There are two main ways to create beautiful greeting cards decorated with kirigami. The first way is to cut out the patterns or images directly from the front of the card and covering the back of it with colourful paper to make the cut out pop.The second is to make a kirigami cut out on a separate piece of paper, then attaching it to the card as an overlay or as an embellishment.Securing the kirigami to the card gives you a little more creative freedom since you can place it directly on the surface or raise it a little for a 3D effect.

To get a nice clean look, using a heavier card stock will work best and it's also the perfect weight for easy cutting for the more beginner kirigami crafters.You can pretty much use any variety of paper and change up the textures, colours and weights or change it up with mixed media art and embellishments.

If you would like to cut out the images directly from the card, first figure out if your image would look best as portrait or landscape style. Using a pencil, lightly sketch the rough outline of the image you would like.There are two options for this part: you can draw directly on the front of the card and erase any pencil marks after you've cut pieces out or draw on the back where the pencil lines can be hidden with decorative paper.

Next, mark the "negative" pieces that you would like to remove in order to show the exact image that you would like.This step is not necessary, but certainly helps to avoid making a mistake.When cutting, use the scalpel knife gently and just go over the same lines a couple of times to ensure the cut goes all the way through.This is also a good precaution to avoid snapping the blade tip or giving yourself wrist pains.

Once the cut out is done, you can lightly erase the remaining pencil lines.If the paper can tear easily, avoid using an eraser and just lightly brush the pencil lines with a cotton bud.Now you are free to leave it as is or back it with decorative paper to show through.

For kirigami on separate pieces of paper, the same steps are taken but this time you have to draw the image or pattern on the back of the paper (the part that will not show in the end).Make sure to draw images backwards since you're going to cut from the back, which will make the front a "mirror" image of your sketch. This is particularly important for word and number cut outs.

When the kirigami is done, flatten with a book and secure it anywhere you like on the card.If you would like to create a 3D style kirigami card, secure a few spots of the kirigami, but arrange them so that some parts stick up.

This is a very enjoyable and creative paper craft that anyone in the family can do. The main point is to start out simple.Try different paper types and cutting tools for different effects.