If you have ever wanted a paper animal that looks like it has already given up on being productive, Rilakkuma is your model. This is one of those folds where the personality comes almost entirely from the last thirty seconds: a few strokes of a pen turn a rounded little blob into a bear with a face, and it is genuinely hard not to smile at it. The folding itself is gentle — a triangle, some creases, a couple of flaps opened out and refolded — though you will need scissors for one step, so it is not a pure no-cut model. Round the corners as you go and the shape softens nicely. And once you have one, fold a second from white paper and you have Korilakkuma to keep it company.

How to fold Rilakkuma

STEP 1. Fold it into a triangle and make a crease.

STEP 2. Open it out once. Align the blue line with the crease you have just made (the red line), then fold.

STEP 3. Fold so that the ☆ and ★ marks meet.

STEP 4. Fold upward along the dotted line.

STEP 5. Now open everything out again.

STEP 6. Cut along the dotted line with scissors.

STEP 7. Open it out in the direction of the arrow.

STEP 8. Fold upward along the dotted line.

STEP 9. Open it out in the direction of the arrow.

STEP 10. Fold upward along the dotted line again.

STEP 11. Fold along the dotted line.

STEP 12. Fold the four corners.

STEP 13. Now turn it over.

STEP 14. Fold the back along the dotted line.

STEP 15. Draw a face and your Rilakkuma is finished!

Make Korilakkuma too

Did yours turn out cute?

If you fold it from white paper instead, you get Rilakkuma’s little companion, Korilakkuma.

Fold two of them and let them melt your heart.

Tips for folding

Where the model is folded so as to round off a corner, adjust the angle so the shape ends up as round as you can make it.