Guest Post: How to Make a Light-Up Pop-Up Birthday Card

Guest Post: Krafti Karma

Front View of Light-Up Pop-Up Birthday Card
Krafti Karma

Today’s video tutorial was created by an enterprising young crafter, Taryn, who creates under the moniker Krafti Karma.

Based in Northern California, Taryn is a high school sophomore who enjoys traveling, volunteering for the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Peninsula, and teaching kids at Peninsula Bridge.

A recipient of a Joey K. Social Innovation Fellowship grant, which is “awarded to students or groups who have designed something that will solve a specific problem and benefit the world, and take the project out of the prototyping phase and into action in the real world,” Taryn has brought light-up card kits to over 100 children!

In an earlier post, she shared a clever technique for creating a Mason Jar Fairy House.

She’s back with an easily customizable birthday card that lights up and pops up, to help us celebrate #LightUpPopUpTober!


Hi! In this video tutorial, I’m excited to show you how to make a pop-up light-up birthday card. We will integrate a knife-free pop-up mechanism for the birthday cake, and use a pull-tab mechanism to turn the light up the candle. You can find the materials used in the description summary of the video. Thanks for watching! Have fun crafting! [View Circuit Diagram}

Card with the pull-tab in place, which breaks the circuit for easy mailing
Card with the pull-tab removed to close the circuit and light up the candle

View Video Tutorial

How to Make a Light-Up Pop-Up Birthday Card: Video

Tools & Supplies

I used the following specific materials, but get creative with any materials that you might have as well!

Chibitronics Products

Copic Markers

  • Purple Shades: BV0000, BV000, BV01
  • Teal Shades: BG10, BG32
  • Pink Shades: RV11, RV21, RV13
  • Yellow: Y11

Stamps

Dies

Other

Circuit Diagram: Placing a strip of paper between the battery and one of the conductive traces on the holder interrupts the circuit and turns the light off.

Learn More

To learn more about the type of switching mechanism featured in this project, visit Jessica Frost-Ballas’ video, How to Mail a Light-Up Card, which is Episode 9 in her Chibitronics for Papercrafters Series.

Guest Post: How to Make a Light-Up Pop-Up Birthday Card
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