Looking to impress your child’s teachers, grandparents, and friends? Maybe you love crafting and are just looking for an excuse to make cards with your child. Whatever, the reason, pop-up valentines will delight anyone who receives—or makes one.
As much as I’d love to take credit for these adorable cards, I got the directions at famed children’s author, Robert Sabuda’s website. If you’ve ever bought a spectacular pop-up book, it was likely his. My primary school teacher mom introduced me to his work. For free, he shows you how to make animal (harder) or heart (easier) pop-ups for cards.
Get the right paper
For this project, we used card stock and construction paper. We got plain card stock with envelopes at Target. They ones we used were 5.75 x 4.5-inch, but anything up to 5 by 7-inch cards would be fine. We used construction paper for the pop-ups because we were able to run it through the printer and fold it a little more easily. (Note: you’ll have to cut the construction paper down to 8.5 by 11-inch so it will go through your machine.)
Paper cutter needed
The other tool you’ll want to have is a rotary trimmer. It’s a paper cutter but without the big blade (like from elementary school). It will make your edges straight when you trim the construction paper. You’ll also need a sharp pair of scissors.
Don’t forget the fun stuff
Wiggle eyes and eyelashes made the animal (and heart!) pop-ups come to life. We also used markers, ribbon, stickers, and stampers to decorate the front and back of the cards.
How Hard Is It?
Robert Sabuda’s pop-ups range from easy to difficult. The heart cards are easy enough for a kindergartner to do with supervision. Some will challenge adults. In our house, I mostly did the pop-ups, and I let my son decorate the cards. I also let him glue on the eyeballs, etc. It will depend on your child’s dexterity and patience.
The key is to score (I used the rounded edge of a paper clip) the paper where he tells you to before you fold.
There you have it! If you have a crafty kid or you’re just waiting for an excuse to bust out the construction paper, this project is for you!
Share with us! Do you make your own Valentine’s? If so, how do you do it?