Fields Of Heather: Making A Puzzle With A Cereal Box & A Cricut Air 2 & Free Puzzle SVGS

Today I made puzzles with my cricut air 2, sticker paper, and cereal boxes. It's a fun project, and these will make great valentines!

Quick Tips

Any Sticker Paper, I used Avery Matte Sticker Paper
Deep Cut Blade, Custom/chipboard, Cut twice (which is actually 4 cuts)
List of free puzzle svgs at the bottom of this post, I used this one
Pinter is an HP Envy 7800, and Instant Ink (pay by the page, not by the ink cartridge - SO much cheaper!)

I started with this puzzle, found here: https://www.bloglovin.com/blogs/free-svg-blog-2332425/puzzle-free-svg-download-make-anything-into-5480703659

There are a list of more free puzzle svgs at the bottom of this post, and there's also a puzzle generator you can use to make your own - it saves as svg!

When I uploaded this free puzzle svg, it came with a blue box. My first instinct was to delete it, but it's the perfect size for slicing your photo. Either ungroup and keep it separate (Attach, or at the very least keep your puzzle pieces grouped)

I moved the puzzle pieces over my photo and resized my photo so that I liked where the cuts fell.

Then I moved the box over the photo and sliced, making the photo the same size as all of the puzzle pieces. You could skip this step I think - just pull off the extra when it cuts and throw them out, but I liked seeing what I was working with.

Select all, then at the top of the screen choose align, then choose center

Make sure the photo is sent to the front, then click select all and attach.

You cannot see the puzzle pieces, but if they are attached, they will cut.

This is what the screen looks like when I click make it. I used Avery Matte Sticker Paper

I used it specifically because I found a bunch of it at the thrift store, so I have it on hand. It worked great - the photo printed beautifully! I think I'd stick to matte, glossy would add an extra layer to cut through. https://amzn.to/2Ggk6le

When I go to print, I always make sure the "Use System Dialog" is ON. It appears to always be off by default in cricut. If it is on, your printer dialog box will pop up, and you can make sure your preferences are set to best. (Since I use HP Instant ink, the cost is the same whether I am printing draft or best quality - I pay by the page, not by the amount of ink used.)

I used a Lucky Charms box - any cereal box will do.

You want to put the sticker on top of the colored part of the box. This is for two reasons:

1. It will make the back of your puzzle plain cardboard

2. The machine will cut better if it works through the "glossier" layer at the top, and not at the bottom.

I stuck a piece of scrap sticker paper on the box to see how much the color shows through. I was surprised by how well the paper covered the design. Since the photo is color, it hid the design even better than the plain white - you cannot tell, on the finished puzzle, that there is a design behind the photo.

Once I applied the sticker paper to the box, I cut roughly around the outside to make it fit on the mat. Remember, do NOT cut off that black border! Cricut needs that border, it's how the sensors know exactly where to cut the design.

I love the quality of my printer. :-)

Cut Settings:

I used the Deep Cut Blade - even though the chipboard option does not give the option for that blade. For my next one I will try the regular fine point blade to see if it makes a difference. I know I can cut most faux leather better with the fine point blade than with the deep cut blade!

The Deep Cut Blade & Housing For Explore Machines - https://amzn.to/2Gdawzv

I turned my dial to custom, then on my computer screen found the chipboard option. That option automatically cuts twice, but twice didn't seem to quite be enough, so when the cut was finished

WITHOUT REMOVING THE MAT FROM THE MACHINE

I pushed the c button again (even though the arrow was flashing)

and cricut repeated the exact same cut in the exact same spot - making it a total of 4 cuts.

And it cut beautifully!!

To remove it from the mat, I flipped the mat upside down and peeled the mat away from the puzzle, just as I do for every paper project.

If you choose to mod podge the pieces, be sure to do that with the puzzle in pieces. If you mod podge over the completed puzzle, you will effectively be gluing it back together.