Fourth of July Holiday House Pop-Up Card

Last year I made a Holiday House pop-up card as a guest on JenniferMaker's blog that could easily be modified for Halloween, Fall, or Christmas. Because the card had so many details on it like pop-up trees and pumpkins, I made the base pretty big using 8.5" x 11" cardstock. For this Fourth of July card, I modified the pop-up base so that the card fits in a 6" x 9" envelope, but still has room for fun details.

So briefly, here is what you need for the Fourth of July Holiday House Pop-Up card.

Materials to Make the Pop-up Card:

• Background Paper - I prefer heavy background paper for the pop-up base of the card - either 110# cardstock or 140# watercolor paper
• Scrapbook paper for the cover of the card
• Foil paper - optional for stars
• Glue - Art Glitter Glue is good for this project
• Standard Grip Mat - needs to be sticky if you are going to cut out stars
• A way to cut out the pattern (I used my amazing Cricut which I learned how to use from Jennifer)
• Distress paint or inks and blending tools to add a little dimension to the edge of the house pieces and to color the watercolor paper background
• Pattern to make the Holiday House - Design No. 89 - the pattern is available in the Paper Glitter Glue library in the July 2020 section. It is available as a PDF, SVG, and DXF file formats.

Outline to Make the Holiday House Pop-Up Card

• Cut out the pattern pieces - Design No. 89
• Color the background if using plain paper or use colored cardstock or heavy scrapbook paper
• Fold along score lines to make the pop-up mechanism
• Glue the house pieces to the card base. Add stars or other decor if desired
• Glue the back piece to the card base - making sure you don't glue down the pop-up pieces
• Glue the bottom flap reinforcement piece to the bottom of the pop-up card
• Now add the front piece of the card

Now read below for more detailed  instructions.

First, cut out the pattern pieces for the Holiday House

Here's how the main structure of the card looks in Cricut's Design Space.

The first piece is the front flap of the card. It folds forward to cover the card, but when open the card, it folds backward so the card can stand.

In the middle is the base structure for the house pop-up. When you make a pop-up card, there are mountain folds and valley folds. Mountain folds bend towards you. Valley folds bend away from you - appropriately named like a valley. For this project, there are only 3 mountain folds - folds that move forward so make the structure of the house.

Note: When I made this card, I noticed that the flap on the bottom was too fragile, so I made the card slightly wider. That means that the backing piece is the same size at the front of the house so the background on the edges does not show when you use the included pattern.

To make sure the house is sturdy and will stand up, I like to glue a background piece to the house and the bottom flap. The 2 pieces on the right are shown on the right.

And finally, cut out the decorative pieces for the Holiday house.

Next, color the background if using watercolor paper

Because I love the texture and strength of watercolor paper, I lightly painted the background of the card with a beautiful Distress Paint color called Salty Ocean. It's perfect for my background color and goes well with heavy scrapbook paper I chose for the house roof and the other flaps.

Now fold the card along the score lines

As I mentioned above, there are only 3 mountain folds, all the other folds are valley folds - folds that go away from you. You can see it better in the photo below.

See the only 3 folds that fold outward - towards you?

Here's the fun part - glue the house pieces to the Holiday house base

Now you get to decorate the house. I call it the fun part because this is where you can see how cute the house is.

First, glue the rectangular house pieces to the house base.

Next, glue the roof pieces on.

Note there are only 2 roof pieces because the wider piece goes behind the front tower and glues to the roof of both sides of the house. That might be a little confusing. It's just a small detail I include to improve the structure of the house.

Finally, add the windows and shutters and decorate with stars or fireworks. Also note that each window has a backing piece so you can make it a different color from the base of the house.

Glue the back piece to the house base

To make the house sturdy enough to stand up easily, I glue a piece of cardstock or scrapbook paper to back of the house piece. It also functions as the back of the card when the card is closed.

Next, glue the reinforcement piece to the bottom of the house base

This helps reinforce the hinge and the folds at the bottom of the house. Also it makes it easier for the house to stand up.

Now add the front flap to the Holiday House pop-up card

Fold the flap and glue to the back of the house part. That way the flap won't show on the front of the house.

Here's how the folds look as a side view.

And now you're done. This delightful pop-up house card fits perfectly in a 6" x 9" envelope so you can send it easily through the mail.

Have a Happy Fourth of July and stay safe.

And here are some seasonal versions that you can use for the same card. You will have to leave off some of the additions, but the house size is the same.

Lucy

P.S. Here is a similar miniature house  - the Front Tower Clockhouse - that you can also decorate for different seasons:

The pattern is the Front Tower Clockhouse which is listed in the library in the month of January 2020. Just subscribe below to get the password to the library if you don't already have it.

Lucy