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Origami Santa Face

Fold Santa’s face from a square, including a pointed cap with a narrow brim and a broad beard with clipped corners. A small rear pleat shortens the face. Draw eyes and a nose to finish.

Preparation + 10 numbered steps

Materials

6-inch square · 6 × 6 inches

One thin 6 × 6-inch square (15.24 cm), ideally red on one side and white on the other. Begin red side up with horizontal and vertical edges. Ruler and pencil for guide marks; optional pen for the face. No cuts or glue.

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Read all illustrated steps ↓Download PDF ↓ · one-page illustrated guide
Origami Santa Face: a pointed cap, narrow brim and broad folded beard
A pointed cap, narrow brim and broad folded beard

Follow along

Preparation

The interactive guide needs JavaScript. Read every illustrated step below.

Camera only; does not change the fold.
Help · controls & diagram

Play or drag the progress slider to watch a fold from 0% to 100%. Use the view buttons or drag the diagram to look from another angle.

Blue and gold track the original halves of one sheet, not its red and white colors. Darker shades show the reverse. Orange marks moving paper. Eyes and nose are optional drawn ink.

With the diagram focused: Space plays or pauses, ←/→ change steps, and Home resets.

Every step, at a glance

Compare your paper with each diagram after completing the action. Blue and gold track the original halves of one sheet, not its red and white colors. Darker shades show the reverse. Orange marks moving paper. Eyes and nose are optional drawn ink.

  1. 0. Prepare the square
  2. 1. Fold a narrow right hem
  3. 2. Fold a matching left hem
  4. 3. Turn the whole sheet over
  5. 4. Form the right half of the cap
  6. 5. Form the left half of the cap
  7. 6. Begin the rear face pleat
  8. 7. Return the face downward
  9. 8. Bevel the right beard corner
  10. 9. Bevel the left beard corner
  11. 10. Draw Santa’s face
  1. END STATEOriginal left: blue · right: goldPrepare the square

    PREPARATION · Origami Club: Santa Face3, measured fold landmarks

    Prepare the square

    Place the square red side up, with horizontal top and bottom edges. Lightly mark the midpoint of the top edge.

    Layers: One uncut sheet.

    Check: The top midpoint is 3 inches from either corner.

    Explore this step ↑
  2. END STATEOriginal left: blue · right: goldFold a narrow right hem

    STEP 1 · Origami Club: Santa Face3, measured fold landmarks

    Fold a narrow right hem

    Fold the right edge inward by 0.30 inch (about 8 mm). Keep the crease vertical.

    Layers: Move the complete narrow strip.

    Check: A white strip appears along the right edge.

    Explore this step ↑
  3. END STATEOriginal left: blue · right: goldFold a matching left hem

    STEP 2 · Origami Club: Santa Face3, measured fold landmarks

    Fold a matching left hem

    Fold the left edge inward by the same 0.30 inch.

    Layers: Move the complete left strip.

    Check: The two narrow hems have equal widths.

    Explore this step ↑
  4. END STATEOriginal left: blue · right: goldTurn the whole sheet over

    STEP 3 · Origami Club: Santa Face3, measured fold landmarks

    Turn the whole sheet over

    Turn the entire sheet over from side to side, keeping the top edge at the top.

    Layers: Carry both hems with the sheet.

    Check: The plain white side faces you; the hems are behind.

    Explore this step ↑
  5. END STATEOriginal left: blue · right: goldForm the right half of the cap

    STEP 4 · Origami Club: Santa Face3, measured fold landmarks

    Form the right half of the cap

    Fold the top-right corner toward the vertical center. Crease from the top midpoint to a point on the right edge 2.70 inches below the top.

    Layers: Carry the entire corner, including its narrow hem.

    Check: The old top edge aligns with the vertical center; the side hem becomes half of the brim.

    Explore this step ↑
  6. END STATEOriginal left: blue · right: goldForm the left half of the cap

    STEP 5 · Origami Club: Santa Face3, measured fold landmarks

    Form the left half of the cap

    Mirror the fold from the top midpoint to a point 2.70 inches down the left edge.

    Layers: Carry the whole left corner and its hem.

    Check: A pointed cap sits above a horizontal brim.

    Explore this step ↑
  7. END STATEOriginal left: blue · right: goldBegin the rear face pleat

    STEP 6 · Origami Club: Santa Face3, measured fold landmarks

    Begin the rear face pleat

    Mark a horizontal line 3.70 inches below the original top point. Fold the lower rectangle behind and upward on that line. The Back view shows this movement.

    Layers: Carry the full width of the lower face behind the cap and brim.

    Check: The bottom edge rises behind the cap.

    Explore this step ↑
  8. END STATEOriginal left: blue · right: goldReturn the face downward

    STEP 7 · Origami Club: Santa Face3, measured fold landmarks

    Return the face downward

    On the raised rear flap, make a horizontal crease 0.20 inch above the last hinge. Fold the upper part away from the front and down again.

    Layers: Move only the raised rear flap, leaving a short doubled band between the two hinges.

    Check: The lower edge now sits 0.40 inch higher than before.

    Explore this step ↑
  9. END STATEOriginal left: blue · right: goldBevel the right beard corner

    STEP 8 · Origami Club: Santa Face3, measured fold landmarks

    Bevel the right beard corner

    Viewed from the front, mark 0.75 inch inward along the bottom from the right corner and 0.75 inch up the right side. Fold the corner behind along the line joining those marks.

    Layers: Carry every layer of the small corner.

    Check: The beard has a sloping lower-right edge.

    Explore this step ↑
  10. END STATEOriginal left: blue · right: goldBevel the left beard corner

    STEP 9 · Origami Club: Santa Face3, measured fold landmarks

    Bevel the left beard corner

    Mirror the two 0.75-inch marks and fold the lower-left corner behind.

    Layers: Carry every layer of the left corner.

    Check: The beard has matching sloping sides and a level base.

    Explore this step ↑
  11. END STATEOriginal left: blue · right: goldDraw Santa’s face

    STEP 10 · Origami Club: Santa Face3, measured fold landmarks

    Draw Santa’s face

    Add two eyes below the brim and an oval nose underneath. Leave the broad lower panel as a white beard. The marks shown are optional ink.

    Layers: No paper moves; do not cut the facial features.

    Check: The pointed cap, narrow brim and shaped beard complete Santa’s face.

    Explore this step ↑
Sources & notes

Origami Club; diagram copyright Fumiaki Shingu, Santa Face3 (undated web diagram).

Complete Santa Face3 diagram ↗ · Reference model page ↗

The source diagram credits copyright to Fumiaki Shingu. Traditional status, public-domain status and a design-reuse license are not established. No reference artwork, photographs, prose or code is redistributed. These instructions, geometry and drawings are independently authored.

Adaptation: Uses the source’s two narrow side hems, turnover, paired upper corners, rear step fold and lower corner shaping. Exact 0.30-inch hems, a rear upfold 3.70 inches below the original top edge, a return 0.20 inch above that hinge, and 0.75-inch beard bevels are authored reproducible proportions, not measurements specified by the diagram. The two parts of the rear pleat are shown separately; Back views expose those folds. Original optional ink is added only after folding.

Original instructions and diagrams, made with AI assistance. About & reuse

Accuracy notes

Real-paper follow-along and paper weight have not been tested. Diagrams illustrate the sequence, not paper thickness, contact, collisions or exact layer visibility. One continuous 36-square-inch sheet with rigid hinges, full hem/corner packets and a two-stage rear pleat; static, interactive, hero and PDF endpoints share the same geometry. Zero-thickness teaching diagrams do not certify finite thickness, crease retention or physical foldability. Real-paper folding has not been tested.