September tutorial: How to make a 3D birthday card

It’s September so Autumn is coming, if not it’s already landed in some parts of the globe, but that doesn’t mean we should give up on colours. Especially bright ones!

This month’s tutorial is a very special one because it’s dedicated to a very dear friend of mine, whose birthday is this weekend. So I thought why not combine a cool and colourful DIY with this special occasion?

And this is how this wonderfully animated 3D birthday card was born. Want to know how you can make one yourself? Keep on reading 😉

What you need:

• patterned paper
• coloured paper
• pencil
• paper glue
• a piece of string
• ruler
• scissors

What you need to do:

As you already know, in order to make the process easy to follow each picture has its own number and I try to explain step by step each action that I took in order to obtain the final product.

Also, please bare in mind that this birthday card is just an idea and it can be changed according to your own imagination and materials. You don’t need to limit yourself in creating something dull, or something that you don’t relate to. Just be yourself when creating!

That being said, let’s get started, shall we?

Making the actual card

1. First of all you need to take a piece of your patterned paper. I happened to have one with birthday cake on it, which is great because the person I am creating this for has a sweet tooth 😉

2. With the help of a ruler and a pencil establish the seizes (L X l) of your card. I went for 15 x 6.

3. Cut the card using your scissors.

4. Now fold it in half and see if  you are content with how it looks. Hopefully you are, otherwise you need to start over 😛

5. In order to continue please be sure that all the following actions will be done on the folded side of the card.

6. Draw two shapes (a rectangle and a square). Draw them closer to the margins than the center of the card, but not too close. Just approximate or take a good look at the pictures.

7. Cut along the lines of the shapes you made, but only vertically. Be sure NOT to cut the horizontal lines too!

8. Open your card and push the first shape (the rectangle in my case) in the interior, using your finger.

9. Do the same with the square shape. The 3D card is ready!

Balloon accessorized

In order to make our birthday card more appealing and … basically ALIVE, we need to create some birthday-themed items and glue them to the 3D parts.  First stop are the balloons.

1. Draw some balloons on a folded piece of coloured paper using your pencil. The shape doesn’t have to be perfect because this is a handmade card and we are rooting for uniqueness, not perfection.

2. Cut off the balloons using your scissors.

3. Make a bunch of balloons using different coloured paper.

4. Add paper clue to the back of your balloons …

5. … and stick them together, alternating the coloures

6. When your balloon bunch is ready make a hole at the bottom of it and insert the string.

Adding A present

Because a birthday party without a presents is just awful and horrible and … bleah! we need to add a present to our card. In this part we will also glue the balloons.

1. Cut a rectangle piece of coloured paper, two narrow paper stripes and two that have the shape of a bow. Use your scissors and a pencil and go wild!

2. Glue the aforementioned items until the present is ready.

3.  Apply glue on the back of your balloon bunch …

4. … and glue it to the 3D rectangle shape.

5. Do the same with the present, but glue it to the square one.

6. Take a bit of string and glue it to the right corner of your card, just above the present.

Personalize your card

Because this card belongs to someone and is intended for someone’s birthday (in my case my good old friend Raluca) I decided to add her name to the card by using more colours. I know, shocking! 😛

1.Cut triangle-shaped pieces of coloured paper, enough to form the word of the person you intent to give this card to.

2. Glue these pieces of paper to the string you added a few minutes before on the top right corner.

3. Write the name of your friend on the triangles.

4. You are finished! You can tie your card with a piece of yarn to make it more authentic and of course, put it in an envelope.

So this is it my dear Do it yourself! lovers! Your birthday card is ready and it bares your signature. You can choose to use a paper cake, or maybe add some confetti to your card, but I stuck with the balloons and the gift.

This is a great way to show your appreciation towards a friend, a family member or someone from work because it screams you bothered to do something for them, instead of just buying a normal card (not that’s anything wrong with that).

So next time you want a cool touch for a present, be creative and make your own 3D birthday card. It’s sooo much fun this way!

Please be sure to “give me a ring” on social media if you decide to recreate this birthday card or try something new. I would love to see your results!

In the end, I just want to wish my friend Raluca “Happy birthday!” and may all your wishes to come true! Love u! 🙂