How to make Pot of Gold Mini Pinata with Cricut

Learn how to craft up your very own Pot of Gold Mini Piñata using your Cricut cutting machine and our SVG file.

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Create your own Pot of Gold Mini Piñata for St. Patty’s Day

Hello magical crafters, today we are creating our own Pot of Gold Mini Piñata just in time for St. Patty’s Day celebrations. We may not be hosting a party this year, but I’m still going to use this as decorations for the mantle. It will feature a door in the back, perfect for storing some chocolate gold coins.

Supplies needed to make our Pot of Gold Mini Piñata are…

• Cricut cutting machine ( I use the Explore Air 2)
• Light grip cutting mat
• Heavy cardstock (65lb- 80lb)
• St. Patty’s Day pattern paper ( or just cardstock in your choice of color)
• Score pen
• Crepe paper
• Scissors and craft knife
• Self healing cutting mat (optional)
• Glue ( I use Beacon 3 in1 and Aleena’s tacky glue)
• Ribbon or string
• Double sided foam tape ( optional)
• Pot of Gold mini Piñata SVG file

Click on the button above to purchase the SVG file or you can head on over to our Etsy Shop to purchase and download the Pot of Gold mini Piñata SVG file along with printable instructions for assembly. You can use another type of electronic cutting machine that uses SVG files but for this tutorial, it will be demonstrated using the Cricut Explore Air 2 machine.

Once the file has downloaded, let’s head over to Cricut Design Space.

Uploading in Cricut Design Space

Click on “new project” and head down the left side of your screen and click on “upload”. Click on the “insert image” option and you can either drag and drop or browse for the Pot of Gold mini Piñata file. After you click on the file, it will take you to the save option screen. You can rename this file and add a few tags to help find it in the future. Click on save as a “cut file”.

Design space will take you back to the uploaded screen, click on your new downloaded mini Piñata file, then click on “insert”. You should have your SVG file on your canvas in Design Space. So now let’s make some changes before hitting that “make it” button.

Changing Cut lines into Score lines

Let’s head over to the right side of the screen and click on “ungroup”. This will now give you multiple groups that I kept together to make it easier for you. Unfortunately Design Space does not keep each section labeled separately, but it does allow you to rename them, so you can rename them as you go.

Click on one of the inside lines of a side panel, and that will bring up all of the Cut lines that we need to change into Score lines. Head to the top of the screen and click on the drop down menu, then select the “score line” option. Now all the inside lines of each side panel and door will change into dashed lines, letting you know they are now score lines. You can now rename this group as score lines. Then click on “ungroup”.

Next click on the outside part of the side panel to select all panels. Rename the group as side panels, then click on “ungroup” again. We need to now attach each score line to it’s own panel so the machine knows where to put them. Select both the score line and panel together, then head down the right side menu and click on “attach”. ( The button will look like a paperclip) Repeat this step until all of the score lines are attached to its corresponding panel.

Once you’re finished, go to the top of the screen menu and click on “select all”. This is the time you can resize the mini piñata to your liking, I normally keep my mini piñatas around 6 inches in height for reference. Now hit that “make it” button.

Cutting our Pot of Gold out

Double check your settings in the cut preview screen and make sure you have the right size paper set up. This is also a great time to arrange your cardstock colors in the order it gives you on the preview screen so you work at a faster pace. Click on “continue”.

Align your cardstock on the mat and smooth it over, making sure it’s adhere to the mat. Insert the mat into the machine by pressing the blinking arrow button. Insert your score pen into the A chamber. Double check that the machine is going to cut in “cardstock” mode. Then press that blinking “C” button on the machine to the start the cut.

Once it’s finish, unload the mat by pressing the arrow button again, flip the mat over and peel it away from the cardstock. This helps the cardstock to not curl up on you. Repeat this process until everything is scored and cut.

Prep and Assemble

Refer back to the canvas screen and lay out each piece accordingly for easy assembly. I’ve also included a picture below for the set up as well. This helps keep the guess work to a minimum when trying to figure out which panel belongs where.

Now take each side panel and fold along each score section. Once that is done, it’s time to glue everything together.

Start with the back laying in front of you. Grab each side panel and add a few drops of glue to each tab. If you are using the 3in1 Beacon glue, you will only need to hold it in place for a few seconds. For Aleena’s tacky glue, you will need to hold it in place a bit longer before moving on to the next side panel. Repeat until all side panels are glued in place on the back piece.

Add glue to the top tabs and apply the front pot piece. Make sure each part is attached properly.

Time to add the door. You can make it open by pulling it down or by lifting it up. This is completely up to you and it’ll work both ways. Apply glue to the tab directly across from the one with the hole. Then insert into the pot and hold for a few seconds until secure.

We now have a 3d pot.

Turning our Pot into a Piñata

To finish our project we need to add Crepe paper to transform it into a piñata. Grab your Crepe paper and let’s start cutting some fringes. You can fold the Crepe paper in half and make cuts all the way down, just make sure to not cut through the fold. Then unfold and cut along the fold to make two strips of fringe.

Another way to make this easier, is to grab your self healing mat and knife tool. Grab your Crepe paper and fold multiple layers at once. Making sure it’s lined up on both sides, make some slices on one side of the paper. Then flip it over and repeat. Keeping enough space in the middle to allow you to cut it into two pieces like above.

Starting at the bottom of the legs of the pot, apply glue and wrap the crepe paper around until you reach the bottom of the pot. Repeat with the other leg.

With this pot, I also cut my crepe paper to match the width of the sides. Staring at the bottom I applied each fringe piece around the sides.

Next is to finish the front and back. Starting at the bottom, apply the fringe until you reach the top and repeat for the other side.

Take your knife tool and carefully cut the fringe around the back door, so you can open the door. Apply glue to the lose fringes to keep them on the door at the sides.

Add your choice of ribbon or yarn to the hole in the door. Tie to secure. Repeat with the two holes on the back. Now you can pull the ribbon to open the door and also hang it up as well.

You can leave it as is, or add some final touches. Using glue or foam tape, attach the pot cut out details to the front. You can even add gold coins at the top too.

Congrats Crafter, you just made your own Pot of Gold mini piñata using your Cricut to make this an easy crafting project for St. Patrick’s Day shenanigans.

If you loved creating this mini piñata, share your finished project and pin this on Pinterest to help share this crafting project.

Looking for more St. Patrick’s Day crafting projects? Check these out below

• Make your own Shamrock earrings using Air Dry Clay
• Decorate your mantle with these Yarn wrapped Shamrock garland

Did you know we have a Etsy Shop?

It’s true, we do. It’s called Ivy Lillies Crafting Co and it can be found in the menu option as “Etsy Shop”.

We have Mini Pinata SVG files available and other fun items as well.