CCC 2024 Day 12: Christmas Critters (Cards & Decorations)

Step 2) Create a base card

Click “Shapes” and choose a square.

Make it the size that you want your final card to be. I am making a 5×7 inch card so my base rectangle is 10 inches wide and 7 inches tall.

Make it a different colour other than the default grey. I used the same green as the holly leaves on the Christmas pudding.

If you have a scoring tool or scoring wheel for your Cricut machine, it’s a good idea to add a score line to the middle of the base card to make it easier to fold in the correct place.

If you don’t have a way to score with your Cricut, move on to Step 3.

Click “Shapes” and insert a Score Line. Make it 7 inches tall.

Select the score line and the base card, then click “Align” and “Center” to put the score line exactly in the middle of the card.

Select the score line and the base card, then press “Attach” at the bottom of the layers panel.

Attach is what tells the Cricut that we want it to do the score line down the middle of the base card.

Add extra detail to the card by adding some layers of different colours.

I created a rectangle at 6.5 inches tall and 4.5 inches wide and made it a darker green colour.

Then I made a slightly smaller rectangle of 6.25 inches wide and 4.25 inches tall and put that in the middle. I’ll be cutting this from patterned scrapbook paper so I’ve made it a bright pink colour to remind myself when it comes to cutting the project.

Position the critters where you will be sticking them onto the card. You may need to resize them to get them to fit.

Make sure both Christmas puddings are the same width and height so that the removable ornament will fully cover the one that’s stuck on the card.

Duplicate the bell image to make a copy, so that you have one to make as the ornament and one to use on the card.

Step 3) Add sentiments and details

The bottom of my cards are looking a little bit empty at the moment, so I want to add some Christmas sentiments.

If you have the Cricut Access subscription, search for “Merry Christmas” and look through the images.

Because we are using cardstock, we need one where the letters are touching (or mostly touching) so that we don’t lose any letters when cutting!

To add a border to the sentiment, click “Offset” and size it as desired. Change the colour to match the card

Use the “Contour” button to fill in any gaps on the Offset layer to make it tidier.

An alternative way to add a sentiment is to search under Images for “Merry Christmas stencil”.

Choose a stencil image.

Put it onto a rectangle (the white one in the image below).

Use “Offset” with the sharp corner option ticked to make a slightly larger rectangle (the darker green one).

Select the “Merry Christmas” image and the white rectangle and press Align > Center to put the wording exactly in the middle.

With both layers still selected, press Combine > Subtract to “cut” the image from the rectangle.

It will now show the colour of the larger rectangle through the holes.

Don’t forget to save your project!

Step 4) Cut out all the layers

When you’re happy with how the project is looking in Design Space, click “Make” and follow the instructions on-screen to cut out all the pieces.

To change the paper size, go into the dropdowns over on the left side of the screen and choose the paper size that you want to use. You need to change it for every single colour.

To save space on your cardstock, you can move things around by clicking and dragging. Make sure when you’re moving things about that nothing overlaps because otherwise, it won’t cut out properly.

TIP: New to cutting cardstock with a Cricut? Check out this in-depth tutorial which goes through every step of the process, including tips for getting the best quality cuts from your Cricut.

Step 5) Stick the cards and critters together

The process is the same for both the bell and the Christmas pudding card.

Take your base card and fold down the score line. You may want to go down the fold with a brayer tool to get a crisp fold.

Use 3D foam pads and glue to stick the layers together.

My favourite glues to use on papercraft projects are Bearly Art Glue and Collall All Purpose Glue.

These are great because they don’t “warp” or bend the cardstock like some glues do. You can use as much of it as you want and the card stays perfect – and it dries perfectly clear too!

Bearly Art Glue comes with a tiny nozzle to make it easy to apply glue to small areas of card. The Collall glue doesn’t come with this, so it’s easiest to decant it into needle tip applicator bottles so that you have more control.

The foam pads that I use are from “Dot & Dab”, but any foam squares will work. If yours are big then you may need to cut them smaller with scissors to fit inside the edges of the layers.

Glue the two rectangles to the front of the card.

Use this guide to see the order to stick the layers of the critters together in.

A printable version of this assembly guide is included in the folder when you download the cut files.

For the version of the critters that is going on the card, glue all the pieces together so that the design ends up flat.

For the ornament critters, you can use foam squares for some of the pieces such as the green holly leaves on the Christmas pudding and the bow on the Christmas bell.

Step 6) Finish the cards

Thread ribbon through the holes in the tops of the two critters that will become your ornaments.

Glue the “card” version of the critters to the card and use foam squares to attach the sentiments.

Use Blu Tack or some other similar product to tack the ornament to the front of your card.

Blu Tack is great because you can simply peel it off without damaging the card.

Christmas critters greetings card

Now your Christmas critter greetings cards are finished and ready to be written inside and sent in the post.

I love how they are extra special with their hidden ornament surprise.

If you’d like to make an envelope for your Christmas greetings card, find an envelope tutorial here.

If you don’t want to make Christmas tree decorations, you could make DIY fridge magnets out of the critters instead.

Happy crafting,
Sarah x