Our New Year's Card Is A Pop-Up, Light-Up Dumpster Fire With Dancing Raccoons. Want One?

I've been searching for weeks to find some crafty way to commemorate 2020, and eventually decided John and I would have to design something from scratch to really do this year justice.

This has taken at least a dozen prototypes, testing cut files, colors, papers, and overall design, but I'm delighted to finally unveil our finished New Year's card! Woohoo! Can I get a trumpet fanfare?



Omigosh, that's even better. Thank you, John.

So as you can see, the front and back are super simple:

Because this card is all about the inside:

Pop in a battery-operated tealight, and that's when the magic happens:

Obviously this card isn't for everyone, but if you have a twisted sense of humor - or just really like trash pandas - then our pop-up light-up dumpster fire is for you. And good news! I convinced John to put in the extra work to make his files available for you bots. It's taken several days, but he's done all the hard stuff, designing & formatting & adding handy placement guides. So now all you have to do is download our files, print, cut on your Cricut or other cutting machine, and assemble.

Oh, and the downloadable version doesn't have any words inside, so you can choose to add your own message or leave the inside blank.

Generally I give all our templates away for free here, but this one I'm going to list over on Etsy as an instant download. It's easier to bundle the files that way, but also this is so John and I can make a few extra dollars, which we plan to put towards Project: Epbot things. (John's currently building a wheelchair-friendly pantry door, can't wait to show you!) The file bundle is $4, and comes in convenient .pdf and .svg formats, so you can make as many cards with it as you like.

And - AND! - since I know we're already kinda close to New Year's, and some of you won't get around to making this in time, I asked John to also make a second set of cut files that replace the 2020 on the dumpster with the ever-popular, "This is fine."



Boom. Now it's perfect for any dumpster-fire occasion, beyond 2020! And of course that second set of cut files is included with the $4 bundle.

Since this is our first foray into card making, I'm not sure how to rate the difficulty level... so let me show you how we put it together, and you can judge for yourself:  

First, download our file bundle from Etsy. Then:

- Print the card interior on a standard 8.5X11 sheet of white card stock. (We used a matte brochure paper to make the blacks extra velvety, but that's optional.) Flip the paper over, and score the center and two side folds on the back.

These are the measurements where you should score your lines. It's important that you score these now, but don't fold them yet.

- Feed that sheet you just printed and scored into your cutting machine, and cut the center design.

Done!

- Remove the cut sheet from the mat and carefully fold the center line OUT and the side lines IN, like this:

 Since you pre-scored these lines (you remembered to do that, right?), this should be easy.

- Print the card exterior on your choice of light colored card stock, and fold in half. (Dark colors won't reflect the light well inside, so stick with something white or pastel.) Since the front is so plain I recommend using a card stock with a nice texture, like this white linen we used from Amazon, but again, that's optional.

Note: Printing the card exterior will place two almost invisible placement marks on the front, so don't skip this step!

- Cut the raccoon head graphic from your choice of vinyl (we used gold foil), then transfer it to the front of the card. Look for the placement marks: the lower dot should be covered by the raccoon's nose, and the higher dot should be covered by the top of his hat, just below the pom-pom.

The placement dots will help you keep the design centered and straight: no more obsessively double-checking with a ruler!

- Now it's time to join the two pieces of your card together. Apply glue stick or double-stick tape to the outer edge of the interior piece of card stock:

... and stick it to the inside edge of the exterior piece, like so:

Repeat for the other side, and you'll have both pieces of your card sealed together.

Your finished card should look like this from the top:

That space is where the battery-operated tea light will go.

And that's it, you're done! This card will fit a standard A9 envelope, and is meant to be displayed open with a tealight inside, for that cozy dumpster fire glow.

Now, I know most of you probably don't want to make a card like this... but would you like to have one? Because John and I've made 8 extras of these babies to give to YOU, some blank, some printed with our greeting. To enter, just share my post about this card - or the Youtube video of it - on any social media (Facebook, IG, Twitter, SnapTok, etc.), then tell me you did so in the comments. (We're using the honor system here.) I'll choose 8 people at random by Wednesday the 16th to mail a card -  yes, even international! Just keep in mind it probably won't reach you before the New Year if you're not in the U.S.

If nothing else I hope this gave you a laugh, babes and bots - and remember, sending a video of a funny New Year's card to your friends and family is almost as good as sending a real one. Just remind them to watch with the sound on, 'cuz the music John picked made me laugh so hard.

In case we don't see you before then, John and I both wish you a very happy new year-that-isn't-2020. May next year be a little more loving, a little more healthy, and a little less sucky, forever and ever, amen.

::MWAH::

*****

UPDATE: My winners are...

- Kelsey S.
- Laurinda

- Chrissy

- Sarahlcsnano

- Erin

- Raienya

- Eric

- Martha in KC

Congrats, all of you, and please e-mail me your mailing addresses, so we can get those out to you!