Easy fun paper project to keep your kids busy… and out of your hair!

The first step in this project is to completely take over the only table in your house (who needs to eat at a table when there is crafting to be done).

I laid my extra paper out to find some fun combinations that when paired together would create a fun puzzle of varying difficulty for each age group. I chose a pink glitter for one side and a floral/tropical pattern for the other. If you’re low on materials, Cricut has put some staples at 40% off for a limited time to help you stock up! Shop paper here.

I had two light grip cutting mats, so I put my sheets of paper on the mats while I found my image in Design Space. There are quite a few puzzle images in Design Space, but I chose image #M68E363. To help keep you busy, there are nearly 3,000 free images in Design Space right now.  If you are not a Cricut Access subscriber, be sure to filter your images to “free” and peruse those images first as you look for icons for your grid. Learn more about how to filter your image searches in Design Space here.

To use a full 12”x12” sheet of scrapbook paper, you’ll want to size your puzzle to 11.5”x11.5” (this is the maximum size you can cut on a Maker or Explore Air 2). Once you’re sized correctly, select all pieces of your image and select “Attach,” so it cuts in one large image instead of moving pieces around.

If you’re new to the Attach feature, visit this blog to help you get more familiar!

Now, you’re ready to cut! There are a few ways to do this, but I decided to do it one at a time to make sure I didn’t waste any precious materials (Who knows when I can get more supplies next!)

First, I cut my patterned mat. Once it was done, I loaded my second to cut the image again. Since I wanted to glue these sheets together to make a double-sided puzzle, I mirrored my second cut. You can do so on the cut screen by clicking the green “edit” button, then sliding the button that says “Mirror.” When Mirror is on, that button will turn green.

Tip: Did you know that if your machine is done with a cut, but you haven’t unloaded the mat yet, you can click the Cricut C button and it will cut on the same exact path it just did? I find this helpful when I’m due for another blade or using thick materials.

That spatula is awesome for getting your paper crafts off the cutting mat without any tears. (or tears…)

Once I was done gluing the puzzle together, I gave it a test run on an innocent bystander. It worked great!

This is how we found out a glitter pattern makes the puzzle hard…but we had fun doing it!