These shamrock cardstock glasses that I made using my Cricut are the perfect way to make your St. Patrick’s Day celebration a little more fun. I originally designed them for my son’s 4th grade class. I was snack mom for the St. Patrick’s Day party. I wanted to add a fun touch to the day. I’m sharing my template with you so you can amp up the fun too!
Materials
- FREE SVG Shamrock Glasses Template
- Glitter cardstock (I used Recollections from Michael’s)
- Green Cellophane
- Glue
- Hot Glue Gun (optional)
- Cricut
- Cutting Mats
- Brayer
Important: The cellophane you use really matters. I purchased a few different ones until I found the one listed above. The ones that didn’t work ripped very easily no matter the setting and the green tint came off leaving marks and scratches all over the lenses.
Featured Video
Watch me make the shamrock glasses or if you prefer written instructions, keep reading.
Upload the Shamrock Glasses Template into Design Space
The first step is to download the FREE SVG Shamrock Glasses Template from my Freebies page. Save it onto your device where you can find it again.
Upload the SVG into Cricut Design Space.
Need help? Check out my previous post: How to Upload a File Into Cricut Design Space
Prepare the Shamrock Glasses Template for Cutting
When you upload the template you will see three elements:
- Solid shamrock lenses (made with cellophane)
- Cut out shamrock frames (made with cardstock)
- Ear pieces (made with cardstock)
You will see two solid lines on the ear pieces. These need to be changed to score lines. To do this:
- Select Ungroup to ungroup the entire design.
- Next, select the ear pieces and select ungroup again.
- Next, Select just the two lines on the layers panel.
- Go over to Operation, drop down the menu and select Score.
- Next, select the score lines and both ear pieces from the layers menu.
- With all three selected, select the Attach button.
Add Custom Setting for Cellophane
Cellophane is very tricky to cut. It tears very easily. I found it’s best to cut it at 150 pressure for 2x. In order to do this, I had to add a custom material to my Cricut.
I am going to walk you through this process quickly. For an in depth tutorial see: How to Add a Custom Material Setting in Cricut Design Space
To add a custom material setting:
- Go to the hamburger menu on the top left side.
- Select Manage Custom Materials from the menu
- Scroll down to the bottom and select the Add New Material Button
- Enter the name for your material. I used Cellophane. Select Save.
- Enter the following settings:
- Cut Pressure = 149
- Multi-cut = 2x
- Blade Type = Fine-Point Blade
- Select Save
Great! Now you have the Cellophane setting on your Cricut. Just keep in mind, I am using a Cricut Explore Air 2. If you are using a Maker the pressure might need to be a little less (or more but probably less). Do a test cut and come back to edit the pressure as needed.
Cutting the Materials
I cut the Cellophane first. I use the light tack mat. Make sure you are using a sticky mat so it sticks well. I use a brayer to make sure it’s applied nice and smooth.
It’s important that your blade is clean before you cut the cellophane. You don’t want it tearing. I clean my blade with a ball of aluminum foil. This gets debris off of the blade.
Now we are ready to cut. If your cellophane is tearing, you need less pressure, if it’s not cutting all the way through you need a little more pressure. Mine cut perfectly. Very slowly pull back the excess cellophane.
Slowly work the cellophane off of the mat. I use a small spatula to help.
Next it’s time to cut the cardstock. I am using glitter cardstock. The thicker the cardstock the more sturdy your glasses will be. I used the setting Glitter Cardstock and used more pressure. When you remove the cardstock from the mat remember to turn the mat upside down and peel the mat away from the cardstock so you don’t bend the cardstock. You will have two cute shamrocks leftover. Feel free to use those as bonus St. Patrick’s Day table confetti or decorations.
Assembling the Shamrock Glasses
Now it’s time to assemble!
First, I bend along the score line on the two ear pieces.
Next, I glue the cellophane to the back side of the glasses. I use this Glue. Love it! It is easy to apply and works great with glitter.
Line up the cellophane and stick it to the back of the glasses.
Now it’s time to glue the ear pieces on. Just make sure you aren’t gluing them on upside down. Not like I almost did that or anything *cough* *cough*.
If you are using glitter cardstock, be generous with your glue.
Make sure the ear piece isn’t hanging over the edge or over the lenses area. You will need to hold the ear piece in place for 30 seconds to a minute while the glue dries. If you are doing a lot of these at once and don’t want to take that time to hold the ear pieces, you can always use a hot glue gun for this part.
And now you have fun St. Patrick’s Day shamrock glasses that you made using your Cricut. They are a great photo booth prop or just let the kids have fun wearing them.
They’ve been kid tested and approved! Happy St. Patrick’s Day.