Origami is an ancient Japanese folk art of paper folding, that still has many enthusiasts all over the world. One of the easiest arts and crafts to learn, the etymology of the word origami can be traced back to the words ori which means folding and kami which means paper. The main goal of origami is to create paper sculptures from small pieces of paper by folding and sculpting techniques. The oldest examples of origami are two paper butterflies called Mecho and Ocho which adorn Japanese wine bottles at wedding ceremonies. Simple Origami Butterfly ■ Take a square piece of paper and fold it diagonally to make a triangle. Now fold the triangle in half to make smaller triangle. ■ Fold one corner of the triangle upwards to make a wing and then the other corner upwards to form the second wing. ■ Open the butterfly out and press on the body of the butterfly to make the wings flap. The next method is slightly complex. It is the traditional way of making an origami butterfly. Complex Origami Butterfly ■ Take a square piece of paper that is used for origami and other paper crafts. ■ Fold this piece of paper into half, both ways. Crease it well and then open it out ensuring that the lines created by the fold are visible. After this, fold the paper diagonally both ways, again making sure that you crease the paper well. ■ Open the paper and now fold the four corners of the paper to meet at the center. Turn the paper around and again fold the four corners to meet at the center. Now open up the paper and ensure that the creases formed by all the folds are visible. ■ Fold the outsides of the paper to meet at the center. ■ For your convenience, mentally divide the folded paper structure into half. Now imagine a triangle at the lower half of each half and mark out the three edges of the triangle. Holding from the inside of the upper edge, bring the respective folds towards the lower two points of the triangle. You will now have a structure that looks like a column with a triangular formation at the pinnacle. ■ Fold the top edge downwards and flatten the same to form a column like structure with an inverted boat on the top. ■ Now turn the structure upside down and repeat step number five. Fold the top half of the folded paper backwards to form a boat like structure. Next you will need to fold down the corners of the outside front part. ■ Fold parts of the outside corners of the paper inwards to form tiny wing like structures. Now fold the entire piece of paper in half and then the top layer should be folded backwards. Now fold the back wing backwards at the same angle as the earlier fold. ■ Now open out the same and you have your butterfly. Although origami is an easy art, it requires practice to reach perfection. Use different-colored origami papers to add fun to this craft, and practice until you get the perfect origami butterfly.