How to Make 1,000 Cranes (or just one)!

We've all seen the paper birds, but have you ever wanted to learn how to make one? If you don't know how to make one, this instructable will show you how to make one of the most elegant, timeless origami figures...

And then I'll tell you how to make a thousand.
(And it's really easier than you'd think.) (:

(1,016 are in the picture below.)

Step 1 Making a square

First, you need to make a perfect square. The easiest was to do this is to get a piece of printer paper, or some other kind of rectangle paper, and make it from this. Or you can buy origami paper, which is already a perfect square but is a little expensive.

pictures:
1. Start with your (rectangular) sheet.
2. This is where your fold will be.
3. Fold the top edge to the side edge; make sure you crease well.
4. Cut off the excess.

Comments

[urtlesquirt]

my sister made 1000 for my cousin who had cancer.

[HouseOfAnubis101]

Its SOOOO hard I tried doing this 27 times!!!!!!!!!! Or MOre :-@

[brainiac120]

It's not hard. I make 'em form .5 x .5 in. paper! it not the smallest ever though. the smallest was made from 1mm x 1mm paper and folded with a sewing needle while looking at it through a microscope!

[Pizzapie500]

Cool! I made 1000 too! It's in my video, now i'm just sewing them together. Although, it only took me 2 months to finish 1000 and I only spent like 30 mins a day... Anyway, here's my video:

[Miscelinious]

(: very cool. But it really isn't difficult to sit down and make 1000, isn't it? haha!

[4n0n4mb16u05]

I used to make cranes just like yours in the pictures, but gradually, my cranes started growing fat around the body, and i have no idea why! It's depressing really, i like the sleek look of my original cranes :(

[Miscelinious]

hmm. Not quite sure how you would get that, honestly. :p

But the only 'fault' i find that people do when they makes cranes is in step 5. A lot of people fold only the corner in, instead of the corner along with the side. That causes the wings to be really square/rectangle shaped and the neck to be kinda lumpy.

what step is yours different from how i was making mine?

[woody558]

Mine didn't work...

[Miscelinious]

what's the problem?

[woody558]

Step 4

 

[Miscelinious]

i'm sorry, that is the hardest step to explain...

the only thing i can tell you is to look at the picture and also make sure that you are following the creases... However, when bringing the top flap up, you will have to invert part of the crease while folding it up.

but i can't show a picture of that, unfortunately.

but try it again, and if you are still having problems, let me know, and i will post a video explaining this step more thoroughly and better visually, okay?

[The Nomlack]

how long did it take u 2 make all of those cranes? all 1000?

[Miscelinious]

it really didn't take too long, actually. it was only about two or three months, while folding for about an hour or two a night. of course, i'm a pretty fast folder and i had my friends do about 400 of them. i'd estimate, if you did try this (assuming you are an average folder and can fold cranes decently), i think you you could do it in about 4 months if you did an hour and a half a night. this is if you do it by yourself. with friends, one or two months, easy.

[eetzel]

You make yours different than I do. Your head is my wing.

[Javin007]

Yours looks to be a modification of the "seagull" or the "pigeon." The traditional "crane" of the instructable is also referred to as the "Peace Crane" and also has some interesting history behind it. The Japanese story is that the crane is "the bird of happiness" and can live for 1,000 years. There are many origins to this story, but eventually, it came to mean that a person who was ill would be granted a wish if they made 1,000 cranes. Eight years after Hiroshima, a young Japanese girl was diagnosed with cancer as a result of radiation poisoning. She proceeded to create the "peace cranes" (as they only came to be known after this incident) so that she could make the wish that she could one day run again. Friends and family brought her paper in the hospital, and she made the cranes until she died, ultimately completing only 644 of them. Her classmates finished the remaining cranes so that she could could be buried with 1,000 of them. Today, in Hiroshima, a statue of the little girl stands holding a golden crane, as a memorial to all of the children killed in the Hiroshima bombing. Every year on "peace day" people worldwide send the "peace crane" as it has since come to be known to the statue. Google "peace crane story" for the full story, it's quite interesting reading.

[$ NAB $]

Can you post an instructable about this one

[Miscelinious]

with a lot of classic designs, including the crane, there are variations... my friend does everything I do except when he gets to step 5, he make the fold incomplete, so the neck of the crane is larger. a variation that i do make the crane into a flapping hummingbird, i'll make an instructable on that most likely. but its great that you have a different way, the one i have posted is the classic fold.

[OakCariad]

While stationed with the USAF in Korea in 1983 a Korean friend presented me with a birthday present in December: 1000 'swans' or 'Chun Hak' that she had made from cigarette wrappers, gum wrappers, etc., etc.....unbelievable to me the time and effort it took. none of the swans measures more than 2 inches! I was a Korean Linguist so I know that, in this instance, the '1000' number is important. In Korea, '1000 Swans' (Chun Hak) means good luck and all the things that that entails. I still have my swans or 'haks' and will cherish them always. Thanks for giving me an idea of just what she did to make this gift for me!

[kira kappuke-ki]

ok this is were i got stuck.
i dont get which part is the top bottom or end... and i just ripped my paper trying to figure it out. =(

[Miscelinious]

the bottom left area is the bottom. The top right is the top. The top left is the left side. and the bottom right is the right. You're taking the first flap on the bottom and folding it waaaay up, like how the tags say... You have to fold using the creases, or else it will turn out lopsided... So just follow the lines you folded. :)

[Miscelinious]

i'm sorry, its just pretty difficult to explain it, the best thing i can tell you is to look one step ahead and see if you can match up the folding process from the step you were currently on. what step are (were) you one? i can improve the directions if you can tell me which step is giving you trouble.

[ChrysN]

1000 is pretty awesome, I made a string of cranes hanging in my bedroom, they look really pretty that way. I used to fold them while watching TV (that way I don't feel like I'm wasting time when I'm sitting in front of the TV.)

[vargasdanny]

Nice ive always wanted to know how to make these cranes thanks for the good instructable and great job explaining. GL on the wish i have no patience for those lol.

[monkeymandi23]

I don't get what 'hinge" means in step 4

[Miscelinious]

its just where the paper folds on itself. i couldn't think of a better way to explain it..

[Yerboogieman]

Got leukemia?

[Miscelinious]

Thanks for the link, the Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes book was where i first head the thousand crane story. Thanks again

[REA]

»σΠΊλ seems like it would be painful. ill just stick to a couple a day.

[onaclov]

For Christmas, I gave my girlfriend 1000 of these. I managed to do it in 3 weeks. I spent all of my free time in school doing them, and even the teachers didn't mind, they thought it was really neat. My girlfriend loved them, and has them in a box on a shelf in her room. Definitely worth the effort, and these instructions are great to help you get started.

[Miscelinious]

That's really cool. Very soon, I'm going to string them all together and hang them. But for right now, i have put them in very nice boxes that are displaying them around my room. (:

[thepelton]

I saved a copy of this. This is neat. Regardless of getting your wish or not, they make nice decorations.

[15zhangfra]

oh...my..god...that...is...AWESOME. GOSH,I AM JEALOUS

[Jake-off]

thats friggin awesom. my friend john was trying to make 1000 of these before school ended. i think it drove him insane