Ever need a little bigger mat? A 24 X 12 mat can give you that extra little bit of room for a bigger project. ABut there are some special tricks and “rules” to using the bigger mat. I will make this large gift box and tell you how to use the Cricut 24 X 12 mat.
I made the flowered box last week, but I made it with the regular mat. This week, I found some 24 X 12 paper and thought I would try to use the bigger mat to make a bigger box. In the second picture, you can see the size difference. I could have cut the box into two pieces and glued them together after cutting them, but that wouldn’t use the bigger mat and that was the purpose of this tutorial.
You will need:
Paper Selection with the 24 X 12 Mat
While looking around Amazon, I found a sample pack of 24 X 12 cardstock for under $9. Since I have never tried it, I bought some. The link is above if you want to try it. Cricut also sells it but it costs twice as much. Now I just had to pick a project. I needed a gift box, but bigger so I made that.
The paper does not come in patterned paper so I designed my own decoration to draw with a pen. The paper is definitely heavy enough for this project.
Cutting With the 24 X 12 Mat
As you know the 24 X 12 mat is needed. I have used it before for vinyl but never for cardstock. There are some special things you have to think about.
First, the mat is larger and very sticky, so line it up well at the top before you smooth the paper down. That is a lot of paper to lift and cardstock tends to warp when you pull it up.
Secondly, the mat goes a lot farther behind your machine so you may have to pull it out from the wall a little further.
Lastly, You may need something to keep the mat from bending either in front or in back of the machine. The Cricut doesn’t have enough room on the feed tray to keep it straight. Tape a ruler to the table in front or back and this will help. Someone once sold a shelf that extended the tray, but I can’t find it anymore.
Assembling the Large Gift Box made with the 24 X 12 Mat
Re-crease the fold lines according to this diagram:
Once they are folded, then glue the tabs right side) to form the body of the large gift boxes basic shape. The small corners at the top of the box design need to be glued also. Next tuck the bottom pieces in, doing it in this order: first the H shaped piece, then the two R shaped pieces and finally the Y shaped piece. Tuck the tabs under the H piece as you go. You can glue them if you want but you don’t have to unless what you are putting in them is heavy.
The folds won’t completely close the top. You will need to tie a ribbon around the skinny part of the box to keep it closed. You may need to gently force the valley fold tucks on the box part in to get it to close. There will be a small gap in the top but you can block that with a little tissue paper.
And your Large Gift Box made with the 24 X 12 mat is done!
Love this idea for when a larger gift box is needed, and thanks for the tips.
Also 143 Vinyl is the website that sells the tray to extend the front of your Cricut for the longer mat.