Fold towels like popular animals and characters – 18 ideas & instructions

In many hotels and cruise ships, the towels on the bed and the bath towels in the bathroom are folded like different animals. This creates a fun atmosphere as soon as you enter the hotel room and is highly appreciated by most guests. The so-called towel origami art requires a special folding technique that is different for different animals and figures. If you would like to learn to fold a towel, then you have come to the right place! In the article you will find ideas and instructions for origamis made from towels that you can do yourself at home and will certainly impress your guests.

Fold the towel and transform it into any animals and figures

Folded towel figures are very popular with both adults and children. Using the precise folding technique, the towels can be transformed into animals such as swans, snails, rabbits, elephants, dogs and cats, as well as other figures such as flowers and hearts. An origami towel is not only suitable for decorating a bedroom or bathroom, but also as a creative gift for a birth.

For home and for guests

If you want to learn to fold towels to decorate your home, then you should learn and practice the appropriate technique. Small towel figures are not at all difficult to make yourself, although larger ones are a little more demanding. However, practice makes perfect here too and you can also learn the more difficult folding techniques. With beautiful towel figures you can make a good impression on your guests and make them smile.

Instructions – Bunny Towel Origami

Here is the simple folding technique for a small origami bunny made from a towel. The shawl is rolled, folded and tied with a hair tie as shown. Finally, the rabbit should be decorated appropriately to make it look more realistic. For example, googly eyes, a bow and cotton balls for the nose and tail are suitable for this.

Simply fold the little bunny yourself

If you are a beginner at folding towels, you can start with lighter shapes first. Simple towel origamis can be folded very quickly and don't necessarily need to be decorated.

Video instructions: Fold the towel into a bunny shape

Simple snail

You can fold a simple snail out of a single hand or bath towel. Place the cloth on a flat surface and roll the two longer sides tightly toward the middle. Then roll one side until the snail shell forms. Finally, carefully shape the eyes and the towel origami is ready.

Small snail made from different cloths

In the video you can see how a small snail is folded from a towel and a microfiber cloth. Since the body and shell of the snail are folded from different cloths, you can also choose different colors. The snail's antennae are made from a pipe cleaner that can be bent as desired.

Make your own elephant origami – instructions

If you want to fold an elephant out of towels, you will need two towels of different sizes, a washcloth, hair ties and two self-adhesive googly eyes. To ensure that the towel figure stays in place for longer, you can attach the individual parts with pins.

Folding technique for elephant towel origami

The exact folding technique for an elephant made of towels is shown here. The face, body and trunk of the elephant are folded from the two towels and the ears are from the washcloth. The hair ties are used to give the elephant's face a more precise shape.

The finished towel origami

The last steps are just to bend the elephant trunk, glue the googly eyes and the elephant origami is ready. It can be folded from towels of different colors and is perfect for a fun decoration in the bathroom.

Learn to fold towels

Some towel origamis are very easy to fold and don't take much time at all. The main thing is to learn the technique well and imitate it as accurately as possible. With a little practice and patience, you can make even more difficult towel figures yourself in a short time.

Folding technique for heart made of towel – good idea for Valentine’s Day

If you want to surprise your loved one on Valentine's Day or another occasion, you can fold a heart out of a towel yourself. You can find a simple folding technique in the video. For the romantic heart you need a medium-sized, rectangular towel. First lay the cloth in landscape format in front of you and place the index finger of your left hand on it. Then roll the bottom right corner of the towel up tightly. The roll should extend a few centimeters beyond the top edge of the towel. Repeat the same process with the left side. Finally you get a V shape. Bring the two ends into a heart tip and the beautiful towel heart is ready.

An interesting hobby

Towel origamis are not only beautiful ideas for decorating the bathroom or guest room, they can also become a good hobby. In Germany, some enthusiasts have developed a fan community for towel origami art. There you can discuss the different techniques and collect ideas and inspiration for towel figures.

A simple swan

For larger towel figures, you can use bath towels instead of hand towels. However, they should be rolled more tightly so as not to fall apart. For example, a simple swan can be folded from just a bath towel and without pins or hair ties. In the video below you will find out how a swan is folded and decorated with flowers like in beautiful hotels.

Video instructions

Different flowers

Not only animals, but also various figures such as flowers, cakes, hearts, T-shirts and many others can be folded from towels. A white lotus flower or a rose is always a good idea for the guest room because it looks really beautiful on the bed. If you want to welcome your guests home, you can make a good impression with a creative origami towel.

Instructions for flower origami

To make a towel flower, you need a rectangular towel that you fold into a square. Next, fold all four corners toward the center. Carefully place the towel on its back. Now you have to fold all corners towards the middle again. Place your hand in the middle of the towel and pull all corners from bottom to top. First, grab the bottom layer of the cloth at each corner and pull it up. A nice, summery decoration is ready in a flash.

Colored floral origami

Although most towel origamis are folded from white hand and bath towels, you can create an even more beautiful effect with colorful towels. For example, for a flower with a stem, you can fold a red and a green towel to create a nice contrast. Towel origami, which is intended to lie on a bed, does not need hair ties and pins. Simply fold the towels and leave them on the bed - it's that easy.

Popular towel characters – dog

dogs andCats are popular everywherePets, however, are a little more difficult to fold out of a towel. What is important is the correct design of the features that are characteristic of the animal in question. Eyes, nose and mouth made of different materials can also help you make the towel figure more realistic.

A multi-tiered cake made of towels is also a nice surprise for your guests and a great gift idea if you are invited to a birthday and want to give away towels in a creative and attractive way. Get 3 towels of different sizes. Place the largest towel in front of you and fold the long sides toward the middle. The towel is folded in the middle again. Roll it up and secure the end in the middle. Follow the same steps with the next cloths. Now all you have to do is put the cake together and put the individual tiers on top of each other. Let your creativity run wild and perhaps decorate the homemade cake with sweets or fresh flowers. You can be sure that the birthday child will be thrilled with the themed gift.

Maybe you want to fold towels in a cute way and make the children's room more personal or maybe you are looking for ideas for a gift for children, you can fold a teddy towel origami. It's quick and you can create a cute teddy bear in just a few steps. For this project you will need a towel, three thick rubber bands, glue dot and two googly eyes. First roll the two short sides of the towel towards the middle and turn the towel over. Take the top end of the roll and fold it over the remaining part to about the middle. Now unroll the folded piece to the right and left to the side and pull the protruding ends to the back of the roll.

Use the rubber bands to shape the bear's head and ears. Pull the ends of the towel out from behind the teddy's back, these will be the arms. Fold the towel up from the bottom side and the teddy's legs are visible. Paint the bear's snout on the glue dot and glue it and the googly eyes on. To hide the elastic band around your neck, you can tie a colorful gift ribbon around it.

Another variant of folding towels, which also looks very nice, is the towel T-shirt. Place a rectangular towel in front of you and fold one long side towards the middle. Also fold the other long side so that the two sides do not completely overlap. Twist the towel and fold it to create three layers. Now grab the two corners on the top side and open the towel so that it looks like a shirt collar. To make the Origami towel look like a real T-shirt, you can line up three buttons one below the other. If you don't have any buttons at hand, you can also use chocolates instead of buttons.