Paper vegetables have a quiet kind of charm: they never wilt, they cost one sheet each, and a bowl of them on a shelf somehow makes a room feel warmer. This cabbage is a lovely place to start, because the whole thing is built from one centre crease — fold the sides in, layer the leaves, and the round, wrapped-up shape appears almost by itself at the end. Kids tend to love this one for pretend cooking and market stalls, and it pairs naturally with paper carrots, tomatoes and mushrooms if you want to build out a whole vegetable patch. Use green on both sides if you have it, or plain green copy paper works fine too; slightly different shades make the finished cabbages look like they were picked on different days.

STEP 1

Fold the paper in half and crease it well, then unfold it.

STEP 2

Fold the paper in to the position shown in the photo.

STEP 3

Fold it again at the position shown in the photo.

STEP 4

Fold the other side in exactly the same way.

STEP 5

Fold the top down at the position shown in the photo.

STEP 6

Fold the paper at the position shown in the photo.

STEP 7

Fold it upwards at the position shown in the photo.

STEP 8

Fold the paper at the position shown in the photo to round off the leaves.

STEP 9

Turn the model over.

All done!

Your origami cabbage is finished. Fold a few in different greens and line them up for a tiny paper vegetable patch.