Pop-Up Cards - ILF Children and Young People's Division

Ready-Made programs

Carrie Smith & Emily Fleischer ILF “Teen Programs on the Cheap” 2008 Contact [email protected]

Pop-Up Cards Talk about a ready-made program! Almost all of your work is found online. Use Robert Sabuda’s website to build your program. He has step-by-step instructions with pictures of each step, as well as the templates to print out. The magic website:

http://www.robertsabuda.com/popmakesimple.asp You will need -to print the templates on cardstock or normal paper -to print the instructions (unless you only have one or two templates you feel comfortable enough to talk your teens through) You will also provide -scissors -rulers - paperclips (to score fold lines – more on the online instructions) -pencils/pens -coloring implements (colored pencils, markers, crayons, etc) -optionally, you may also provide colored construction paper We created these pop-ups for a holiday program, and I chose several of Robert’s designs for the kids to do: -pop-up snowflake -pop-up poinsettia flower -reindeer pop-up -Christmas tree pop-up -pop-up angel -bird house pop-up (modified to bird/Christmas tree ornament) -Mother’s Day flower (which is non-descript enough to work for the holidays) When I first printed these from Robert’s site, the cards came out very small. I did resize them into greeting-card sized templates in Microsoft Publisher, and also modified the birdhouse card to make it more Christmassy. If you are interested in these files (in Publisher or PDF) please contact Emily at [email protected]. There are also pop-ups on the site for other holidays – this doesn’t have to be a Christmas program.

Ready-Made programs


Print and Assemble Characters Teens will enjoy choosing and creating these kooky characters. Here are three websites that have a great variety of characters from pop-culture icons to wacky original monsters. Ready Mech http://readymech.com/ (Lots of strange original characters – human and non!)

Paper Foldables www.paperfoldables.com/ (Specializing in “weird” people and animals)

Cube Craftwww.cubeecraft.com/ (Lots of pop culture characters – bonus: these do not require glue or tape to assemble.)

Ready-Made programs


Iris Folding Greeting Cards A completed iris-folded card looks impossibly complicated, but the process couldn’t be simpler! This program could also be done with elementary age children. This traditional technique originated in Holland and it is called iris folding because the center of the design resembles the iris of a camera or eye. Designs and instructions can be found online at http://irisfolding.circleofcrafters.com/. You will need to provide -printed templates from the website -cardstock in varying colors for the card -different colored papers – regular weight. You can use colored paper, scrapbooking paper, etc. You may want to pre-cut these into 1½ inch strips. -scissors -clear tape -masking tape or painter’s tape Be sure to read through the instruction page at http://irisfolding.circleofcrafters.com/irisfoldingheart.html before doing the program. There are lots of great pointers as well as links to paper designs you can download and print.

Ready-Made programs


Humument-type Altered Book Most “altered books” look like art projects, with glue, paint, photographs, trinkets, and scrapbook-style labels on every page. Try this kind, which requires only the discarded books and colored pencils, markers, or crayons. British artist Tom Phillips published his first version of “A HUMUMENT” in 1970. He took W.H. Mallock's Victorian novel “A Human Document” and created an entirely different book by highlighting some words on each page and drawing over others. Examples: 1st page:

Random page:

Great options for discarded books are items from your donations bin or “Reader’s Digest Condensed Books” found “by the foot” in many used bookstores. This is also a great project to do in April, to celebrate National Poetry Month. You can talk about found poems, free verse, modern art, experimental poetry, and concrete poems. Check out www.humument.com to view the entire book.

Ready-Made programs


Book Covering This can be a great back-to-school program for August. Find out from school contacts whether teachers require books to be covered for school. Ask local grocery stores to donate paper bags. Teach the teens how to cover their books, then let them decorate with whatever you have on hand – stickers, markers, crayons, paint, fabric trims, ribbon, colored paper, glitter glue, etc. This is a good one to raid the crafts closet!

To cover books: 1. Open your book and lay it flat on the paper. 2. Cut the paper so that it is larger than the book on all four sides. 3. Fold the top and bottom of the paper so that the paper is now as tall as your book. 4. Fold in the left side to create a sleeve that fits over the front cover of the book. Place the cover in the sleeve. 5. Close the book, hold the cover around it, and mark the place where the right side should be folded. 6. Fold the right side at this spot to create the sleeve for the back of the book. 7. Open the book and slide the right sleeve over the back cover. 8. Once the cover fits well, tape the edges of the paper any place necessary to hold the cover in place. But, do not tape the cover directly to the book!