How to Make a Christmas Pop-Up Card

A lot of people make homemade Christmas cards for loved ones, but few realize how easy it is to make a Christmas pop-up card. With a few supplies, you can make as many of these cards as you want for very little expense. Pop-up Christmas cards also are a wonderful activity for children, so don't forget to include the little ones in this project.

Things You'll Need

• Two pieces of medium-weight paper or card stock
• Pencil
• Colored pencils
• Scissors
• Glue stick

Instructions

1. Fold your paper in half width-wise and press along the fold. Cut the paper in half along the fold. One half will be the outside of the card, while the other will become the inside of the card.

2. Fold both sheets in half width-wise and press. Set aside one paper for the outside piece of the card and open up the other for the inside.

3. 

   Draw the background for your pop-up along the inside top half of the card. This drawing could be an outdoor scene of snow or the inside of a home with a Christmas tree or lit fireplace. Color in the drawing as you wish to fill in the top portion of the card.

4. 

   Fold the card over along the crease, closing the drawing inside. At the crease, cut two parallel lines relatively close to each other and no more than an inch into the drawing to create a pop-up tab. Each set of two cuts creates one tab. One or more tabs can be used for each card.

5. 

   Fold the tabs up and press. Flip the card over and fold the tabs up in the other direction and press. Open the card and push the tabs inside it. Close the card with the tabs inside and press.

6. Draw your pop-up images on a separate sheet of paper. Color in and cut out the images along the outline as close to your drawing's edge as possible.

7. 

   Open your card and glue the images to the vertical portion of the tab. Allow time for the glue to dry. If you have multiple pop-up images you want to use on the same card, create all your tabs ahead of time and glue all the images at the same time so they can dry together.

8. Decorate the set-aside piece that will be the card's outside any way you wish. Put glue on the back of your card front and place your pop-up portion in it to hide your tabs. Allow time for the glue to dry before you write your message below the drawing.

Tips & Warnings

• You also can use old Christmas cards or pictures cut out from magazines to create the background and pop-up images if you don't feel comfortable drawing them yourself. To create even more of a three-dimensional effect, vary the length of your tabs. Long tabs will put images closer to the reader, making the shorter tab items appear to be further in the distance.

References

• Pop-Up Cards; Sandi Genovese; 2008