Autumn’s Gentle Glow: Folding Kite Paper Toadstools

This blog post is a gentle, step-by-step tutorial showing you how to fold beautiful origami toadstools, perfect for gracing your autumnal windows. With their bright caps and charming shapes, these little paper mushrooms bring a touch of woodland magic indoors, especially when the golden light of autumn shines through them.

Before we start folding, let’s take a moment to talk about kite paper, one of my favourite materials for origami and nature-inspired crafts. Kite paper is a beautifully translucent, wax-like paper that lets light shine softly through it, giving your finished pieces a gentle glow. It is a little sturdier than regular tissue paper, which makes it easier to fold and shape, especially for delicate projects like this toadstool. You can find two sizes of kite paper available in our shop here.

Originally used for making traditional kites, kite paper has also become a much-loved material in Waldorf-inspired crafts, perfect for folding window stars, lanterns and other creations that play with light and colour. It comes in an array of rich, vibrant shades that are often lightfast, so your toadstool will stay bright and cheerful wherever you display it.

1. Start with 2 sheets of kite paper the same size - here I have used 16 x 16cm sheets which can be found here.

2. Starting with a red sheet, fold diagonally, then unfold and fold diagonally in the other direction. This will make a cross to mark the centre of your paper.

3. Open your paper up, and then fold the top corner down to the centre mark where your two diagonal folds crossed.

4. Fold the bottom corner up so that it aligns with the top of the fold you have just created.

Now unfold the top fold, and refold so that the points of the kite paper are touching.

5. finally fold in one of the side corners.....

6. and then the other, and the top of you toadstool is complete.

7. Now to make the stem.  Fold the kite paper diagonally to create a centre crease, then fold one corner in so the corner is aligned with the crease as pictured.

8. Fold in the corner on the other side.

9. now make a second fold, so that the edge of the kite paper aligns with the centre fold as show.

10. Repeat on the other side.

11. Now make a fold along the bottom edge as pictured.

12. Attach you toadstool cap with some glue.

And now your toadstool in complete.

You can make your toadstools in any size you like. All you need to do is start with two squares of kite paper, both the same size, for each toadstool. They look especially lovely when made in a variety of sizes and arranged along the bottom of a window frame, where they catch the light and create a little forest of colour.

With warmth

Mama Oak