DIY Pop Up Cards

Today's column is by Oh Happy Day contributor Michaela of Bliss!

I've been seeing a lot of pop-up cards around the web lately, all using very intricate, sometimes complicated folding and glueing techniques. Since I'm really more of the simple-diy-lover, I've put together a quick and versatile pop-up card tutorial. The idea is that you can use one basic technique for an endless amount of different pop-up cards.



Start with a simple card and fold it in half. Then cut parallel lines (in pairs of the same length) into the middle fold as shown in the picture. The cuts should be max half the length of the card (otherwise they'll stand out when you close it). Push the flaps forward until your card looks like in the bottom picture.



Now start crafting the bits and pieces to display in your card. I made some balloons and a Good Luck sign for this one. Stick these with paper glue onto the front (not top) part of the folded out flaps. Now when you close your card, it'll look like in the bottom left picture. Just take a 2nd card and glue it on to cover the outside.



Stick some more balloons, or whatever it is you're crafting, onto the flaps and voilà - you're done. You could still add a background to the top and bottom halves. Stick on some clouds in the top part, some grass in the lower one for example.



In the same way you can also create text cards (Happy Birthday), fields of flowers or rows of trees. These would be great for birthday's, graduation, Father's Day or really just about anything.



All photos by Michaela for Oh Happy Day.