CCC 2024 Day 17: Merry Christmas Greetings Card
Welcome to day seventeen of the 2024 Christmas Craft Countdown, where I’m sharing 20 festive themed Cricut papercraft projects in 20 days.
Create a unique and eye-catching holiday card with this “Merry Christmas” cutout card tutorial.
This design features the festive greeting suspended between two rectangular panels, creating a fun floating effect that stands out from typical card layouts.
It’s an ideal project for using up your favorite Christmas-themed patterned paper to decorate the panels, and adding silver or gold cardstock gives it a perfect holiday shine.
This is a great card to make if you’re making lots of Christmas cards because it’s fairly quick to come together, it doesn’t use many supplies and because everything is glued on, it’s really flat and will be cost effective to post.
It will fit in a standard 5×7 in envelope or you can make your own envelope if you prefer.
This project is part of 2024's Christmas 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
- Christmas patterned paper
- Glue (I like Bearly Art Glue and Collall)
- Cricut scoring wheel or scoring stylus (optional)
This project is suitable for the following types of Cricut machine: Explore Air 2, Explore Air 3, Maker, Maker 3, Venture and Joy Xtra. It is too large to cut on the original Joy.
Foundation learning
If you're new to crafting with your Cricut, you may find the below links helpful.
They teach some of the skills mentioned throughout this tutorial.
- How to upload SVG files into Design Space
- How to make 3D layered Cricut projects
- The BEST way to frame papercraft projects
- How to mount multiple designs in the same frame with magic guides
- Hooks & stands to display papercrafts (or get extra fancy with easel stands!)
- How to score with a Cricut (even without scoring tools)
- Print then cut tutorial
- Design Space tools (Combine, Attach, Slice, Weld, Flatten, etc.)
- Pattern fill tutorial (for making backgrounds & cutting images to a specific shape/size)
- Free envelope SVGs that can be sized to fit any card, plus how to write the addresses with the Cricut
- Free presentation boxes for thicker greetings cards
- How to write inside cards with Cricut pens
- How to cut layered designs at a small size
- Design Space tips & tricks
- Cricut pens tutorial
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 a “Merry Christmas” greetings card using a Cricut machine.
Step 1) Download the cutting file & upload to Design Space
Download the files using the box below.
Purchase the File(s)
This cut file is available as part of the
Instant Access Bundle.
Or, purchase this design individually from my SVG shop
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
After unzipping, upload the SVG file into Cricut Design Space. This is the file which starts svg- in the filename.
Not sure how to do this? Here’s how to upload SVGs to Cricut Design Space. Make sure you upload the file which starts svg- in the filename!
Step 2) Add a score line
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 the card and Ungroup the layers to separate them.
Click “Shapes” and insert a Score Line. Make it 7 inches tall. Rotate it 90 degrees to make it a horizontal line.
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.
Move the base card down to the bottom of the layers panel and drag it back into position.
I’ve changed the base card back to black now which means you can no longer see the score lines, but they are still there.
This is a good time to change the colours if you are planning on cutting them differently to what’s on the screen.
Here’s how it could look with a green and gold colour scheme:
Step 3) 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.
Cut the smallest rectangles from patterned paper.
The letters for the MERRY CHRISTMAS cut quite thin in places. If you are having trouble cutting them from cardstock, try cutting them from adhesive vinyl instead.
Cutting them from vinyl works out nicely as then you can stick them straight onto the card, one letter at a time, rather than having to put glue on the back of the thin pieces.
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 4) Stick the project together
Use glue to stick the pieces 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.
First, glue on all the letters.
Fold the card in half down the score line. Go down the fold with a brayer or similar to help make it crisp and strong.
Glue the larger rectangles to the card, then glue the patterned paper on top.
Then that’s it – your quick and simple Christmas cards are all finished!
Merry Christmas floating effect card
With its floating cutout effect and festive shine, this “Merry Christmas” card is a memorable way to send holiday cheer.
Not only is it a great way to use up your patterned paper scraps, but it also allows for endless customization with colors and textures.
Whether you’re making a single card or a whole set, this design is sure to impress friends and family.
Give it a try, and bring some creative flair to your Christmas greetings this year.
Happy crafting,
Sarah x