This is a collaborative post.

When I got my Cricut in February 2019, my first project was to make a wedding gift for my cousin and his wife.
I didn’t really know what I was doing, having never used a Cricut before but I managed to figure it out, eventually!
The first SVG file I ever used was from Design Bundles; as soon as I saw it I knew it was perfect for what I needed.

Early Christmas Decorating

We put our decorations up on November 29th. We’ve never put them up in November before and I always said I never would! However, after the year we’ve all had thanks to Covid-19, we all needed something fun to do and something to look forward to.

Everyone in the country seems to have gotten into the Christmas spirit a bit earlier than usual. We’re grabbing hold of it like a lifeline and even though it’s not going to be a normal Christmas, it can still be a brilliant one.

A Design Bundles Crafty Christmas

Christmas is my absolute favourite time of the year and one of the things I look forward to is crafting with the children.
We used to do lots of different crafts when they younger and I loved spending the time with them. Nowadays they prefer social media to crafting with mum but I can sometimes cajole them into crafting with me!

I downloaded loads of Christmas svgs from Design Bundles. They have so many you’re spoilt for choice! I use Design Bundles a lot so I decided to sign up for the Plus Membership. I can now choose new files every month using my Plus Credits 🙂

We’ve made tree decorations, 3D layered scenes, Christmas cards and Christmas t-shirts.

You can find tutorials below for some of the things we’ve been making.

3D Layered Penguins Scene Tutorial

This 3D layered penguin scene is simple and fast to make. All you need is a Cricut or other cutting machine, the 3D Christmas SVG papercraft bundle from Design Bundles, your choice of coloured/glittered card for each layer and some glue.
An optional extra is to add some wired fairy lights that you can put inside the scene behind the first inner layer. The finished product looks lovely when the lights are on.

Step 1 – Cutting

Cut all the pieces using your cutting machine. If you’re not sure how to use an SVG file, I have an in-depth tutorial here.

I used:

Black card – 2 outer layers
Silver glitter card – inner layer 1
Cream card – inner layer 2
Light blue card – inner layer 3
Dark blue card – Inner layer 4

Step 2 – Assembling

Glue the 2 out layers together using the flap on the front piece.

Step 3 – Insert inner layers.

Starting with the back layer, insert all inner layers by slotting the tabs into the holes.

Step 4 – Closing the frame

All you need to do now is to apply glue to the tab on the outer back piece and stick the front penguin layer to the back.

Christmas Tree Decorations Tutorial

This is a great project to use up all those card scraps; if you’re anything like me, you’ll have boxes of them!

We made our bauble decorations to go in the kitchen window rather than on the tree and they look lovely when they spin and catch the light.

All you need is scraps of card, glue, ribbon/string and adhesive gems.

Step 1 – Cut your pieces

I resized all the bauble files when I got them in Design Space because they were huge!
I resized them to around 10cms and changed the colour from black, making each design a different colour so they would be placed on different mats by Design Space.
If we were going to hang them on the tree, I’d have made them smaller but ours are going in the kitchen window so we need them a bit bigger.

Step 2 – Duplicate and Flip

Now click on each bauble in turn, right click and duplicate then with the duplicated piece selected, click on Flip and flip the ornament horizontally.

Once you’ve saved your work, click the Make It button in the top right corner of Design Space and cut all the pieces.

Step 3 – Assembling and Decorating

Put glue on the back of one the pairs of ornaments then stick the other piece to it, making sure they’re lined perfectly.

Using adhesive gems or any decorations you choose, decorate both sides.
If you’re using glitter card like me, it’s a good idea to put a dab of glue on the card where you want a gem to go, even though they’re adhesive, they sometimes fall off when put on glitter card.

Hang them using ribbon or Christmassy string.

Iron-On Vinyl T-Shirts Tutorial

My last tutorial today uses iron-on glittery vinyl to create some Christmas Movie watching t-shirts for KayCee and Ella.
Now before I start, I have to say I’m no expert when it comes to working with iron-on vinyl. I was really excited to try it when I first got the Cricut but I didn’t enjoy it the way I did when working with card.

I haven’t mastered layering yet so this is a one colour vinyl tutorial. I have to say, though, I do love the glitter and the svg files I got from Design Bundles made this a quick and easy craft.

Step 1 – Choose Your SVG file

Go to Design Bundles and in the search box, search for Christmas Movie. This search term is enough to give you hundreds of results.

Choose your design and add it to Design Space.

Set the size and click Make It.

Step 3 – Cutting Your Design

The most important thing to remember at this stage is to MIRROR your design. I totally forgot with the second t-shirt and I wasted a whole sheet of glitter iron-on!

Click Continue then select Glitter Iron-On for the material.

When the cut has finished, weed away the excess material and your design is ready to be put on the t-shirt.

Step 4 – Applying The Iron-On

I used the Heat Press 2 with the following settings for Glitter Iron-on, a Cricut t-shirt and using the Cricut Easy Press mat:

Centre your design on the t-shirt and use the Easy Press to stick the design to the t-shirt. Let it cool before trying to peel off the carrier sheet.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the tutorials. I’ll be back tomorrow with some free Christmas printables I made using gorgeous artwork I bought at Design Bundles 🙂