How to Make a 3D Christmas Card Pop Up DIY

3D Christmas Cards: A few steps to make your card stand out. (with illustrations)

Tra-la-la-la-laaaaaa the Christmas season is practically upon us. Oh how I LOVE this time of year. And I (!) like to make it last as long as possible… which is why I have been listing to my Christmas Music Playlist already!! Teehee. Once you have your music going, your craft materials ready, get Handmade Christmas Card making!

The best thing about this diy Christmas Card, is that it does not require any templates to make! You only need a series of rectangular pieces of paper!

A handmade card is simply the perfect way to send your holiday message this year! And you don’t need special materials to make our cards – this Christmas Tree Cards can also be a made with simple white paper from the printer – representing a “snowy” landscape for Christmas and Winter. The perfect Pop Up Christmas Cards to make!

How do you make a simple 3D Christmas card? How do you make a pop-up Christmas tree card?

Making 3d Christmas cards is not difficult, if you choose the right project! As mentioned, we have a great set of Handmade Christmas Card for you to browse. But key to making a simple card, is sticking to basic shapes that are easy to connect.

Today’s tutorial is one of those examples, as is our easy Christmas Tree Pop Up Card here:

It is based on “paper chain” making – a childhood staple that all kids love to make. Once you get the hang of making a basic paper chain, it is so easy to turn it into a 3d Christmas Card.

Anyway. I digress. We have been having LOTS of fun with Paper Fans or Paper Concertinas lately.. there are so many cool and fun projects you can make using this technique. Including todays DIY Christmas Pop Up Card! Such a pretty 3D Christmas Trees Paper craft for both kids and grown ups. We absolutely love Paper Crafts, especially Paper Crafts for Christmas!

You may also love our collection of –

• Christmas Tree Crafts as well as the rest of our 
• Pop Up Card Project Ideas – something for every season to be found, as well as our
• lovely list of Holiday Cards for Kids (including some super cute pop up reindeer cards!)

3D Pop Up Christmas Tree Card DIY – Materials needed:

• A5 sheet of green paper (or white) – this can be construction paper, but I usually use “printer paper” quality paper for these crafts
• A little brown paper/ card
• Scrap of yellow paper for the star
• Snowflake confetti (optional) – I have used ours on a number of projects and it lasts ages
• Glue stick
• Pair of scissors
• Rulers
• A6 Card stock & envelope (I used blue)

How to make a Pop up Christmas Card

This DIY Christmas Pop Up Card is based on the concertina paper folding technique or “paper fan folding”. It is a simple technique with very effective and oh so pretty results. Love it!

We have many more Paper Fans Crafts for you to check out here on Red Ted Art (I will bring them all together in one post for you **soon**).

In the meantime… do watch this quick and easy Christmas Tree Pop Up Card video with step by step instructions below.

Video Tutorial: How to Make a 3D Christmas Card

You can watch the video tutorial on autoplay on this blog post! Or scroll right down to the bottom of this post for a YouTube video.

3d Christmas Tree Card – Step by Step Photo Instructions

Begin by making your paper fan for your Christmas Tree

1. We used an A5 sheet of green paper – which is approximately 10cm x 15cm. I am aware that US “standard sizes are a bit different… it doesn’t have to be exact! Just adjust the sizes in the next step.
2. Fold your paper along the 15cm edge as neatly and evenly into a paper fan as possible. You should be left with a concertina paper strip 15cm long. We made 0.5mm wide accordion folds.

1. Cut this paper strip into 5cm, 4cm, 3cm, 2cm and 1cm (A5 is actually JUST a little smaller than 15cm, so just adjust each section by a couple of mm and you are fine!). As mentioned.. it isn’t exact. Just make sure you get 5 pieces that get smaller each time.

Prepare and stick your Paper Tree stem to your pop up card

1. Take your brown piece of paper. You will need approximately 3cm x 3cm.
2. Fold it in half.
3. Then fold the edges in by 0.5mm. So you should have folds: 0.5mm, 1cm, 1cm, 0.5mm
4. Glue the 0.5mm strips onto the card. You now have a “Pop up” steam.

Glueing in your Paper Fan Chrismas Tree.

1. Take your longest strip and glue just above the tree trunk on the LEFT side of the card.
2. Repeat this step and layer the remaining 4 strips evenly – leaving a little space for a star.
3. Once all are glued in place. Carefully add glue to the “upward facing” surface of your strip. This can be a bit fiddly.. as the concertinas like to bounce around a bit.
4. Hold in black. Flap over the right side of the card and secure to the the green strips.
5. When you open the card up, you should have your paper fan Christmas Tree pop up

Finally, decorating and adding details to your 3d Christmas Card DIY

1. Now have fun – add a Christmas star.. snowflakes, night sky stars, a Christmas present, a snowman… anything you wish!! Enjoy.

What do you write in a Christmas Card?

Now my kids are older and they have started making their own Christmas Cards for Family and Friends, they often ask me, What do you write in a Christmas card? Or What do you say on the back of a Christmas card?

My answer is – it really depends! If it is a very good friend or close family member, you may want to wish to take a little time and write a little about how your years been – include any references to when you last saw this person, as well as a generic seasonal greeting.

If it is one of “many cards” you are writing and sending, you may want to keep it a little shorter. Afterall, the recipient will appreciate that you handmade the card in the first place. Visit Prima for some great ideas!

Other Fun Christmas Card Ideas to make with kids

We have more fabulous Christmas Tree Cards – these are made from newspaper! Aren’t they fabulous?

Or have a go at Paper Quilling for Beginners, with this easy Quilled Christmas Tree Card –

Here is another adorable Winter Pop Up Card that you may fancy checking out – DIY Pop Up Snowman Card! So cute. I love this pop up christmas card, as it is easy to add unique designs to this type of pop up! You can even add some cute photos! Lots of fun ways to make greeting cards special!

I think a version of Hattifant’s 3D Paper Trees would look amazing as part of this card too! Hop over and have a look at hers too!

More Christmas Craft Ideas for Kids

More fabulous Paper Christmas Crafts for Kids

How do you make easy Christmas Cards for Kids?

The answer is easy! Check out our Handmade 3d Christmas Card collection. It also links to a set of fantastic “super simple” Card making designs for “bulk” holiday card making!

More great Pop Up Card How To Projects for Kids

The video how to is also available on YouTube: