How to Make a Pop-Up Christmas Tree Card to Make Their Eyes Pop

November 03, 2022

Here’s how to make a pop-up Christmas tree card with your children or friends — it’s easy! Pre-bought Christmas cards with short messages inside are great but what about making your own Christmas card? These pop-up greeting cards are simple to make and are a heartfelt, handmade gift to show that you really care. Learning how to make a 3D Christmas tree card step-by-step has never been so simple. Imagine opening up your card on Christmas day to reveal a colourful, glittery card with a pop-up Christmas tree and a handwritten message inside, there’s nothing sweeter than a handmade gift on Christmas. Even if your family or partner lives away from you, imagine the looks on their faces when they open a bland envelope to reveal a beautiful handmade 3D greeting card with a pop-up Christmas tree.

Materials and tools you’ll need to make a DIY 3D Christmas tree card

To make a simple, handmade pop-up greeting card for Christmas, you will need some materials and tools - start with these simple, around-the-house items. Here’s a list of basic things you’ll need to make your pop-up greeting cards:

Some good quality paper, or card if you prefer, it can be festive (red and green) or any colour scheme you want for your Christmas card - think about what colours the other person likes.
Paint to decorate your card and the pop-up Christmas tree decoration.
Scissors (if you are making one with a child then maybe consider a safer version with rounded ends or patterned plastic scissors) make sure to be safe whilst you are making your pop-up greeting cards.
A plastic or metal fork to make patterns on the pop-up element with the paint.
A glue stick to join the different parts of your Christmas card together.
An eraser on the end of a pencil (it needs to be circle-shaped - you’ll find out why later)

Additional optional extras

Here is a list of further materials/items that you could use to add additional colour or sparkle to your pop-up greeting cards for Christmas:

Star stickers or any stickers really, you could even get Christmas tree stickers to decorate your handmade card.
You can add some mini confetti pieces (green, red, or silver).
Glitter! You could add some glitter to decorate your card, you could even get multi-coloured glitter to make it even more Christmassy.
Glitter glue, instead of using normal glue you could use glitter glue to add an extra layer of sparkles.

How to make a pop-up Christmas tree card: A step-by-step tutorial

A simple method

This method is the simpler version with fewer details and may be sufficient if you already have some craft skills or card-making experience. It explains how to make your pop-up Christmas card briefly but if you need more guidance then scroll down to see a more detailed version of the tutorial. Here is the simple, brief method for making your 3D greeting cards for Christmas with a pop-up Christmas tree:

First, fold your paper into three equal pieces.
Second, draw and then cut out a triangle shape.
Then, fold the edges — these will be used to stick the Christmas tree down.
Next, refold the tree, the other way (using the existing line).
Fold the glue tabs underneath.
Finally, draw a curve at the bottom of the triangle and cut it.
The Christmas tree is being constructed. Now you can decorate it using your plastic fork and green paint.
Then you can use a plastic fork to make a snowy pattern on the tree.
After, you can use your eraser on the end of the pencil and dip it in different coloured paints to create baubles and lights (told you I’d tell you later).
Whilst the paint is drying, you can decorate the simple background on which we’ll stick the Christmas tree. You can make it look like a snowy background with white paint and your pencil.
Place it inside of your piece of coloured card.
Then, glue the flappy edges of the Christmas tree to each side of the background you just made.

Now, when you close your handmade card and open it again your Christmas tree should be 3D. This is the perfect gift to give to a family member or even a special someone, it’s simple to make, handmade, and shows how much you really care.

A more detailed description

Now, moving on to the more detailed version of this technique which explains how to make a 3D Christmas card step-by-step:

Begin by splitting your piece of coloured paper into thirds - this can make (if you want) two Christmas trees for two greeting cards.
Next, draw a triangle shape and cut it out (fold one third onto another then cut it out).
Fold a ½ an inch of the edge on both of the longer edges - these are the glue tabs that you’ll use later on.
Now, refold the triangle on the line already made so you can’t see the tabs.
Finally - to finish off your Christmas tree - draw a curve at the bottom of your triangle and cut it making a curved edge.
Next, decorate your homemade Christmas tree! Use your plastic fork to paint your tree green. If it looks a bit messy then you are doing it right.
After that, you can decorate it with white paint to imitate snow on a tree.
Next, use the end of your pencil rubber to paint on little blobs of colour: red, yellow, blue, whatever you want to make it more colourful and festive.
Afterwards, whilst it dries, make a snowy background using your pencil again to make snowy blobs. You can make some snowy hills or some extra trees - do whatever you want to make it your own.
Then stick your background onto your piece of coloured card (after folding it). The card gives it some extra support and structure.
The tabs you made earlier - stick one side to a side of the card and the other to the other. This means that when you open up your card it will reveal your hand-painted background and your Christmas tree will pop up.

Some extras you can add if you want to

To add glitter, place some glue on different parts of the card and gently shake out/sprinkle the glitter on top. Tip your card onto a clean piece of paper so that you can reuse the excess glitter on another card.
You can use glitter glue to draw lines of light on the tree or baubles if you want to make the existing paint effects a bit more interesting.
The mini confetti we mentioned earlier can be stuck onto the card or just placed in the envelope so they fall out when the person opens the card.
You can use an array of stickers, whether they be Christmas-themed or just stickers you like. You can put the stickers inside the card or on the envelope to sparkle it up a little.

Now that we’ve explained the techniques fully we hope you have a 3D pop-up greeting card in front of you right now. If not then go back and make it before reading the rest of this article!

The finishing touch!

Right, now you’ve got your Christmas tree pop-up card, it’s time to add a sweet message to the person you are sending it to, whether it be a sister, nephew, or partner it still needs a festive message:

May this card bring you many smiles and giggles alongside your Christmas dinner!
Merry Christmas, my lovely (niece/nephew/sister/brother, etc).
I wish you a merry, merry Christmas.
I hope Christmas brings you many more fun cards!
Wishing you a pop-tastic Christmas!

This is just a small selection of one-liners for Christmas cards so if you want some more just head over to our Inspiration section where there is an endless selection of messages for cards, romantic, humorous, and even long-distance ones. No card is complete without a sweet message inside it, not even your pop-up greeting card for Christmas.

With this simple step-by-step guide on how to make a pop-up greeting card for Christmas or how to make a pop-out Christmas card, we hope you were able to not only create a luxury Christmas card but decorate it as well. The process should be fun and enjoyable - the perfect activity to get you into a festive mood. Know that the person you’re sending your pop-up card to will thoroughly enjoy receiving it too! If you did enjoy this, then check out the other articles and how-tos on Boomf. We also have a fantastic range of their own cards to choose from, should you be short on time, some of them even come with a pop-out figurine. Thank you for reading this article on how to make a pop-up Christmas card, Merry Christmas!