Cricut and Tools for Play 2/100: Cardboard Village Blocks!

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I love making things. So much so that when i feel under pressure with work or even mental stress i rush to my cricut to make something. Maybe the feeling of being able to complete a task quickly is what helps me use crafting as a therapy. And it works. But that's not exactly what I wanted to talk about. I love figuring out useful things to make. I don't prefer making things that are meant to sit in a shelf doing nothing. And everytime I see a useful project i try to find out the ways that my cricut can help me to make it. 

Cardboard crafts are really fun. Not to mention its affordability and availability. They are so much versatile and it feels like you can make anything out of it! This post is about how to make village Blocks for kids to play, using cricut. Cricut is an absolutely amazing die-cutting machine. Calling it just a die-cutting machine is undermining all the other And I cannot get over the things that it can do like foiling, embossing, engraving and others. I believe that cricut should be a part of any household. Like a sewing machine or a washing machine. Haha. But really. I'm serious.

 Now lets make a simple cardboard village. 

Materials Required:

Cricut Maker/Explore

Strong grip mat

Cardboard

Glue

First thing we need to remember is that a cardboard village comprises majorly of cubes and cubes with roofs. You can even include rectangles but make sure to keep atleast the width of one of the sides same so that it can be stacked easily.

this is the template that you will need to upload to design space. Templates are available in svg forms in many websites. You can choose either an svg, or even an image such as this can be used.

If you're uploading an svg file, you'll have to convert the operation function from the layers panel from a cut line to a score line. Careful not to switch between the two. The outer borders are for cut operation and the inner lines are for scoring.

Now if you're using a cricut explore with a scoring stylus you need to make a double scoring line. And flatten it. 

This is the kind of box that comes with a roof. Follow the same procedure as above.

Now if you're converting an image, save the whole image as a print and cut file first when you upload it to design space so that you know where to give the scoring lines. 

Upon uploading and opening, place scoring lines wherever necessary and flatten it. 

Then go to the operation of the print then cut i.e. the image layer and then convert the operation to a ba