How to Make Pop Up Valentine Cards

Make these modern pop up Valentine cards for your sweetheart or your galentines. They’re simple to make and totally unique – a paper craft for that’s perfect for beginners and advanced makers alike.

Pop up cards have always fascinated me! They’re so simple but so brilliant.

In my head I have all these lofty aspirations of making those crazy fancy ones with lots of different levels and layers, but I figured — maybe start small?

So here we have it! A simple, modern take on a pop-up card that’s perfect for Valentine’s Day.

Psst — before you dive in, be sure to sign up below for my VIP group so that I can send more of my very best holiday ideas straight to ya.

More Unique Valentine DIY Ideas

And don’t tell Mr. Lovely but this is for him. Remember our past DIY battles at Valentine’s Day (see  here, here, and here.)?

Instead of buying things for each other we had to make something, and he would beat the pants off me every single time with something insanely thoughtful and cool. (Except for maybe the dino Valentine. I owned him that year.) Well, this little beauty is for him so he’s got his work cut out if he’s going to try to top it.

I rounded up some of our other unique and fun Valentine DIYs for you to check out, too:

• DIY Valentine’s Day Scavenger Hunt
• DIY Valentine Garland for Gifts or Decor
• Valentine Decor Idea // DIY Paint Chip Garland
• Valentine Balloon Messages

Supplies You’ll Need

You might already have everything you need to make pop up Valentine cards in your stash! The supplies are pretty basic; check out the list below.

• White cardstock
• Colored cardstock (we used mint, pink, and gold)
• Scissors
• Craft knife
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Glue Dots or other adhesive

How to Make Pop Up Valentine Cards

1. Start by cutting the base for your card. Cut a piece of white cardstock to 8.5″ x 5″. Fold this in half to create a card that’s 4.25″ x 5″.
2. Use the craft knife to cut slits across the fold in the card. Cut a pair of slits on the left, .5″ apart, stretching about 2″ on either side of the fold. Then cut a pair of slits, also .5″ apart, stretching about 1″ on either side of the fold. Fold the card closed, ensuring that these slits fold inward. This is where you will mount your pop up shapes.
3. Cut out one large X and O shape from a colorful piece of cardstock. These should each be about 3″ in diameter. Then cut lots of smaller X and O shapes from various colors of cardstock. If you have a Cricut machine, definitely use it to save time on this part! Here’s our library of information about Cricut.
4. Use Glue Dots to attach all of the smaller shapes to the back of the card. Then trim away any extra pieces hanging over the edges of the card.
5. Cut two pieces of cardstock in different colors, to the same size as the front of your card. Use Glue Dots to attach one color to the front, hiding the pop up panels. Then slice diagonally across the second color, and glue this down over the first color. If you like, attach another piece of cardstock as decoration – I used a piece that I had cut out some X and O shapes from and made use of the negative space.
6. Finally, use Glue Dots to attach the large X and O to the pop up panels inside the Valentine card. Write a sweet message and give it to someone you love!

Ways to Customize Your Pop Up Cards

There are so many fun ways you could switch this up!

Instead of X and O shapes, you could try hearts, stars, clouds, rainbows — anything you like. You could even use your initials in combination with the initials of your significant other.

Mix up the colors! I used a pastel palette but it would look very poppy and bright with traditional Valentine colors like pink and red.

Also, try adding more pop up panels! Just make sure that when you cut them out with your craft knife they’re each a different length. This will ensure that they don’t run into each other when you open and close the card.

Easy Printable Valentines

And finally, if DIY isn’t in the cards for you today, I have a library full of Valentines that you can just print and call it good!

Check them out below and be sure to pin your favorites so that you can find them again easily. Have fun! xoxo

• Printable Valentine For Kids // Heart Glasses
• Free Printable Valentines // Funny Pool Floats
• Printable Valentine Cards
• Free Valentine Printables: Gift Tags
• Printable Baby Yoda Valentines
• Easy Valentine Craft // Clay Heart Pins with a Printable Card

Pop Up Valentine Cards

Yield: Pop Up Valentine Cards

Active Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Difficulty: Intermediate

Estimated Cost: $5

Make these modern pop up Valentine cards for your sweetheart or your galentines. They're simple to make and totally unique - a paper craft for that's perfect for beginners and advanced makers alike.

Print

Materials

• White cardstock
• Colored cardstock
• Glue Dots

Tools

• Ruler
• Pencil
• Craft Knife
• Scissors

Instructions

1. Start by cutting the base for your card. Cut a piece of white cardstock to 8.5" x 5". Fold this in half to create a card that's 4.25" x 5".
2. Use the craft knife to cut slits across the fold in the card. Cut a pair of slits on the left, .5" apart, stretching about 2" on either side of the fold. Then cut a pair of slits, also .5" apart, stretching about 1" on either side of the fold. Fold the card closed, ensuring that these slits fold inward. This is where you will mount your pop up shapes.
3. Cut out one large X and O shape from a colorful piece of cardstock. These should each be about 3" in diameter. Then cut lots of smaller X and O shapes from various colors of cardstock. If you have a Cricut machine, definitely use it to save time on this part! Here's our library of information about Cricut.
4. Use Glue Dots to attach all of the smaller shapes to the back of the card. Then trim away any extra pieces hanging over the edges of the card.
5. Cut two pieces of cardstock in different colors, to the same size as the front of your card. Use Glue Dots to attach one color to the front, hiding the pop up panels. Then slice diagonally across the second color, and glue this down over the first color. If you like, attach another piece of cardstock as decoration - I used a piece that I had cut out some X and O shapes from and made use of the negative space.
6. Finally, use Glue Dots to attach the large X and O to the pop up panels inside the Valentine card. Write a sweet message and give it to someone you love!

Notes

There are so many fun ways you could switch this up!

Instead of X and O shapes, you could try hearts, stars, clouds, rainbows -- anything you like. You could even use your initials in combination with the initials of your significant other.

Mix up the colors! I used a pastel palette but it would look very poppy and bright with traditional Valentine colors like pink and red.

Also, try adding more pop up panels! Just make sure that when you cut them out with your craft knife they're each a different length. This will ensure that they don't run into each other when you open and close the card.

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