Make Your Own Towel Origami Elephant 

This also works well with napkins!

What you'll need:
One bath towel
One hand towel
Chocolate coin eyes (optional)

Instructions:
This is easily put together with one hand towel and one bath towel, and it's just like the origami elephants Manuel creates when he turns down Jason's bed each evening. 

1. Lay your bath towel out flat. If it's not reasonably flat, you may need to iron it.

2. Fold the ends in by 6 or so inches (15 centimeters). 

3. Fold the folded ends in again the same distance.

4. Roll the hem edges toward the middle of the towel, forming a double "scroll" look. 

5. Fold the "scroll" so that the rolls are facing "out". (This forms the body and legs of the elephant.)

6. Stand the legs up and set aside. 

7. Lay the hand towel flat.. 

8. Pin or clip the center of a long side to something (such as the leg of a chair).

9. Place your hands on the towel edge near the fastened point and begin to roll the edge away from that point, sliding your hands away from the point as you roll, forming a long, pointed, double roll. The trick is to pull the towel taut as you roll it 

10. Continue to the center till you can't roll it anymore.. 

11. Turn the roll over so that the flat, non rolled side faces up, towards you.

12. Roll the narrow pointed end (where you fastened the middle point) up in a tight roll to form the trunk. Squeeze slightly to help the towel keep a curl in it once it's released. 

13. Grasp the flat area of the towel, between your two towel points at the side that's facing down, and unroll it away from the center. This will spread the "wide end" points out into "ears" and form the "forehead" of the elephant.

14. Place the head on top of the legs, positioning for the most natural look.

15. Add optional chocolate coin eyes... and proudly display your elephant!

If you've enjoyed the information on this page, please consider buying my novel Cold Play. The story is set on a cruise ship in Alaska, and the crafts on this page were inspired by the daily passenger activities which take place on board the ship. 

In Cold Play, Jason Davey has literally run away to sea after the death of his makeup artist wife, finding work as a contract entertainer aboard a much-adored but soon-to-be-retired cruise ship, the Star Sapphire. But when three people from his past come board as passengers, Jason's routine week-long trip to Alaska becomes anything but.

Cold Play by Winona Kent

Instructions provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Author credits can be found at the original wikiHow article on How to Fold a Towel Elephant. All content on wikiHow is shared under a Creative Commons license.