Cricut: How to Make Alternative Christmas Crackers
A reusable alternative to Christmas crackers that double up as a beautiful keepsake for your family, these linen pouches are perfect for housing a mini sweet treat, a handmade party hat and those customary cringe-worthy jokes on the big day.
Add your own personal touch using Cricut Iron-On Vinyl to match your preferred colour palette and style.
Project and instructions by Hobbycraft Artisan Vicky Boyns.
Please note: This project contains paid-for content from Cricut's Design Space app. Screen reference images are taken from the desktop Windows version of Design Space.
This project has been created on the Cricut Maker, however it can also be created on the Explore Air 2 and Joy.
You will need
How to make
You will also need -
* Cricut Design Space app installed on your Mac, PC or laptop.
Open the Cricut Design Space app and start a new project.
Open the “Images” menu located in the toolbar on the left-hand side of the screen. Search for an image within the library that you would like on the bags - I've used image #M2E42F - once you have selected the images you want to use, click "Insert Image", the selected designs will then appear on your canvas.
Top tip: if you click the 'i' icon, it will bring up the collection name that the image forms a part of, simply click on it to see all fo the images within that colleaction.
Resize the images using the "Size" function in the toolbar at the top of the screen, ensuring all of the images fit within a 2 x 2” space (size of the linen drawstring pouch).
To gauge what the image/s will look like on the linen pouches bags and to help you select the right colour vinyl for the right image layer, highlight each individual component and change its colour using the small square colour swatch in the tool bar at the top of the screen.
Once you're happy with your chosen design/s click the green "Make It" button in the top right-hand corner of the screen.
Once through to the mat preview screen, ensure the "Mirror for Iron-on" option is selected - this must be selected whenever working with iron-on vinyls.
Once all of the mats have been checked, click the green "Continue" button in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen.
Once through to the machine set-up screen, select "Everyday Iron-on" from the "Popular Materials" menu.
Place the iron-on the vinyl onto your LightGrip cutting mat shiny side facing down (a brayer or XL Scraper tool will help with this).
Once the arrow button begins to flash load the mat into your Cricut machine and then press the flashing Cricut icon button to start the cut.
When the first colour is cut ,repeat for each layer, then weed your images.
Before applying the iron-on vinyl to the linen pouches, check the required heat and time settings required for your EasyPress and the type of iron-on vinyl you're using, by checking the Cricut online interactive Heat Guide > https://cricut.com/en_us/heatguide
Start by applying heat to the linen pouch using the EasyPress and then apply your first layer of iron-on vinyl for the recommended time.
Peel away the iron-on carrier sheet as directed.
Continue to layer the iron-on vinyls until all of the poches are complete.
Fill each pouch with your chocie of sweet treat, handwritten joke and party hat.