With fathers day soon approaching, as of the time of writing this, I felt it the perfect time to try my hand at making a popup card and having a movable football. My dad likes football so this is the theme I chose and its my first attempt at a popup card but it turned out better then expected! So welcome lets jump right in.

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Here is a complete list of Supplies & Tools you will need. They are not all the same supplies I used but should be similar or better replacements.

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Supplies

• Scotch Tape – (This was used quite a bit, could also just use the packing tape.)
• Packing Tape Small Roll – (This was used quite a bit as well, you could just use this tape if you wanted. This is a smaller cheaper roll.)
• Packing Tape Normal Roll - (This was used quite a bit as well, you could just use this tape if you wanted.)
• Glue Sticks – (This was used for fast drying or you could use Elmers Glue.)
• Elmers Glue & Glue Stick Bundle – (This would get you both for a reasonable price.)
• Elmers Glue – (Didn’t end up using it but would have help better, takes longer to dry though.)
• Optional: Sharpie Marker – (Used mostly to push down tape and draw an arrow.)
• Optional: Cardstock Paper – (Not used in the project but if you want to skip a few steps cardstock would work better.)
• Optional: Glossy Cardstock – (Not used in the project but if you want to skip even more steps this would work better.)

Tools

• Scissors – (Any pair of scissors should work.)
• Utility Knife – (Any utility knife, razor blade, or hobby knife should do. This is the one I use because it stores some in the handle and is quick to change them out.)
• Snap Off Box Cutter – (These are cheap and would work fine too.)
• Optional: Hobby Knife Set – (Not used in this project but would have made cleaner cuts then the scissors, especially if you use a ruler with it.)

Print these images or make your own. I printed two football fields, one portrait the other landscape, two goal posts (unused), the banner, and a football. These were mostly found on the internet and I scaled them down to the size of a paper. The banner is the only part I customized using a fancy text generator and then found a picture of a crowd and edited it in behind it. This step is pretty easy use the scissors and cut out all the pictures. Or if you want cleaner cuts use a hobby knife and ruler. I also combined the banner, football, and goalposts into a single print if you want to use less paper. If it works right the Landscape Football Field should be the full 8.5"x11" piece of paper printed in landscape which is the inside of the card and the Portrait Football Field should print in portrait and is the outer shell.

Now fold the landscape printed football field in half, you could cut it out before later steps I didn’t do that until later. This will become the inside of the card.

Using the scraps from cutting out the pictures I made multiple attempts and prototypes of the card mechanisms. The ones that worked the best are what I went with. For the moving football tests having thicker paper makes all the difference but if you don’t have cardstock like I didn’t I have a free option in the next step. Its a good idea to do a test to make sure your plan will work out.

Grab the cardboard box from a food item in the kitchen. I went with a frozen pizza box but this cardboard is the same thickness as cereal boxes, instant oatmeal boxes, lots of frozen premade meals, and so on. Somewhere in your kitchen you likely have some thin cardboard from a package to work with. If not you can always buy cardstock paper which would likely work better anyway.

I could have done this in step one but I hadn’t yet decided how big I wanted the card to be, so simply cut out the landscape printed football field if you didn’t already.

Now using the glue stick or elmers glue glue the landscape printed football field to the thin packaging cardboard. I glued it to the glossy side so the white back would be whats exposed however it would have stuck better to back and ends up getting covered anyway so either way works.

Once the glue is dried enough to work with cut out the cardboard around the football field print. The thin cardboard cuts really easy with scissors so that is what I used.

Now fold the cardboard glued football field in half and use something flat to give it a good crease. I used the back of a sharpie marker but anything would work. At this point I decided not to use the goal posts. Setting them on the card just made it feel cluttered so I didn’t end up using them.

Now cut a slit near the bottom of the card where you want the movable football to go. I cut it right where the card bends and unfortunately my razor blade was dull and ripped the paper as you can see in the 3^rd picture. So make sure your blade is sharp or just cut it from the back to begin with.

We need at least one thin cardboard strip to attach to the card and hold part of the football. I cut three because I was going to do the goal posts but then I only ended up needing one. From here on they will be referred to as strips.

Now cut a really long strip of the thin packaging cardboard this will become the pull tab to make the football move. It can be too long and cut down to size later, mine happened to be the right length so I didn’t need to trim it later. From here on this will be referred to as the tab, short for the pull tab.

Now fold the end of the strip just enough to put glue on it and then glue it down to the card, you want it a little to the right of the slit we cut for the tab. I went roughly half an inch from the slit and lined it up with it. I also ended up having to put a piece of tape over the strip later to hold it down to the card. My glue wasn’t entirely dry when I started working with it. Also a good idea to reinforce the bend with some tape.

Now insert the tab through the slit cut earlier and make it go the same height as the strip. I folded the tab at the back of the card but I would hold off so you don’t have to refold it later like I did. I also drew an arrow on the pull tab which is optional but makes it more obvious. I then taped it so the marker wouldn’t just come off since I drew it on the glossy side of the package.

I then cut an angle out of the tab and the strip so the football would be at an angle rather then just straight up and down. I also cut one of the other strips down to a small strip the same length as the gap between the tab and the strip.

Now tape the small strip you just cut out onto the tab and strip. I put tape on both sides so it would be reinforced as this is going to take most of the bending motion from the pull tab. This small strip is what the football will be held up by. I also put some tape on the strip and card because it pulled off while I was taping the small strip on.

Now glue the football to a piece of the thin cardboard and cut it out. Just go slow and slowly turn it as you cut to match the shape of the football.

Now glue the football to the small strip which should now be taped onto the tab and strip. I centered it on the small strip and only put glue where it would actually touch the small strip as the football is longer then the small strip is. Let it dry or you will be gluing it a second time like I ended up having to.

Now assuming you didn’t do what I did and already fold the long tab now is when you want to pull it out enough for the card to shut flat and then fold it. If you did already fold it like I did its no problem we just refold it and then reinforce it in the next steps. Mine was just barely off by probably less then a centimeter.

I noticed as I folded the card and tested the pull tabs that all the areas where the cardboard is bent were starting to tear. So take some of the tape and reinforce all the edges so the card can be opened and used multiple times.

If you had to refold the long tab like I did then cut a small strip of the thin cardboard again and tape it over the old fold. Ignore the cut in the tab for now that is the next step.

Now to stop the pull tab from being pulled too far out cut a slit near the end and a small strip of cardboard to put through it and tape it into place. This also holds the tab against the card instead of having it fly around. I ended up having to extend the slot two times so make it a little longer then you expect, or just extend it with the scissors like I did.

Now test the motion of the football by pulling the pull tab and if doesn’t go as far as you want extend the slot a bit with scissors. Mine was getting stuck straight up and down which isn’t what I wanted. I wanted the football to go from one end of the field to the other.

I noticed the pull tab where it goes through the slit would sometimes hang further then it should and was likely to get damaged if it got caught on something as pulled so I cut a rectangle out of the thin cardboard folded it in half and then taped it over where the tab goes through the slit on all sides. Just don’t tape over the tab part or it wont move anymore. Sorry the last few pictures on this blurred out, but its just a zoom in on the tape holding the piece of cardboard to the back of the card.

Now just as before glue the cut out banner to the cardboard and then cut out the extra cardboard.

I have always referred to this as the poor mans lamination technique which is simply take some clear packing tape and put it over the banner and then cut it out. This will give it a nice glossy look without requiring glossy paper. If you have glossy paper and printed it out on it you can probably skip this step.

Now to make the banner pop up I cut the top of the card all but about an inch or so from the end then inverted the way the center folded so now it goes out. Then I carefully closed the card while putting pressure on the edge of the cut where its still attached to the card so it wouldn’t rip and folded it right there where my cuts ended. The pictures should better illustrate what I mean by the folds. Then I took it and lightly bent it over the edge one way, and then back the other then opened it back up. Then I inverted the center fold once again this time so it would be the original direction it was already Which you can see makes it look like a W. Then I folded the card and pressed it all flat and got ready for the next step.

Now fold the banner in half and then tape it to the center of the W fold. The center fold of the banner should just fit right into the center of the W fold, then just tape it into place on each side of the center fold so it can still unfold.

Now test and reinforce all the edges of the W fold, especially the center which has been folded both directions now. I went with this design because out of all my tests it would put the banner out the furthest. The only drawback is the back of the banner does now overhang the card, but that is fine I just used it to write my personal message for the card on at the end.

Now take more of the thin cardboard and cut it out into a large rectangle the same width as the card, fold it in half, and tape it over the back of the banner cut we made. This will reinforce it and give us something to tape onto later. I folded it in half then cut it against itself so there was no more extra parts hanging off. Being a scrap piece it already had various cuts on it. Don’t forget to reinforce the edge where its folded. I probably should have done this backwards so the white side was against the card instead of part of the cheese pizza on the picture. But I thought it was kind of funny to have a cheese pizza visible under the banner so I left it. It is visible from the front of the card if you angle it at all like I did in the later pictures to show where to tape it to the card.

Now do final test on the football motion before we end up covering everything up on the back, this will be the last chance to change anything before its covered. I also have a video of this step so you can see the motion of the football. I took lots of pictures to show the motion and range of motion as well.

Now take the portrait print of the football field and poor mans laminate the whole thing being sure to press it down thoroughly then trim all the excess packing tape. It will stick to your table on this so its a good idea to put it down on a hobby mat or other pieces of paper if you want to protect your table top. This will give it a nice glossy finish and protect it while the card is being held and read.

I attempted to glue the outer shell onto the card but it did not stick at all, probably doesn’t help it was 90 degrees when I did this so the glue dried nearly instantly. I scribbled where the pull tab is so I wouldn’t put any glue there or it would bind the whole thing up. This step didn’t work for me so if you go with it be sure to not glue where the tab moves at all.

Since the glue didn’t work I ended up using packing tape instead to attach the outer shell of the card to the back of the card itself. This hides all the mechanisms and reinforcements and makes it actually look like a card. The outer shell was an after thought for me as I was originally going to leave it, so I didn’t spend the time to edit it with a Happy Fathers Day or anything. If you want to do that be sure to do it before printing. Now tape it to all the edges of the card and cut slits for anywhere it overhangs something like the pull tab cut it so there is no tape there, and the strip that holds the football to the card, also around the W folds. They become obvious when you start pushing the tape down so just cut those as needed. In retrospect I should have poor mans laminated the main inside of the card as well and the football, but I didn’t think to do it till later so maybe next time.

Here is the finished card it turned out better then expected though there are obviously some areas for improvement. Not bad overall though for my first popup card I ever made and has a movable football just like I wanted. I also have a video showing the finished card opening and moving. So overall I liked how it turned out, be sure to try it for yourself and see what you can improve!