HCC 2023 Day 03 🦇 Beautiful Witch Papercraft

Make a beautiful papercraft witch for Halloween with this layered cutting file.

There are lots of layers and patterns to her dress which gives a lovely 3D effect.

I love the sparkle effect of using gold for some of the details in the dress.

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.

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 the design smaller to use with the original Cricut Joy machine, which may make it quite difficult to cut.

Halloween witch cut file

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 witch using a Cricut machine!

Step 1) Download the cutting file(s) & unzip the downloaded folder

Purchase the File(s)

This cut file is available as part of the
Instant Access Bundle.

Find out more

Before you upload the SVG to Design Space, you need to unzip the download folder that it comes in.

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-halloween-witch-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 witch 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 her to 7 inches wide (10.286 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, particularly the face details and the pattern inside the dress.

However, if you would like to make her smaller then you can make her easier to cut by clicking the “eye” icon in the layers panel next to the most detailed layers. This will hide them so they won’t get cut, which will make it much easier for the Cricut if it’s tiny!

If you are cutting the witch to fit in a specific frame, watch this video to see my top tips on how to resize her to fit perfectly, or read the tutorial here.

Step 4) 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.

When you get to her face, there are some small black rectangle to glue to the back of the face to cover the eyes and nose. This helps to make the facial features be more visible.

Continue sticking the pieces together, following the assembly guides, until your Halloween witch is all finished.

Halloween witch layered papercrafts

After sticking all the pieces of card together, you’ll have a lovely layered Halloween witch all finished!

You could frame her in a shadow box, put her on a greetings card, use her in your Halloween decorations or displays, or even stick her straight to the wall with some blu-tack or command strips, or prop her up on a shelf.

Check out these free easel stands for a fun way to display her.

Happy crafting,
Sarah x