It’s no secret that our team loves color and geometric shapes. In fact, we’ve made versions of these paper gems a lot in the past (as seen here and here). Today, we’re making them with our Cricut machine + our unicorn gradient prints which features our favorite shades of pink, blue, purple and teal! Scroll through for the complete tutorial on how to score and cut with your Cricut plus download the gradient printables for free.
Table of Contents
Tools and Materials
- Cricut Maker or Explore Air
- Cricut Deep Point Blade or Fine Point Blade
- Cricut Scoring Stylus or Scoring Wheel
- Cricut Light Grip Mat
- Teckwrap Medium Tack Mat
- Cricut Brayer
- Cricut Weeder
- Cricut Spatula (optional)
- Cricut XL Scraper (optional)
- Teckwrap Tweezer
- Teckwrap Holographic Sparkle Vinyl
- Matte Photo Paper
- Printer
- Glue or Double-sided Tape
DIY Unicorn Gradient Paper Gems (How to Score and Cut with Cricut)
Step 1: Download our free “Unicorn Gradient Prints” file. Link below. Print out on matte photo paper. (Tip: For vibrant printouts, we highly recommend printing on photo paper with the highest quality settings on your printer.)
Step 2: Create a new project on Cricut Design Space. You can create your own templates via the console. In our case we used two methods:
- Search for the ready to make “3D Crystal” or “3D Diamond” project templates on Design Space. Resize to your needs and you’re ready to score and cut.
- We made our own cut files via Adobe Illustrator then added score lines and saved either as a PNG or SVG then we uploaded them to Design Space. Want to learn how to make your own templates? Sign up for our digitizing class at bit.ly/GGworkshops.
Step 3: Install the Scoring Stylus (clamp A) and Deep Point Blade (clamp B) on your Cricut. You can likewise use the Fine Point blade for this project but if you’re working with thicker paper or cardstock, we recommend the Deep Point.
Tip: You can also use the Scoring Wheel Tips instead of the Scoring Stylus if you have a Cricut Maker or Maker 3.
Step 4: The “3D Crystal” template is a ready-to-make project on Design Space so all you have to do is resize it to your liking.
If you’re making your template from scratch make sure that you select the right operations. Choose “basic cut” for the shape and “score” for your scoring lines.
Step 5: Pick a Unicorn Gradient printout. Attach it to a Cricut Light Grip Mat. You can use a brayer to help flatten your material better.
Step 6: On your machine, click “make it” and you’d be prompted to the materials and blade settings screen.
Step 7: Under the “materials” tab, choose the appropriate paper setting. In our case, we used “Heavy Cardstock – 100 lb”. Depending on the thickness of your material, you may have to adjust the pressure and passes. Remember to test first so you don’t waste your materials!
Step 8: Click the “Go” button on your machine. Your Cricut is also a smart tool and will detect your tools for you. Make sure you’ve installed and selected the right ones or it will not cut the project. It will prompt you to install the right blades. It will also guide you via on-screen prompts which operation or tool it will be doing first.
Step 9: When the cut is complete, unload the mat and weed out your paper gems. You’ll notice that it has been scored and cut! You can do this with your hands or if available, our favorite Teckwrap Weeder! It’s one of our handiest tools. (Check out this video for some “weeding hacks” on how to remove your designs without the paper curling!)
Tip: If you have a brand new mat or the ones you have is too sticky for your paper, you can run some fabric on the surface to make them less tacky.
Paper bits stuck to your mat? Use a Cricut XL Scraper or a Cricut Spatula to remove the debris without damaging your mat.
Step 10: Time to assemble our gems! Fold through the score lines and glue the flaps together with double-sided tape or glue. Make as many gems as you like! You can use these as decor for your desk, as part of your tablescapes and party decor, mantlepiece styling or add a string and turn it into a Christmas ornament come the holidays! The possibilities are endless.
Optional Steps: If you want to jazz up your gems some more, you can add some holographic sparkle details with vinyl stickers!
Step 11: Pick a Teckwrap Holographic Sparkle vinyl color that you like. We chose silver to compliment our Unicorn Gradient Prints.
Step 12: Attach your vinyl to a Teckwrap Medium Tack Mat or a Cricut Light Grip Mat and cut with a Fine Point Blade installed on your Cricut.
Step 13: Cutout some shapes to match your gems. We measured the sides of our paper gems and cut some rectangles and triangles. Need a more in-depth tutorial on cutting vinyl stickers? Check out this post.
Step 14: Weed out and stick to your paper gems for added sparkle and voila!
If you’re feeling even more extra, you can also write on your gems! Yes, you can combine most of your Cricut machine’s functions in one project. Check out this post to see how we used the draw, write, score and cut functions in a single project.
The Googly Gooeys Unicorn Gradient Print files can be printed on paper and showcases hues of pink, purple, teal and blue. Use it as an art print to decorate your space or print them out for your stationery and crafting projects! Click the button below to download.
If you decide to make these DIY Geometric Paper Gems or use our Unicorn Gradient Prints in your projects, feel free to show us! We’d love to see what you make. You can find and tag us on our various social channels: Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Tiktok and Instagram (#CreateWithGoogly). Looking for more printables and project templates? Check out our other blog posts for more Cricut and Printable resources. Feel free to browse through #GooglyCricutProjects and #GooglyPrintables too for over 300 craft ideas!
