Paper Engineering

PopUpTober: Light-Up Floating Plane Pop-Up Mechanism Featuring Chibitronics

Video Tutorial Introduction: In this video tutorial for #PopUpTober, I’ll show you two different methods for building a light-up pop-up structure called a Floating Plane.  A Floating Plane is useful for creating large pop-up shapes that appear to float upon a flat plane that rests upon three parallel supports. A Floating Plane may be folded […]

PopUpTober: Light-Up Double-Pivot Pop-Up Mechanism (featuring Chibitronics)

Video Tutorial Introduction: To celebrate #PopUpTober and #LightUpPopUpTober, I’m sharing a fun way to combine light with an engaging pop-up mechanism, to create a “smore-themed” pop-up spread! This type of mechanism has a lot of visual interest, with arms that move and rotate whenever a card is opened. The Double Pivot mechanism, found on page […]

Chibitronics Lights Up #PopUpTober!

Find #PopUpTober Information & Inspiration For a quick reference, please visit our #LightUpPopUpTober resource page, which we’ll be updating throughout the months of September and October. There, you’ll find the daily prompts, tutorials, templates, and plenty of light-up pop-up inspiration to help you get started with our own creations! What is #PopUpTober? This fall, Chibitronics […]

Meet the Maker: Keith Allen

Since 2019, author-illustrator Keith Allen has been working behind the scenes to create one of the most eagerly anticipated, instantly recognizable, Instagram challenges of the paper crafting world—#PopUpTober. In the five years that have followed, his highly anticipated list of 31 prompts—one for each day of the month of October—have brought together a mix of […]

Spooky Spider Dissolve Card Featuring White Blink Animating LED Stickers

In my latest tutorial, featuring our new White Blink Animating LED stickers, I’ll show you how to make a mechanical card that reveals a spooky, blinking spider whenever you move a lever. Hidden inside of this surprising card, you’ll find a pair of hinged doors with a clear acetate lever that controls their diagonal movement. […]

Pop-Up Shop Card with LED sticker lights

Hi, crafty friends! I’m so happy to see you again here. I show you a pop-up shop card today.When you look inside this shop, you can feel the cozy air. You will feel like you are a dwarf and would like to get in this shop. I’d like to talk about @shirarin . She is […]

Create Glowing Garland with Circuit Sticker LEDs

In my latest tutorial, Glowing Garland: Paper Circuit Streamers, I’ll teach you how to use Circuit Sticker LEDs and Conductive Fabric Tape to create festive strands of illuminated garland to light up your holiday celebrations, your mood, and your home! Highly customizable and modular, our glowing garland is designed to be easily displayed, with shapes […]

Light Up a Dissolve Card with Chibitronics LED Stickers

In my latest tutorial, Dissolve Card: Light Up Picture Switcher, I’ll show you how to make a light-up version of a Victorian Era mechanism known as a dissolve, or dissolve card. This paper mechanics project combines a trick of the eye (and pictures that flip) with a little electronic trickery of our own — Circuit […]

Pop Up Rainbow Card With a Sliding Switch

In my newest tutorial, Rainbow Pop Up Card, we’ll be exploring a couple of eye-popping paper circuit techniques that are as good as gold! In addition to showing you how to create an interactive rainbow card that pops up and lights up when it’s opened, you’ll learn about an innovative sliding switch mechanism that may […]

Scroll to top