Supplies:
- Card stock. I picked yellow, gray, and black. You could add more colors if you choose. The card stock I used was double sided from JoAnn Fabrics.
- Cricut cutting machine. Either a Maker or an Explorer Air model. The Joy would make this card to small, and thus difficult to assemble and see all the details.
- The fine point blade that comes with your Cricut machine.
- A score stylus or score blade/wheel. I prefer the blade.
- Light blue cutting mat. As the design is it requires the larger 12 x 24 mat, but I scaled it down a little to fit on the normal 12 x 12 mat, and I will show you how to do this.
- Elmer’s glue
- Optional: I recommend putting your glue in a thin tip bottle so you can have more control when applying your glue. This way you do not have as much glue seeping out the sides.
I found this design on Cricut Design Space for free, no Cricut access needed. I just typed dad in the search box and found it. The actual name of this project is Father’s Day Tool Kit Card. If you make this card as it, you will need the larger 12×24 mat to cut it on. Do not worry I will show you how to decrease the size so it will all fit on the normal 12×12 mat without making it seem too small.
The first thing I did was to select the project, and hit ungroup at the top right of the page. I did not want to make the envelope for this project, so that is why I ungrouped it first. I then selected the envelope, which is gray, and hit the backspace button on my computer keyboard. This deleted the envelope completely. I also did not like or want to use the black and white striped pieces. So, I clicked on them and hit the backspace button as well to delete them. Since this is a larger project, you may want to zoom out a little so you can see your entire project in one screen. To do this click once or twice on the minus symbol inside the circle at the bottom left side of the screen. This is inside the work surface, and faded. Now click (and hold) your left mouse button down as you select all the items in this project. In the upper middle of the page, it will tell you the size of the project, and all the pieces. It should tell you the width is 14.7 inches (if you deleted the envelope). The height should tell you 18.947 weather you deleted the envelope or not. So, if you want to keep the envelope, then look at the height number instead of the width. With everything selected I changed the width (without the envelope) to 12 inches. This automatically changed my height to 15.463 (with or without the envelope). This will allow all you to use the normal 12×12 mat and still have a nice size card.
If you wish to change the colors of each item you can do so now. This can be nice to see how your project will look before you start to cu anything. It also puts items of the same color on one mat. Once I was ready to make this project, I hit make it in the top right corner of the screen. From here I clicked o each mat on the left hand side and moved the pieces around a little so they would not waste as much material. Cricut does not always place items in the most optimal locations. This is not necessary however. I actually took my spacement a step further and duplicated the three tools, then went into contour and contoured out the hammer in one of my duplicates, then contoured out the other two tools in my other copy. This allowed me to move the hammer by itself without the other two tools. This is not necessary, and was only done to help optimize the space on my mat so less materials were wasted.
Cricut’s layout 
After I moved things a little
When you are ready to hit make it, you will need to use a score tool and the fine point blade. Your screen will tell you when to insert each tool. The scoring tool or blade should be the first one your machine tells you to use. I kept all the extra tools shapes that were cut out to use in other projects. I selected light card stock (65lb) as my setting. I also used my blue mat.
The assembly of this card can be a little confusing at first. I started out by folding on all the score lines. If you fold a piece the wrong way, it is not a big deal. You can simply fold it in the other direction. I actually folded one of the box’s flaps the wrong way at first myself. I found it easier to assemble the box first, then to add all the extra pieces. Remember that since it is a card it will fold down flat. My box has one side orange and the other side yellow. This may help you in seeing which way I folded different pieces. When the card is completely folded down, the yellow side (inside of the box color) should be facing up/showing. So, this means you need to fold the outer most flaps outward. The triangular folds fold inward. The small flaps on the side can be folded and glued to the inside or outside of the box depending on your preference. I decided to glue them on the outside of the box. At first the pieces may be a little stiff and thus a little tricky to get it to fold just right to go back flat. Just be careful with it and if it does not seem to want to fold properly, then check if a piece is stuck on something. I also recommend looking at the pictures below for more help.
Once the box is assembled, I glued the inside card together. This is when the thin tip bottle comes in handy. I let this dry before gluing it to the bottom of my box. Next, I attached the extra handle to make my black handle now gray. This just adds some extra contrast and makes it look more realistic. I then glued the handle pieces on top of my box. Next was assembling the tools and writing little notes on the back of them. I then glued the sides of the box into place. Lastly, I assembled and folded my ruler. I recommend gluing the ruler while it is flat, then once the glue is dry, then folding it on the score lines. I made my box flat and slid the ruler under the handles. I then placed a little tape on the back of the ruler to hold it in place, and keep the card close.
I really like how this card turned out. The design is very well made and thought out. I hope to design and make 3D cards of my own in the future. I also like how you can add or remove pieces to make it your own. Even changing the colors can really change up the look of a piece. This card seems like it is difficult to make and took a lot of time, but it really was not too difficult or time consuming. It is great for a last minute piece that looks like you spent a lot of time on it.
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