How to Make a Santa Claus Pop-Up Christmas Card

Print out the pop-up Santa Claus template. (Click on the thumbnail to see the full-size printable image.)

Fold a piece of 9- by 12-inch green construction paper in half. Cut out the chimney base and the Santa Claus base around the outer edge with a small pair of sharp scissors.

Place the Santa Claus and chimney bases over the top of a piece of red construction paper. Trace around the edge of the template pieces with a pencil.

Cut out the Santa Claus and chimney bases. Cut out all the small pieces from the pop-up Santa Claus template, as well as the snow piece from the bottom.

Place the face, beard, suit trim, sleeve trim, hat trim, hat ball and snow template segments over a piece of white construction paper. Trace around the edge of each piece with a pencil. Lightly draw two eyes on the face segment. Color the face with a flesh-colored pencil, avoiding the eye area. Trace the gloves over black construction paper. Cut out each piece, taking care to cut precisely.

Glue the pieces to the front of the Santa Claus base. Also glue the snow piece to the top of the chimney. Trim any excess red paper that protrudes from behind these pieces. Glue the bottom portion of the Santa Claus figure to the back of the chimney. Glue additional strips of construction paper behind the figure if necessary. Glue the gloves on the snow segment directly beneath Santa's arms. Glue the sleeve trim over the gloves. Color in Santa's eyes and mouth with colored pencil.

Cut the snow away from the chimney part of the template. Place the brick portion over the chimney base, offset by about 1/8 inch. Mark the bricks on both sides of the chimney. Use the ruler to mark the horizontal lines in black-colored pencil. Offset the template vertically and mark the bricks on the bottom and top of the chimney. Mark every other brick row with this arrangement. Trim the bottom row of bricks off the chimney template. Use the bottom edge of the shortened template to mark the bricks of the remaining rows. Mark these brick lines in black as well, using the ruler as a guide. The staggered bricks should look like the original template.

Measure a 6- by 7-inch of piece of green construction paper. To make the measurements accurate, place a metal ruler against the edge of the paper and mark each measurement in pencil. Place the ruler along these marks and draw a straight line across the paper. Then mark the 1.5-, 3- and 4.5-inch points on each of the 6-inch sides. Use the ruler to draw across these marks as well. Cut out the 6-by-7 inch piece, but do not cut across the interior lines.

Fold the 3-inch point downward so the pencil line is not visible. Fold the lines at the 1.5 and 4.5 marks upward. When finished, the paper will be in an accordion fold. Measure 1 inch away from the center fold of the card on both sides. Lightly mark lines at these points in pencil on the card interior. Apply the glue stick to the bottom of the very outer strips, then carefully align the two outer folds with the lines you have just marked on the Santa pop-up card. Press down to secure this inner flap to the card.

Apply glue to the bottom 1.5 inch of the back of the Santa Claus figure. Place it on the very center of the interior card flap.

Draw a greeting in bubble letters using pencil on a red piece of construction paper. Cut out the letters and paste them on the front of the card, using the ruler as a guide. Fill in any empty space with decorations, such as small presents made from recycled wrapping paper and ribbon or holly berries and leaves made from construction paper. Add your personal greeting to the inside of the Santa pop-up card.