Chinese Dragon/Sea Serpent

Designed by Michael G. LaFossse, 2002

One of the twelve characters in the Chinese zodiac is the dragon. Michael LaFosse designed this cute little dollar bill baby dragon for the Origami Activities book by Tuttle. Too small to be scary, they look great on greeting cards, place cards, and can make a distinctive tip without a great investment in time or money.

1 Begin with the obverse side up. Fold in half, long edge to long edge. Unfold.

2 Fold the top and bottom right-side corners to the crease.

3 Fold the square corner of each triangle to touch the middle of its opposite edge.

4 Fold the tip of the right corner over for a nose.

5 Your bill should look like this. Turn over, top to bottom.

6 Fold the top and bottom corners of the left edge to the crease.

7 Fold the long edges to meet at the middle.

8 Fold the left edges in to meet at the middle, making the corner narrow.

9 Fold in half, lengthwise.

10 Inside-reverse fold the entire length of paper behind the head.

11 Using a series of inside-reverse folds, form an undulating body and tail.

12 Bring up the two triangle flaps for horns.

13 Fold up the bottom edges of the jaw-line for whiskers.

14 You may adjust the angle of the head and form other details, such as sharper horns.

15 The Chinese Dragon / Sea Serpent.