These two holiday tower cards look very different, but have the same base. The secret is changing the direction of the overlays. The Halloween card has four long overlays and 16 small squares. The Thanksgiving card has 16 rectangular overlays. It totally changes the whole card. I suggest only making one card at a time and the SVG files are separate but contain all the parts, including the base.
This card is a very unusual size when laid flat, 7.5 X 7.5 inches so if you want to mail it, you must make your own envelope. But lucky for you I have a tutorial to help you do just that! See it here. Or you could send it in a manila mailer. I don’t recommend making it smaller, it is hard enough to cut the embellishments as it is.
You will need:
- Heavy 2 sided cardstock for the base
- Various other Cardstock
- Glue
- Download File
Paper Selection for the Holiday Tower Cards
I made this card with traditional Halloween and Thanksgiving colors. The base needs to be 2 sided and fairly strong cardstock (at least 110 lb. wt.) to stand the weight of the card. In the Halloween card I used a patterned paper for the overlays. And for the Thanksgiving card I used a 2 sided patterned paper for the base. Either way works but not both. That gets confusing. The embellishments have very small parts and patterns don’t really work.
Cutting the Holiday Tower Cards
The Halloween card has writing on one side and I used a black sharpie marker so it would be thick enough. I used the Access font Cult Std.
The cards have quite a few intricate cuts and lots of very little pieces. Be very careful removing them from the mat. I had to recut several pieces.
Sort the pieces by what side they are on as you cut. But don’t start to assemble the overlays until all the pieces are cut out. It is less confusing that way.
Assembling the Base Card
Re-crease all the folds before you start. Next take two of the base cards pieces and fold over the score lines. Fit the main centers together, overlapping the “flags”. Glue the folded flaps to the other next to it. Repeat with the rest of base pieces. I cut the base out of blue and green and took pictures of each step below.
Once you have all 4 pieces together and after the glue dries, stand the base up and fold so that the center forms a square. The “flags” should stick out. Put glue on the tabs that aren’t already glued and attach the top and bottom tabs to form the square. After they are lined up properly you can flatten the base and press the inner tabs to seal them. When all the glue is dry you can flatten the card and add the overlays one side at a time.
Assembling the Overlays of the Holiday Tower Cards
The Halloween embellishments are all black so they are easy to assemble. Some squares have more than one piece. Refer to the pictures or the design file if you have any questions. Obviously the taller embellishments go on the long overlays. When attaching the overlays, the long skinny ones go one each side and the squares fill in the sides. The design creates black spaces on the backs of the “flags” which adds to the design but you can recut the square overlays and embellishments and but some on the back if you want.
The overlays of the Thanksgiving card are all the same size and shape. Some of the embellishments are multilayer. Look at the pictures or refer to the design for assembling them. Each side should have a “Happy Thanksgiving” and a swirl piece. Other than that. the overlays can be placed in and space covering the center and a “flag”.
Finishing Up
Once all the overlay are attached, fold the card flat and then open it to check that it works properly.
And you Holiday Tower Cards are done! Remember, to mail them you need to make your own envelope or find an 8 X 8 square one.