By Show Me Step by StepPublished
Based on a video by Art for Kids Hub.
This pop-up heart card is a folded red heart that opens to show a paper spiral. Glue the spiral in the right two spots and it stretches into a stack of layered hearts every time the card opens. The idea comes from Rob of the Art for Kids Hub channel, who makes it alongside his son. All you need is construction paper, scissors, a marker and a glue stick, which makes it a good Valentine's Day card to make with a grandchild at the kitchen table.
There are three parts. The card is a heart cut from folded red paper with the fold left whole, so it opens like a book. Two white hearts line the inside. The pop-up is two red hearts cut together and then cut in a spiral from the outside in. The two centre hearts are glued to each other, and the outer ring is glued to both inside halves of the card. Open the card and the spiral pulls apart into rings of hearts that stand up off the page.
A 9 x 12 inch sheet folded in half gives a card about 4 to 5 inches across. Make the template heart about 3 1/2 inches wide so there is room to trace a larger heart around it. Plan on 30 to 40 minutes with a child, or about 20 on your own. The spiral cutting is the slow part.
Children around six and up can trace and glue. Younger ones do better if you cut the spiral and let them do the gluing and the writing. Make a stack for a class Valentine party, or one in deep red and white for your husband or wife. If you like folded paper hearts, an origami heart fits neatly inside the envelope too.
For the classic cut-and-push method, see how to make a pop-up card. For more layered ideas, try how to make a 3D card.
Store the card flat in its envelope inside a book. Keep the heart template with your Valentine supplies and the next batch goes faster. Want a softer keepsake? Try crocheting a heart.
10 steps · about 9 minutes.Check off each step as you go and your progress saves automatically.
Take a sheet of red construction paper and fold it in half so the short edges meet. Run your hand along the fold to press a sharp crease. This folded edge becomes the hinge of your heart card, so it needs to be crisp. Have your heart template ready nearby. If you have not made one yet, cut a heart about 3 1/2 inches wide from scrap paper now.
Tip
A crisp fold makes the card stand up and close neatly later. Press it twice.
Set the template on the folded paper with one side of the heart touching the folded edge. Keep it near the bottom, but leave room around it. Trace around the template with a marker, staying a little way out from its edge, so you draw a bigger heart than the template. The part of your line that meets the fold stays open. Do not draw over the fold.
Tip
Leave about half an inch of space around the template. A bigger card gives the spiral more room.
Cut along the line through both layers of paper. Cut on the inside of the marker line so no black shows on the finished card. Stop where the line meets the fold and leave that edge whole. When you open it up you have a heart-shaped card that opens like a book. You could write in it now and stop here, but the pop-up is the fun part.
Tip
Keep the red scrap paper. You need it again for the spiral heart.
Fold a half sheet of white paper in half. Place the template in the middle of it this time, away from the fold, and trace close around it. Cut out the heart through both layers. Because the heart did not touch the fold, you end up with two separate white hearts that match. These line the inside of your card.
Tip
Plain printer paper works fine here. Rob uses it in place of white construction paper.
Open the red card flat. Rub glue stick over the back of each white heart and press one onto each inside half of the card. Center them so a red border shows all the way around. Smooth them down from the middle out to push out any bubbles. The white lining makes the red spiral stand out once it is in place.
Tip
Glue right to the edges of the white hearts so they do not catch when the card opens.
Go back to your red scrap paper. Fold it if it is not folded already, and trace the template once more in the middle, away from the fold. Cut it out through both layers. You now have two red hearts the same size. Keep them stacked together. They are cut as a pair in the next step, and that is what makes the pop-up work.
Tip
Hold the two hearts pinched together the whole time so they do not slide apart.
Pinch the two red hearts together and start cutting in from one side. Follow the shape of the heart around and around, moving inward each time, like peeling an apple in one long strip. Keep each ring about a finger wide. When you reach the middle, stop and leave a small heart in the center. Take it slowly so you do not cut a ring off. The spiral has to stay in one piece.
Tip
Turn the paper, not the scissors. It keeps the curve smooth and the rings even.
Lay the spiral down so the two layers line up again. Gently peel back one layer at the middle so you can reach the small center heart. Put a little glue stick on it and press the two center hearts together. Only the middle gets glued. The rest of the spiral stays loose, so it can stretch out when the card opens.
Tip
Use a small dab of glue. Too much creeps onto the inner rings and they will stick.
Set the spiral heart inside the card, on top of one white heart. Put glue only on the two top bumps of the outer ring and part way down the outside edge. Keep the glue off the next ring in. Close the card over it, check the spiral is lined up with the card, and press down hard so the glue grabs.
Tip
Line the spiral point up with the card point before you close it. A crooked spiral pops up crooked.
Flip the card over and open the other side. Glue the top two bumps of the outer ring on this side, the same as before. Close the card and press down hard all over. Now open it slowly. The spiral stretches into rings of hearts that stand up off the card. The first opening may stick a little, so ease it apart. After that it opens easily.
Tip
Write your message on the outside of the card, or put I on one side and U on the other.
Keep going
How to Make a Slider Card
How to Make a Pop-Up Heart Card
E6000
E6000 Craft Adhesive, Clear (3.7 oz)
The industrial-strength craft glue that bonds glass, wood, ceramic, metal, fabric, and concrete. The one adhesive most craft projects reach for.
Gorilla
Gorilla Dual-Temp Full-Size Hot Glue Gun
Dual-temp so it handles delicate florals and heavy materials alike. A precise nozzle and built-in stand make it the everyday craft-table gun.
OLFA
OLFA 18" x 24" Self-Healing Cutting Mat
The pro-standard cutting surface. Gridlines for square cuts, self-healing so blades never leave grooves, and big enough for paper, fabric, and leather.
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