How to make a kinetic Christmas card
Pull the secret tab at the bottom of the tree trunk to open the leaves and let a cheeky Christmas sloth slide down into view!
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Flex your papercraft skills and impress friends and family with this fun kinetic Christmas card! Pull the secret tab and a cheeky sloth slides down the tree trunk as the leaves part. This is a kinetic Christmas card is made using advanced card-making techniques, but we’ve provided a free template to make it easier, and take you through each of the steps below – so you can concentrate on the fun stuff like decorating your tree. Download your Christmas sloth printables for more card inspiration and to get started!
If you’re in a crafty mood, why not check out the best glue gun and best die-cutting machine. Thinking about buying a craft printer? Check out our review of the best printer for card making.
We love seeing what you make, so don’t forget to share your craft projects with us on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter, too!
You will need
- Your exclusive Christmas sloth printables
- Your exclusive pop-up Christmas sloth templates
- Screw hole punch from Hunkydory
- Patterned paper
- Coloured card
- Circle dies
- Baker’s twine
- Mini brads
- Wooden buttons
- Adhesive pearls
- Double-sided tape
- Sticky foam pads
How to make a pop-up sloth card
Step 1
Using the free pop-up Christmas sloth templates, cut your pull tab mechanism and backing panel from some sturdy card. Cut a central slot and punch two holes in the backing panel as indicated on the template.
Step 2
Fold your pull tab as shown, so that the two innermost folds are valley folds, and the two outermost folds are mountain folds. Burnish the fold with a bone folder to get a crisp crease.
Step 3
Thread the pull tab through the central slot and open out the folds. Using the template, cut two wings and attach one to either side of the pull tab using a small brad.
Step 4
Slide another small brad through the other hole in the wings, and through the hole in your backing panel. Repeat on both sides. Keep the brads fairly loose to allow smooth movement.
Step 5
Stick a line of foam tape centrally along the backing panel, making sure there is enough room for the pull tab to slide down. Stick a thin line of foam tape along the right of the pull tab.
Step 6
Using the template, cut a trunk from some dark brown card and attach it to the central line of foam tape. Stick the baby sloth onto the thin line of foam tape and attach two leaves onto the wings. Download the free Christmas sloth printables if you haven’t done so already.
Step 7
Make sure the two moving leaves reveal the sloth when the tab is pulled and hide him when pushed in. Build up your tree with leaves and baubles. Mount onto a 17.5 x 12.5cm card blank.
We hope you enjoyed this tutorial for a pop-up sloth card. If you are looking for more festive animal inspiration, take a look at these chocolate coin cards (there’s a polar bear card!), or why not top-up your craft stash with these gorgeous free northern lights printables.
Authors
Holly is the staff writer at BBC Science Focus. Before joining the team she was a geoenvironmental consultant and holds an MSc in Geoscience from UCL.
