This birthday pop up card has a surprise when “opened” and a custom envelope. Any card maker will tell you, you can never have enough birthday cards! I saw this design somewhere to be cut by hand, but I adapted it to Cricut. (I can’t cut a straight line with a ruler.) It looks wonderful.
Two hidden pictures which revel themselves once you squash the card down, add an element of surprise. I created a custom envelope that has drawn candles on it (you can’t really see it on the pictures). But if you want to make your own envelope, you can use my envelope tutorial.
What you need:
- Very heavy cardstock for the base and scraps of cardstock
- Art Glitter Glue (They are shipping now)
- Download file
- Pen
- Repositionable glue ( to close the envelope flap)
Paper Selection for the Birthday Pop Out Card
The base card paper I used is solid and yellow. It needs to be two sided So does the main paper of the envelope (purple). Change the colors if you want. Use your imagination. If you need help with colors that work well together, see “Color Your Designs” in the Resource Library.
The paper weight must tolerate lots of movement, so you need to use fairly heavy paper for the base (100 lb weight at least). The embellishments can be whatever weight or paper you want and don’t need to be two sided. This is where you can use patterns or foiled or glitter paper if you want. Just make sure the pen shows up on the base card and envelope paper.
Cutting the Birthday Pop Up Card
The little pieces tear easily so be careful removing them from the mat.
The candles are drawn with a gold gel pen. Did you know you can use any pen with your Cricut? See the simple trick here.
If you are using the SVG file, be sure to follow the directions in the instruction document in the zip file. It tells you how high the card should load up and how to make the drawings and score lines work. This is a glitch in Design Space that Cricut refuses to fix.
The Cricut sets up the mat to use a lot of paper. I combined mats and put all the little parts on one mat by combining mats.
Watch my video on cutting different colors on the same mat and moving parts around the mat to save paper.
Assembling the Birthday Pop Up Card
Once the base card is cut, re-score the folds with a Popsicle stick. I used orange and green to make a sample card so you could see the parts better. Fold the base card so it looks like this:
Then insert the pop up tab through the slot and attach it at the base between the two ends of the base card like this:
Glue the ends of the base card to the bottom of the pull tab with liquid glue and work the card a few times to make sure it works properly. It should stand on its own with the base card forming a box at the bottom. (The examples above are tilted slightly so that you can see them better.)
Finishing The Birthday Pop Up Card
With liquid glue, attach the embellishments to the base card and pop up. Make sure to spread the liquid glue to all the edges. (You will need to have the pull tab pulled out to attach its parts.) Then work the card several times to make sure it doesn’t catch on the embellishments. Once sure the slider won’t catch, close the card flat.
Stagger the tips on the hats to make them look fuller. The cupcake has many pieces. Build it up from the bottom and fit the pieces together tightly. Look at the design file or the pictures for the line up and placement. I made the bottom layer of the presents with glitter paper. This makes it difficult to attach the top layer. Use a lot of glue. This is why I like Art Glitter Glue! It dries completely clear if I put too much on.
Your Birthday Pop Up card is ready to send. If you are making the envelope, keep reading.
Assembling the Envelope for the Birthday Pop Up Card
First re-crease all the folds including the ones on the side pieces and the liner (pink). The drawings of the candles goes on the outside of the envelope so put that side down. Glue the sides on so that the tabs are inside the folded envelope. Place the liner inside the envelope and line up the fold lines. Make sure to center it and then glue it down.
Next fold in the sides of the card and fold up the bottom but don’t glue them yet. Mark lightly on the sides the outline of where the bottom hits. Pencil or chalk works well and can be removed easily.
Open up the envelope and glue only where the bottom intersects the sides. Don’t use too much glue but be sure to use enough and cover the whole covered side piece to the edges. I sometimes use a paint brush to spread the glue to the sides. If you use too much glue, the envelope will stick together and not enough will make the envelope possibly fall apart in the mail.
Slide your card in after closing it down flat and TADA it is ready to mail. Seal the envelope with repositionable glue to allow them to open it later.