How to Make a Towel Giraffe
I’ve had a few google hits from people looking for instructions on how to fold a towel giraffe, so I thought I should write a post on that. Since I’ve never actually seen a towel giraffe I had to make up my own. This towel giraffe is entirely My Cruise Stories original creation.
Supplies Needed to Make a Towel Giraffe
1 Bath Towel Googly Eyes or other eyes
1 Hand Towel Pipe Cleaner (AKA chenille stem)
Yarn Piece of Pipe Cleaner (AKA fuzzy stick)
rubber band
How to Make a Giraffe Tail
Loop a few strands of yarn around your fingers or some other object to make even loops. Hook one end of a pipe cleaner over all the loops and twist it tight.
Cut through the loops at end farthest from pipe cleaner to make single strands. Even up ends of strands with scissors.
How to Fold a Towel Giraffe Body
Use the closest color towel you have to the color of a real giraffe. If the pattern on these towels had been solid rather than outlines these would have been perfect, but they were the best I could find.
Lay the bath towel out flat with the side you want on the outside down. Fold a couple inches over on both long sides of the towel.

put the tail between the rolls and then roll them tightly together with just the end part of the tail sticking out
Tightly roll each end of the towel to the middle from the short ends. Put the finished tail between the rolls and place the body in a standing position, rolled side up.
Try to make the front end taller than the back because that’s how real giraffes are. Any extra pipe cleaner between the rolls and not sticking out for the tail can help with shaping the body.
How to Fold a Towel Giraffe Head
Lay a long hand towel down flat with the side you want on the outside down. Fold one short end partway over the towel. About 1/3 of the length of the towel after folding should be single and about 2/3 double. The amount left in a single layer at the first fold should just come over the end of the folded over part after the corners are folded down.
From the center of the unfolded end, fold over each corner into a triangle. The two triangles should meet at the center, but not cross over each other. The edges of each triangle should just cover over the end of the original fold.
Fold over the pointed end of the towel so the new fold comes halfway to the ends of the two triangles.
Fold the end over again. It should sit even with the edges of the two triangles.
Fold the folded end in half. You can pick the towel up as you do this, making sure none of the other folds come undone. Fold with all the prior folds on the outside and bring both sides of the folded end together, don’t worry about the rest of the towel for now so long as nothing comes unfolded.
Hold both sides of the towel together tightly underneath the folded center so it resembles a head. While holding the folded end together with one hand, find the points of the two triangles underneath the fold with the other hand and carefully pull them out for ears without disturbing the rest of the head.
Tuck the head under your chin with the ears at the back toward your neck and the nose at the front toward your chin. Your chin needs to keep a tight hold on the head while your hands gather hanging towel on both sides.
Take one side of the towel in one hand and the other side of the towel in the other hand and roll them toward the center as tightly as you can. Make sure the top part is tight and then work your way down until the whole thing becomes two tight rolls.
While holding the neck so it stays tightly rolled, take the head out from under your chin.
Put a rubber band around the bottom end of the rolls so they can’t come undone.
Shape the head and ears as desired.
How to Make Horns for a Towel Giraffe
Giraffes have knobby little horns. To make horns for the towel giraffe, take a small piece of a pipe cleaner and fold over each end.
Finishing the Towel Giraffe
Use a bit of double stick tape under the bit between the horns to stick the horns to the top of the giraffe’s head. If you have googly eyes use double stick tape to add those to the head as well. If you don’t have eyes you can make some with bits of felt or paper.
Carefully place the head between the rolls at the front of the body. Push the rolls back together as much as possible after inserting the head. Adjust the body, head, and tail positions as desired.
If you are a first time towel animal folder you may want to try something easier, like the penguin. The head of the giraffe is rather tricky, making it one of the more difficult towel animals to fold.
For instructions on how to fold lots of other towel animals visit My Cruise Stories towel animal page.
For an LB original creation, this giraffe is brilliant. Well done 😀
Thanks!
Well done using a brown towel with a pattern .. thus no albino giraffe.
It is nice to have color options – unlike the stateroom stewards whose choices are white or white or maybe white.
I looked for giraffe print bath towels online, but I could only find towels half-trimmed in giraffe print. That would not cut it for a towel giraffe. I think the print you chose works quite well. You are quite an expert at folding towel animals. I can barely fold my bath towels into rectangle shapes. Folding fitted sheets is the bane of my existence.
I couldn’t find giraffe print towels either, this was the closest thing I found. I never thought about folding a sheet into an animal, but odds are it would not go well because my sheets are not neatly folded in the closet. Not even the non-fitted ones. Almost closer to rolled than folded, though not intentionally. Guess I’ll stick with towels for making animals.
Simply Superb 🙂 🙂