HCC 2023 Day 15 🦇 Grumpy Gargoyle Papercraft
This grumpy little gargoyle is getting ready to protect your home from monsters and ghouls this Halloween!
At the end of the Halloween Craft Countdown last year, I sent out a survey to attendees and one of the questions was “what designs would you like to see next year?”. One of the most suggested designs was a stone gargoyle… so here he is!
I love his grumpy little expression. He looks like he is trying to be all big and scary, but I think he’s a big softie at heart.
There are lots of layers to this design which really makes it “pop” out for a wonderfully realistic stone gargoyle.
This project was part of 2023's Halloween Craft Countdown.
Materials supply list
Here is a list of the materials that I used to make this project.
Please note that some of the links included in this article are affiliate links, which means that if you click through and make a purchase I may receive a commission (at no additional cost to you). You can read my full disclosure at the bottom of the page.
- Cricut machine
- Light blue Cricut cutting mat
- Coloured Card
- Gold mirror card
- Collall All Purpose Glue
- Needle Tip Applicator Bottle
- 3D foam pads
This project is suitable for the following types of Cricut machine: Explore Air 2, Explore Air 3, Maker, Maker 3, Venture and Joy Xtra. You will need to resize it smaller to cut on the original Cricut Joy machine.
Video tutorial
Watch the video below to see how to make this project. Keep scrolling for a written tutorial.
Written tutorial (with photos!)
Here’s how to make your very own Halloween gargoyle using a Cricut machine!
Step 1) Download the cutting file(s) & unzip the downloaded folder
Before you upload the SVG to Design Space, you need to unzip the download folder that it comes in.
- How to unzip a folder on Windows computer
- How to unzip a folder on a Mac
- How to unzip a folder on an iPad/iPhone
- How to unzip a folder on an Android device
Step 2) Upload the SVG file into Design Space
Open up Cricut Design Space and start a new Project.
Click “Upload” and then find your unzipped version of the downloaded files for this project.
The file to upload for Cricut Design Space is the one called svg-gargoyle-craftwithsarah.svg
This is how it should look after you have uploaded the file:
All the layers should appear “on top of each other” as per the image above. If you see all the layers next to each other instead, that means you’ve accidentally uploaded the wrong file type. If that’s the case, click “Cancel” on the bottom-right of the screen and try again.
Make sure you upload the file which starts svg- in the filename!!
After uploading, the design will show in your “Recently Uploaded Images”.
Click on it and then press “Add to Canvas” to put it onto your Project.
Step 3) Size the gargoyle design
Click the design on your canvas and use the width/height boxes near the top of the screen to make it the size that you want to cut.
TIP: Make sure the padlock icon above the width/height boxes is CLOSED before you resize. If it appears “open”, click it with your mouse to close it.
I resized him to 8 inches wide (7.297 inches tall).
I don’t recommend going smaller than about 5 inches wide as some of the cuts will get a little bit too tiny and hard to stick.
If you are cutting the gargoyle to fit in a specific frame, watch this video to see my top tips on how to resize him to fit perfectly, or read the tutorial here.
Step 4) Simplify the colours if needed
This step is optional, depending on how many shades of grey card you have available.
The design uses three different shades of grey card, but you can modify it to only use two if you prefer.
To do this, click the “Color Sync” button at the top of the layers panel to organise the layers by color.
You can then click-and-drag the layers to different colours to change them.
Here is how the gargoyle could look in two shades of grey, instead of three:
However, I’m going to do mine in the original three colours.
If you wanted to cut the gargoyle without the moon behind him, you can hide the moon layers by scrolling down to the bottom of the layers panel, hovering your mouse over the two moon layers and clicking the eye icon that appears.
Step 5) Cut out all the layers
When you’re happy with how the project is looking in Design Space, click “Make It” and follow the instructions on-screen to cut out all the layers.
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 6) Stick the project together
Use 3D foam pads and glue to stick the layers together.
Use this guide to see the order to stick the layers together in.
A printable version of this assembly guide is included in the folder when you download the cut files.
My favourite glue to use on papercraft projects is Collall All Purpose Glue.
It’s SO good because it doesn’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!
To make it even easier to apply glue to layered card projects, I highly recommend getting some of these needle tip applicator bottles to put the glue into.
The nozzles are REALLY tiny which makes them perfect for putting glue in the pieces of cardstock that make up this design.
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.
When adding the foam pads to larger pieces of card, make sure you add some in the middle of the pieces of card so it give stability to the middles. If you don’t add any foam pads in the middles then it can “sag” under the weight of the other layers which doesn’t look as good.
Continue sticking the pieces together, following the assembly guides, until your Halloween gargoyle is complete.
Halloween gargoyle layered papercrafts
After sticking all the pieces of card together, you’ll have a lovely layered Halloween gargoyle all finished!
You could frame him in a shadow box, put him on a greetings card, use him in your Halloween decorations or displays, or even stick him straight to the wall with some blu-tack or command strips, or prop him up on a shelf.
Check out these free easel stands for a fun way to display him.
Happy crafting,
Sarah x