How to make a Christmas tree pop-up card
Christmas Tree Pop-Up Card: try all 10 steps in the 3D player. Turn and replay every move. Print the complete diagram sheet or save it as PDF.
Cut a complete three-tier Christmas tree from green paper, fold its small glue tabs and mount it across a card's spine. The whole tree rises into a shallow V when the card opens. An Origami Tutor design.
- You need
- A 14 × 20 cm sheet of thin card, a 12 × 9 cm rectangle of green paper, pencil, ruler, protractor, scissors and glue stick.
- Start
- Lay the card coloured side up with a short edge at the top. Put the green rectangle beside it, white side up, with a 12 cm edge at the top.
Your model is ready
Let the glue dry, then close and reopen the card. The three branch tiers and short trunk rise together. Add small paper ornaments or a written greeting if you like. The green Christmas tree raised above its card, with all three branch tiers intact.
Step-by-step diagrams
- 1
Crease the card
Fold the card in half, bottom edge to top edge, press the spine and open the card flat again.
- 2
Fold the tree paper in half
Fold the smaller rectangle from left to right. Keep its 12 cm edges at the top and bottom; the folded piece is 6 cm wide and 9 cm tall.
- 3
Cut the tree and tabs
On the folded green rectangle, draw half a tree against the fold: a point at the top, then three sloping branch tiers, each wider than the last, and a short 7 mm wide half-trunk. Below the trunk leave the two angled tabs shown in the cutting guide, ending 2 cm from the fold on the bottom edge. Cut the outline through both layers and lift away the surrounding scrap.
- 4
Fold the front glue tab
From the bottom of the middle fold, draw a line 60 degrees from the fold toward the right. Fold only the front tab up along this line.
- 5
Fold the back glue tab
Fold the other tab behind on the same line. The tabs point in opposite directions; the cut shape stays between them.
- 6
Position the tree
Set the folded piece on the upper half of the open card. Put its foot on the spine, 5 cm from the left edge. Its middle fold leans 10 degrees left of upright; keep the whole cutout inside the card.
- 7
Glue the lower tab
Glue only the lower tab to the card. Leave the outline, the other tab and every fold free.
- 8
Close the card onto the upper tab
Put glue on the upper tab. Fold the bottom half of the card up over it and press gently.
- 9
Secure the upper tab
Press the card against the upper tab and let the glue set before opening it.
- 10
Open the card
Open the card slowly to 150 degrees. The tabs lift the complete tree into a shallow V above the spine.
- ✓
Finish
Let the glue dry, then close and reopen the card. The three branch tiers and short trunk rise together. Add small paper ornaments or a written greeting if you like. The green Christmas tree raised above its card, with all three branch tiers intact.
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