown is relatively simple and can be accomplished in a few simple steps. While this creates a miniature crown, you can create a bigger crown simply by starting with a larger piece of paper.
Instructions
1. Lay the square of paper on a flat work surface. If using origami paper, place the colored side down.
2. Fold the paper in half vertically and horizontally to make a square one-fourth the size of the original paper, then unfold.
3. Fold in half horizontally so that the open edge is toward you. There should be two layers of paper on the bottom edge. Your paper should look like two squares divided by a center crease.
4. Fold the outside edges in horizontally so that they meet at the center crease. Your paper should look like a square with two vertical rectangular halves. There are four layers of open edges meeting in the center of the square.
5. Grasp the topmost layer of the open edges in the center of the square and fold all the way back out on both sides, while leaving the second layer firmly at the center. Press the top of the paper to crease. The paper should now have two right side-up triangles and an upside-down triangle farthest from you and four squares closest to you. The paper is easily divisible into quarters.
6. Fold the rightmost and leftmost quarters of the paper around to the back. The paper should again be a square, and it should look identical on the back and front. There are four layers of paper at the bottom edge.
7. Fold the top two layers of paper up to fold the square in half on the front, then flip paper and do the same thing on the back. The paper is now a many-layered rectangle.
8. Fold the top two layers of paper down horizontally to the new bottom edge, then flip the paper and do the same thing on the back. The paper is still a rectangle. There are two open edges on the front and two open edges on the back, meeting in the center of the rectangle.
9. Fold the corners from the two open edges on the front up and outward to form small triangles, with the open edge lying on top of the folded horizontal divide. Flip paper and repeat on the back.
10. Grasp the bottom-most single layer (it will be the bottom corner of the newly formed triangle) and fold upward to the top edge of the paper, firmly holding in place the next layer down. Press and fold so that a vertical triangle appears. Do this on both the left and right sides of the paper on both the front and the back.
11. Open the crown by separating the edges toward you in the center, with one edge and one fold on each side. Press down at the top to hold it open. Crease all points of the crown.
