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DIY Pop-Up Christmas Greeting Cards For The Holidays

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How to make Christmas pop up cards with Cricut. Collage image of 6 christmas card designs.

How To Make Pop-Up Christmas Cards With Cricut

Pop-up cards have become a trendy craft project for paper crafters and Cricut users to take on. I started making pop-up cards like this a couple of years ago with my free pop-up flower bouquets.

Snowman pop up Christmas card with blue background and ornaments

The holidays are a great season for handmade greeting cards, so it was time to add some Christmas pop-up cards to the collection! Our DIY pop-up Christmas card craft is easy enough for a beginner to make, too.

If you are ready to get crafty this Christmas season, grab the supplies below and get started with these holiday pop-up cards!

Snowman pop-up card made with Cricut with blue background.

Supplies to Make Pop-Up Christmas Cards

Pop up Hanukkah Menorah card made from blue, green and yellow cardstock.

Download The Christmas Pop-Up Card Templates

Firstly, you will need to download the templates. Find these DIY pop-up card templates with envelopes inside Abbi’s membership! Additionally, there are hundreds of other crafts you will earn instant access to!

Collection of Christmas pop up cards on a purple background featuring a nutcracker card, snowman card and hanukkah menorah card.

Find the complete collection of Christmas pop-up cards here, or each is linked individually below. If you already have an account, just log in and start downloading. Likewise, you can upgrade to the membership here and then click any link below to access once logged in!

  1. Snowman pop-up card design
  2. Hanukkah menorah pop-up card design
  3. Nutcracker pop-up card design
  4. Nativity pop-up card design
  5. Santa Claus and tree pop-up card design
  6. Hanukkah Star of David pop-up card design
Set of 6 Christmas pop-up card with a call to action button that reads Join Abbi's membership here

Snowman Pop-Up Card Video Tutorial

Watch the full video to learn how to make these Christmas pop-up cards. I will also show you how to set everything up in Cricut Design Space. The shaker card option can replace the Christmas tree layer or make both and swap out the scenes!

nativity Pop-Up Card Video Tutorial

I decided to expand this collection a while after creating the snowman pop-up card, so there are now six designs in total.

These pop-up cards are all assembled the same way as far as the pop-up mechanics of the card goes. The only difference is the layers you will add for the details. Follow the order of the SVG layers on your screen for each design. Here is another look at the nativity design because it has one tiny variation from the others.

Design Space Set Up

Nativity pop up card SVG in Cricut Design Space showing how to set score lines.
  1. If you are new to Cricut, be sure to watch the video tutorial because I will show you how to do all of the setups.

    You can also view this post for how to upload an SVG to Cricut if you have never uploaded your own SVG cut file to Design Space before.
  2. Once the file has been brought in, you want to set your scale. You can cut this pop-up card out at the size it imports or scale it up a bit, which is what I recommend. Just be sure to scale as a group to retain the image proportions. Select the group, click hold, and drag larger at any one of the four corners.
  3. Next, ungroup the file and select the black lines. Go to Operation at the top left and select Score from the dropdown menu.
  4. With the score lines and the base they sit on selected, use the Attach tool at the bottom of the Layer’s Panel to hold the placement of your score lines.
How to type out a writing font in Design Space
  1. In the Christmas pop-up card SVGs, you will also see an option to add a message to the back of your card. I used my Cricut to write the message in pretty cursive.

Be sure to filter by Writing fonts so you don’t end up with bubble letters. Visit this tutorial to learn more about using fonts in Design Space.

Cut and Score The Card

Shows Abbi's hands loading a Cricut machine with a mat that has brown cardstock on it.
  1. Load your cardstock onto your Cricut mat. Place your scoring stylus in Clamp A when Cricut prompts you. The same will be true for your pen if you opt to have Cricut write for you.
  2. Get all your cardstock layers cut out, keeping track of all the small pieces as you go.
Layering the nativity card.
  1. Once all the pieces have been cut out, use glue to layer the details of the design together first. Refer to each SVG design to see the order of the layers easily.
  2. With the back piece, you will glue the purple star and yellow base layer together.
  1. Use the 3 long connecting pieces with grooves to thread through the slots of the back piece and glue to secure from the backside.
  1. Repeat step 5 with the front piece of the card as well, in my case, the baby Jesus layer.

15+ Christmas Holiday Cards You Can Make With Your Cricut Machine

Looking for more great ideas to make one-of-a-kind Christmas cards? I’m sharing the best Cricut Christmas cards to make this holiday season, including the cutest shaker cards, photo cards, pop-up Christmas cards, lantern pop-up cards, and more in this DIY Christmas Card post!

Assembling the Nativity christmas pop up card.
  1. Slide the two additional layers into the center remaining grooves and wiggle them down into place. This takes a little patience.
Assembling the Nativity christmas pop up card.
  1. Use the small H-shaped pieces to fold in half length-wise and glue them around the grooves where the two center pieces slide in. This ensures they cannot slide out. See the video here for more clarity.
Assembling the Nativity christmas pop up card.
  1. Grab the long, thin rectangle pieces and fold them along the scorelines.
  2. Glue the one piece to the front and the other to the backside.
  3. Then glue the sides closed on the left and right of the card.
  4. Open and close the card in each direction to make sure it is collapsing properly.
Assembling the Nativity christmas pop up card.
  1. Add your star on the front of the card and the message to the back with glue! And that’s it!
Nativity scene pop up card for Christmas handmade with cardstock. Card is shown on a navy blue background.

Envelopes For The Pop-Up Cards

To send your loved ones these Christmas greetings, there is an SVG file included for envelopes for these Christmas cards. It is important to note that you will need to have a 12 x 24-inch Cricut mat to cut these envelopes out.

The envelope SVG can be loaded right into Design Space. Just make sure to change the black lines to score lines and use the Attach tool to hold their placement before cutting the envelope out.

If that is not an option for you, then just grab a premade set online like these envelopes here!

Handmade envelope for cards.

With the snowman card, I also include a shaker layer that can be swapped out for the tree layer making these cards double-special, – pop-up and shaker!

Side by side view of a handmade snowman pop up card with a shaker effect.

Here is a side-by-side look at how the card with and without the shaker card insert – both are cute in their own way!

Don’t forget to download this entire collection of Christmas pop-up cards to use with your Cricut machine inside the Abbi Kirsten Membership!

Let it snow snowman card made with Cricut.

Did you like this DIY pop-up Christmas card tutorial? And do you enjoy making your own Christmas cards? Which of these six unique designs is your favorite?

Share with me below in the comments, and Merry Christmas!

You may also love my Joy Christmas cards and my advent calendar gift boxes!

How to make handmade Christmas pop-up cards with Cricut

About Abbi Kirsten

Welcome to my colorful corner of the internet, where we play with vibrant crafts and unlock your creative magic! Hang out with me and get lost in a fun array of projects, tutorials, and products, from stunning papercraft ideas to flower templates, Cricut help for beginners, and endless crafter’s hacks. 

Join the Member Vault and participate in my monthly Craft-Alongs in my Facebook group to access all the magic!

DIY pop up Christmas card with a snowman.

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