When you think about Christmas decorations one of the iconic images that come to mind is the Christmas Tree. And it’s no surprise, people have been using Christmas Trees to decorate their homes since the 16th Century!
So when I was trying to think of a Christmas craft to make with my kids, of course, I thought about Christmas Trees first!
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Easy Christmas Craft – Pop-Up Christmas Tree Card
In this tutorial, I’m going to show you how to make a cute pop-up Christmas Tree card that you can have fun making and send to friends and family.
This is such a fun winter activity for kids to make and you will have a lot of fun making these together. Your kids can then give the card to friends, family or even their teacher.
Depending on the age of your children, they might need a bit of help, but for older kids or teens, this is an easy craft for them to do with minimal help.
Supplies
This pop-up Christmas card uses very basic supplies that you probably already have around the house because the last thing you need at this time of year is to have to go to the store to get craft supplies! (My other favorite Christmas craft is the Resin Christmas Ornaments, but they require quite a few special supplies!)
You will need:
- A thick piece of card (any card will work)
- A small piece of yellow or gold card
- Leftover Christmas wrapping paper
- Glue
- Scissors
That’s it! Simple, right?
For the leftover wrapping paper, I recommend looking through your supplies at home for 2 different patterns/colors that compliment each other well. Think red and green, silver and blue, gold and red, or even gold and silver.
If you don’t have any leftover wrapping paper, then you can use plain colored paper instead for this pop-up Christmas tree card.
A quick note about the glue, I used hot glue, but you can use a glue stick instead if you are doing this craft with younger kids. It will just take a little longer for the glue to dry.
Step 1: Fold Your Card
Fold your think card in half, so it makes a portrait orientated card. This is going to the be base of your card.
Step 2: Cut your Christmas Paper
Cut several rectangles from your leftover wrapping paper (or plain colored paper). Make sure that each rectangle is ascending in size. The exact size will depend on how big you want your pop-up Christmas tree card to me.
For this example there are 7 rectangles with the following dimensions:
- 4″ by 2″
- 3.5″ by 1.5″
- 3″ by 1.5″
- 2.5″ by 1″
- 2″ by 1″
- 1.5″ by 0.5″
Step 3: Folding the Paper
Once you’ve cut out your rectangles you want to make a zigzag fold lengthwise along the rectangle. The width of the fold is up to you, but 3 or 5 folds should work (you want an odd number of folds).
The more folds, the thinner that layer of the Christmas tree will be.
Step 4: Making the Layers
Fold each piece in half and glue the edges of the zigzag together. You should end up with a small semi-circle fan. Each one of these will make a layer of your pop-up Christmas tree.
Step 5: Putting the Layers in the Card
Once your glue has dried on your fan layers, you can assemble the card. Starting with the smallest layer near the top of the card, glue one side of the fan to the card with the fold on the fan lining up with the fold of the card in the middle.
Continue adding each layer in size order until you have the biggest layer at the bottom.
Step 6: Making the Star
Using the yellow or gold card, cut out a small star to glue to the top of your tree!
You could also cut out a tiny angel for the top of the tree is you would prefer!
Step 7: Admire Your Pop-Up Christmas Tree Card!
You are finished! You can stand back and admire your card! Now you just need to write a little message and it’s ready to send to your friend or family member!
You can even just display your card at home, the classroom or at work to bring a little bit of homemade Christmas cheer to your space!
Pop-up Christmas Tree Card
This is a simple and fun Christmas craft you can make with kids of all ages. Younger children will need help, older kids and teens will be able to make this on their own!
Materials
- Thick Card
- Yellow or Gold Card
- Leftover Christmas wrapping paper
Tools
- Scissors
- Glue
Instructions
- Fold your think card in half, so it makes a portrait orientated card. This is going to the be base of your card.
- Cut several rectangles from your leftover wrapping paper (or plain colored paper). Make sure that each rectangle is ascending in size. The exact size will depend on how big you want your pop-up Christmas tree card to me.
- Once you've cut out your rectangles you want to make a zigzag fold lengthwise along the rectangle. The width of the fold is up to you, but 3 or 5 folds should work (you want an odd number of folds).
- Fold each piece in half and glue the edges of the zigzag together. You should end up with a small semi-circle fan. Each one of these will make a layer of your pop-up Christmas tree.
- Once your glue has dried on your fan layers, you can assemble the card. Starting with the smallest layer near the top of the card, glue one side of the fan to the card with the fold on the fan lining up with the fold of the card in the middle.
- Using the yellow or gold card, cut out a small star to glue to the top of your tree!
- You are finished! You can stand back and admire your card! Now you just need to write a little message and it's ready to send to your friend or family member!
Notes
The size of the rectangles will depend on how big you want your pop-up tree to be. For this example there are 7 rectangles with the following dimensions:
- 4" by 2"
- 3.5" by 1.5"
- 3" by 1.5"
- 2.5" by 1"
- 2" by 1"
- 1.5" by 0.5"
