Creating a pop up card is a way to make your Valentine’s Day card more unique and special. Pop up cards might seem a little intimidating at first, but when you take them step by step you’ll end up with a great card that is sure to impress.
This post is going to walk through 7 steps to make a pop up Valentine’s Day card, and I’ll also note the different ways you can customize and personalize the card for the person you’re making it for.
Supplies needed to make a pop up Valentine’s Day card
Here are all of the supplies you need to create a Valentine’s Day pop up card:
- Cardstock in various colors and patterns
- Pencil
- Ruler
- X-Acto knife
- Cutting mat
- Sticker letters
- Hot glue gun or other adhesive of your choice
- Heart shaped hole punch (optional)
Now that you have your supplies, let’s make a pop up Valentine’s Day card!
1. Fold your card base
The first step is to fold the base of your card. I decided to create a 5 in x 7 in card, so I cut a 12 in x 12 in piece of paper into 10 in x 7 in so it would fold into the size I need.
Typically a solid color works best for your base, and then you will use additional patterns for the other elements of the card. When selecting your paper for this project, think about what type of color scheme you want. I typically find that the key to mixing patterns in a way that looks cohesive is to choose patterns that incorporate similar colors.
I chose a classic Valentine’s Day color palette with light pink, dark pink, white, and gold. However, you can pick any colors the recipient will love or that you think look great together.
2. Cut slits across the fold of the card
The next step to make your Valentine’s Day pop up card is to cut slits across the fold of the card. This is how you will make the hearts pop up when the card opens. I chose to have four hearts pop up to spell out the word love with alternating distances to give them a staggered look.
To do this, you’ll measure and cut 8 slits across the fold of the card. I chose to use a pencil to mark the cuts before going in with the X-Acto knife, but you can also choose to just cut with the ruler as your guide.
To create the pop ups that are closer to you, you’ll cut two slits 2 inches long (about 1 inch on either side of the fold) and 0.5 inches apart from each other. To create the pop up that is further away from you, you’ll cut two slits 1 inch long (about 0.5 inches on either side of the fold) and 0.5 inches apart from each other.
I found it best to leave at least 1 inch between each set of slits to allow space for the hearts, but you can adjust as you see fit.
Once you have cut the slits across the fold, erase any remaining pencil lines if you chose to mark the cuts.
Then, fold the card closed and ensure the slits fold inwards. These are where you are going to mount your pop up shapes.
3. Cut out the heart shapes
Next, you will cut out the heart shapes to mount on to the slits you just created. You can also choose other shapes, but in this instance I used hearts by taking a heart shaped hole punch and cutting several hearts out of different patterns and colors within my color scheme.
If you don’t have a heart shaped hole punch you can cut them by hand instead.
You’ll need four hearts to pop up, but then you’ll also need about 6 more hearts for the rest of the card.
4. Add “Love” letters
Once you have cut out the hearts you will apply the letters to spell out L-O-V-E on the hearts. Now the hearts are ready to be mounted.
5. Attach the hearts to the back of the card
The next step to make this pop up Valentine’s Day card is to attach some hearts to the back of the card. These will act as the background of your card behind the hearts popping up. You can layer the hearts on top of each other.
I used hot glue to attach them to the card, but you can also use glue dots or another adhesive of your choice.
6. Mount the hearts to pop up
Once you’ve applied the hearts in the background, use your adhesive to mount the hearts on to the slits you created in the second step. Now when you open the card, these should pop up.
7. Finish the outside of the card
The final step to create this pop up valentines card is to finish the outside of the card. Because of the slits, it’s easiest to adhere some paper on top of the base conceal the pop up panels. From there, you can decorate as little or as much as you want. I chose to mix a couple of patterns and incorporate the heart theme.
Now you have an awesome pop up Valentines card!
Once your card is complete, you can write your message in the body of the card and put it in an envelope.
Ways to customize your pop up Valentine’s Day card
There are lots of ways to customize your valentine pop up card to personalize it based on who the recipient is:
- Color scheme and patterns: There are endless colors and patterns that would look great. Think about the recipient’s favorite colors or colors you think would be complimetary.
- Shapes: While hearts are very fitting for Valentine’s Day, you can choose any shapes you want. For example, stars, x’s and o’s, clouds, etc.
- Message: Instead of spelling out “Love” you can choose a different message. You can also choose to not use any lettering on the shapes and just leave all of the words for the personalized message you write in the body of the card.
- More of less pop up panels: Instead of four items popping up, you can just go with one or two or increase the amount as you see fit.
Printable Valentine’s Day Cards
If you don’t have time to make a card from scratch, our Etsy shop has tons of printable Valentine’s Day cards that are super easy to immediately download and print at home. Through Feb 14, 25% all card purchases will be donated to All 4 Paws Rescue in Malvern, PA. Feel free to check them out here.
