DIY Survival Kits: Fun Gifts for Travel & Christmas!

Instructions

STEP 1: GET MY FREE PAINT CAN SURVIVAL KIT DESIGN FILES

In this tutorial, I'm going to show you step by step how to design your very own personalized Paint Can Survival Kits with your Cricut. I have one for the holidays and one for travel. These are so fun to make and they make great gifts for friends and family of all ages.

First, download my free Paint Can Survival Kit Files, design #322, from my free resource library and upload the PNG files to Cricut Design Space.

TIP: If you are not sure how to upload an SVG cut file to Cricut Design Space, watch this helpful video training series I made. If you are on an iPad or iPhone, here is how to download and upload SVG files to the Cricut Design Space app.

I will be using the Cricut Maker 3 for this tutorial, but you can use any Cricut model except for the Cricut Joy to make these.

STEP 2:  PRINT THEN CUT THE DESIGN

First, click the upload icon in Design Space. 

Now, click the “upload image” icon in Design Space to select your design. 

Click "Browse" to select your file.

Select the design you would like to use for your cute paint can survival kit and click "Open." I am going to be using the Travel one as an example, but the steps are the same for both. 

Select “Complex” for the image type and then click "Continue."

On the "Select & Erase" screen, click "Apply & Continue." 

Select "Print Then Cut Image" on the Upload Type screen and then click "Upload."

Select the image from your "Recent Uploads" and then click "Add to Canvas."

Once you have your file in Cricut Design Space, we are going to adjust the size of the design using the size adjustment box on the top of the screen and type in the measurements. 

Resize it so that your final dimensions are 8” x 6.75.”

Now that we have our front design, we are going to upload our adorable tags to go along with our paint can! This step is optional. I have included 4 different tags, some with preprinted lists and two without so you can fill them in later.

Again, click the upload icon in Design Space and select the paint can tag file.

Select “Complex” for the image type and then click "Continue."

On the next screen, click "Continue." 

Select "Print Then Cut Image" on the Upload Type screen and then click "Upload."

Select the image from your "Recent Uploads" and then click "Add to Canvas."

Now we are going to resize our tags so that they are each  2” x 3.” My total dimension size is 4.396” x 7.102.” For the Christmas tags, the total dimension size is 7.113” x 3.529” for a 2.25” x 3.5” tag.

Next, we are going to upload our three-game files for the travel paint can. This step is also optional.

You can print just one or all three. I’m going to show you all three. Upload the files one at a time, like we did above and resize them so that they are 4” x 5.”

Duplicate the game sheets for as many games as you would like, by clicking the game sheets and selecting duplicate on the top right corner of the screen. I am going to make two of each.

NOTE: You can fit two games on an 8.5" x 11" piece of cardstock.

Now we are going to click "Make It" on the top right-hand side of the screen.

On the next page select "Continue" on the lower right-hand side of the screen.

For this project, we are using Print Then Cut. To do this insert the Avery Printable Sticker Paper into your printer so that it prints on the plain white side.

Click "Send to printer" in Cricut Design Space. On the pop-up page "Print Setup" I recommend turning on both "Add Bleed" and "Use System Dialog" by clicking on the toggle so they switch to green. This ensures the highest print quality.

Once you hit "Print" and if you selected "Use System Dialog" (this option is not available on all printers) another pop-up box will appear, keep in mind it might pop up behind what is on your screen, so just minimize those windows if you don't see it. Once there, I recommend printing on “Best” setting. Then click “Print."

Once the design is printed it's time to select our materials for this project.

For the first mat which has our front design on it. Click on "Browse All Materials" and select "Printable Sticker Paper (White)" under paper in the materials menu.

Place your new printed design on a Cricut Green StandardGrip Machine Mat 12" x 12" and burnish it down with the Cricut Brayer Tool, this ensures it has properly adhered to the mat.

Load your mat and select the blinking "Arrow/Go" button. Once it is done cutting, unload your mat by pressing the blinking "Load/Unload" button.

To remove the design from the mat, flip the mat over and peel the mat away from the sticker paper. This prevents the material from curling.

Next, we are going to weed the excess sticker paper from the design. Using your Cricut Weeding Tool choose a corner and separate the top layer from the bottom layer.

Set this aside for now.

Next, we are going to print then cut our tags.

Insert white cardstock into your printer, and then click "Send to Printer" in Cricut Design Space. On the pop-up page, select "Print” and I always select “Best.”

Next, select "Browse All Materials" again and then click "Medium Cardstock – 80 lb (216 gsm)" under "Paper" in the materials menu.

Place your cardstock on your Cricut Green StandardGrip Machine Mat 12" x 12" and burnish it with the Brayer Tool. Now Load your mat and select the blinking "Arrow/Go" button.

Once it is cut, carefully remove it from the mat by flipping the mat over and peeling the mat away from the cardstock to help prevent curling.

Set these aside for now.

Lastly, we are going to print then cut the game sheets. 

Again, insert white cardstock into your printer. Click "Send to printer" in Cricut Design Space. On the pop-up screen, select "Print."

Select "Browse All Materials" and select "Medium Cardstock – 80 lb (216 gsm)" under "Cardstock" in the materials menu.

Place your newly printed design on a Cricut Green StandardGrip Machine Mat 12" x 12" and burnish it with the Brayer Tool.

Load your mat and select the blinking "Arrow/Go" button. Once it is done cutting, unload your mat by pressing the blinking "Load/Unload" button.

To remove the design from the mat, flip the mat over and peel the mat away from the cardstock.

Repeat these steps for the remaining game mats.

Once we have them all cut, we are going to stack them on top of each other with the holes lined up.

Next, attach them together with a loose-leaf binder ring or tie it with a ribbon. Now you have your very own gamebook that we can put in our paint can!

TIP: Cut out clear vinyl in a 4" x 5" rectangle for each of your game sheets and place it on top of each game card and use dry erase markers so the fun never ends!

STEP 3:  DECORATE YOUR PAINT CAN

Now it's time to decorate our Paint Can Survival Kit!

First, grab your paint can. Next, peel the design from the sticker backing and center it in the middle of the paint can, and tack it down.

Next, tie the tag to your paint can using a 6" piece of ribbon. You can use any kind of ribbon, I am using the ribbon that comes with the jingle bells.

NOTE: All of these steps are the same for the Christmas Paint Can Survival Kit. I also added some jingle bells to this can by using two pieces of 6" ribbon to tie them to the paint can handle. Feel free to add more if you like!

STEP 4: FILL WITH GIFTS

For our final step, we are going to fill the paint can with all kinds of fun gifts!

For the Travel-theme paint can, I put the first-aid kit and the deck of cards in first. Then, I added the hand sanitizing wipes, sunscreen, some yummy snacks, the printed travel games, pencils, and the sleeping mask.

For the Christmas-theme paint can add a handful or two of the Crinkle Cut Paper (Red) to cover the bottom of the paint can.

Next, add the rest of your gifts to the Christmas-theme paint can.

I put my candles in first because they are the heaviest. Then, I added my cookie cutters, cozy socks, teeny-tiny tinsel tree, and some small candy canes.

NOTE: This is what I chose to put my Paint Can Survival Kits. Have fun and be creative in picking your filler gifts! Make sure they are small enough to fit in your paint can.