DIY Pop-up Holiday Card

The #2 most popular Winter Holiday post is Ryan’s Pop-up Card. You still have time to make these and get them in the mail. What a lovely way to personalize your holiday greetings!

Santa, snowmen or snow scenes are usually the only option for the Christmas card. And we always tuck a picture of our kids inside, which ends up getting stuck up on the fridge or awkwardly leaned on the mantel. Ryan has managed to personalize her annual Christmas card in a way that eliminates the loose, flyaway kids pic and makes the cover of the card so much more special.

Submitted by: Ryan Lockhart

Christmas has always been my favourite time of year.  As a child, I remember hours spent listening to holiday music while making red and green paper chains, snowman dough ornaments and wreaths with ribbons, nuts and pinecones. Now that I’m a mom, I’m chomping at the bit to dive into holiday crafting with my oldest little elf. But first things first – we need to make our annual family Christmas cards.

Since we welcomed a new member to the family this year, I wanted to create something special by personalizing my cards with a family photo and a touch of colour for some holiday cheer.  It took a little time to stick the pieces together (I recruited my husband, and an older child could definitely help too) but it was definitely worth it.

If you’re looking to involve the kids in your card making, Dollarama has fantastic holiday stickers or you could use stamps with festive coloured ink (Michael’s sells kid-friendly washable ink).

Materials (for 50 cards):

• Photos (25 sheets, each with two images – $9 at Black’s)
• One sheet of Bristol board ($1 at Dollarama)
• Mounting squares ($3 for 3 packages at Dollarama)
• Gold and silver metallic permanent markers ($1 for a pack of two at Dollarama)
• Blank cards with envelopes (Mine were from Grand and Toy and were left over from my wedding)

I also used:

• Measuring tape
• Paper cutter
• X-Acto knife
• Pencil
• Straight edge (I used a long level)
• Pencil
• Scissors

Step 1: I used a measuring tape to estimate the size of photo I would need to fit on the front of my cards. I had the photos professionally printed and then used my paper cutter to trim each one, leaving a white border (I just eyeballed each cut).

Step 2: To add some Christmas flair, I used red Bristol board to create a colourful border around each photo. To do so, I placed a trimmed photo on my Bristol board sheet and measured out a rectangle a few millimetres larger than my photo (make sure it is also smaller than the front of your card). For me this meant a 3-inch by 4-inch rectangle. Using my measuring tape, I divided my Bristol board into 4-inch columns and cut each strip using an X-Acto knife and straight edge.  I then used my paper cutter to make the final cuts. 

Step 3: I wanted my photo and red border to “pop” off the card so I used mounting squares to get the effect (you could also use double sided tape if you don’t care and want to speed up the job).  Since the photo paper is flimsy, I cut each mounting square into four and stuck one piece to each corner on the back of the photo and then stuck it on the red square (I just eyeballed). The paper used for the red rectangle is sturdier so I cut a mounting square in half and stuck one piece to each side of the rectangle before attaching it to the front of my card.

Step 4: Using a metallic marker, I wrote “Merry Christmas!” inside each card, leaving room for us to add a personalized message.

It took a little time but I love how the photo of my little elves pops off the page.  It was definitely worth the effort.

Ryan is a mom of two sweet boys (as is evidenced by the above photo), and a public relations professional. This is the first blog post she’s ever written.