Want to make a pop up piano, but find the origamic architecture template too daunting?
You can thank MariLynn at Splitcoast Stampers for inspiring me to design an easier pop up piano card. MariLynn's piano is in the Splitcoast Stampers gallery. She cut her black piano keys as separate pieces, attached by tabs.
I further refined the design by making the keys into boxes. I think it's easier to make them uniform that way, and you don't see the tabs under the keys.
How to make a Pop Up Piano Card
Download and print pattern on the right side of white card stock.
Print black keys, or use template to trace on to black paper. Score fold lines across all five keys. Cut out black keys.
Assemble black keys.
Fold each piece into an open box.
Spread glue on the tab and glue box together.
Push box toward tab, collapsing it. (This ensures that the black key will fold flat in the card.) Weight and allow to dry.
Refer to cut and fold diagram, below, for white keys. The white keys form a simple box pop up.
Cut along blue lines. Score red (valley) and green (mountain) fold lines.
Push and pinch to create folds.
I usually pre-pinch each fold in the proper direction and then push from the back to get the folds to collapse.
Glue black keys to white card, matching guidelines.
Flatten the white card. Smooth the black keys flat, too. Put a book on the card and let dry.
