How to Make Larger than Mat Cricut Characters Mickey & Minnie!

Learn how to make a large Mickey Mouse cut out with larger than mat Cricut techniques. Perfect for Mickey Mouse party decorations!

It’s funny that when I was a first time Cricut machine user (like 8 years ago!), I made mainly papercrafts.  I stocked up on cardstock every time there was a good sale and made a ton of cards, banners, Valentine’s, and signs.  

Then I discovered vinyl – all kinds – adhesive, stencil, iron-on and fell in love with making signs and clothing. But for some reason, I have been enjoying getting back into paper crafting and I’m getting addicted again!

My latest large projects, I have to admit make me smile every time I see one of them (my dogs do not share the same feeling!). Yes, I said “them”! 

That’s four 30″ tall Cricut larger than mat Disney characters and today I’m showing you how to make a larger than mat project with a Cricut!

I’ve had all sorts of fun putting together a Mickey Mouse cut out along with some of his friends. These fun, cheap, and cute characters would be perfect for Mickey Mouse party decorations, decorating a room, putting together a preschool or classroom, or simply because you are a Disney lover!

If you are needing a full detailed video tutorial on how I designed this larger than mat Mickey cut file in Cricut Design Space make sure to scroll down to check out my 20 minutes full YouTube video. 

If you are more familiar with Cricut Design Space, I also made a 4 minute sped up video to give you the gist of it.  

Materials Needed for Mickey Mouse Cut Out

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links from Amazon, Etsy, and/or Cricut.com. I receive a small commission at no cost to you when you make a purchase using my links (purple text).

• cardstock – I used a bunch of Cricut cardstock that they had sent me.
• Tape Glider or glue stick
• Cricut cutting machine – always check prices between Cricut.com and Amazon (click links to compare!)
• Scotch Tape
• Cricut mats – I used 12×12 and 12×24
• Foam boards – I bought mine at the Dollar Tree
• Cricut self-healing mat and TrueControl Knife blade

You can shop for all Cricut products at Cricut.com!

If you don’t have a Cricut and wondering what it is, make sure to check out my Ultimate Guide of Cricut Ideas and my What is a Cricut Maker post that will tell you all about it.

There are newer machines out since I made this large design image cut out. I have separate posts on the new machines Cricut Maker 3 (which is perfect for large wall decals) and the small Cricut Joy.

You can use any of the Cricut machines to make larger than mat images, but it would take a lot of cuts with the Cricut Joy!

You can also make a large vinyl wall decal with the same steps of using the slice tool in Cricut Design Space. Check out my blog posts on wall word art for more instructions on using different colors of removable vinyl.

Larger Than Mat Designing in Cricut Design Space

If you’ve browsed my must have Cricut Maker accessories you’ll know there are different mats for the Cricut Explore Air line and Cricut Maker. The standard mat is 12×12 but you can also get a large mat that is 12×24″.

The secret to making a larger than mat Mickey Mouse DIY is cutting the large pieces into pieces that will fit on a 12×12 or 12×24 inch mat and then taping them together.  Some of the smaller layers will cut out fine, but the shadow layer and some of the bigger pieces will need to be sliced to fit on a mat.

I had purchased the Mickey and Friends cartridge years ago, so I had all of these SVG file images. You might be able to purchase them separately in Cricut Access itself or on Etsy.  Search Mickey Mouse in the images search bar.

They’ve added and deleted a few of their Disney images, so I can’t guarantee these specific ones will be on there.  But make sure to check Etsy out!  I’m sure they have a ton of different ones to choose from.

But the good news is that you can use these steps on any layered image you have!

As I mentioned above, make sure to watch my full video tutorial with a detailed walkthrough of CDS below.

Once you open a new canvas, insert a character and size it to however big you want. Since I am adding a foam board on the back of mine that is 30 inches tall, I sized mine to a little less than 30 inches.

 Ungroup the image and pull aside any of the images that are less than 11.5×11.5 inches if using a 12×12 mat or 11.5×23.5 if using a 12×24 mat. 

Important Tip: Cricut will not cut to the full 12 inches, only to 11.5.

Click on the “shape” tab on the left.  Click on the square and move it to the back. Size it to 11.5 x 23.5 inches so that it represents a 12×24 cutting mat. 

You will be taping the back sides of the cardstock together, but the key is to try and minimize the connecting tape line.  Try to slice the images in an area that will be covered up by a top layer.

Pay attention to your layers panel on the right. This will show you all the layers you have.

Put the rectangle over the large layer where you want it cut.  Click on the rectangle, hold down the Shift key on your keyboard, and then click on the shadow layer. 

This will put a box around both of them.  Now click on “slice” to use the slice tool. Remember you can only slice two layers at once!

Move aside the sliced image that you need.  There will be a second copy that was sliced from the rectangle. 

You can weld the piece and rectangle back together to give you a solid rectangle again or delete both pieces and insert a new rectangle.  (I explain this all in the video if it seems confusing!)

Repeat again until all of your sections are smaller than 11.5×23.5 inches.

Once you have all of your pieces make sure to save and then click “Make It”.  On the preview screen of the different mats, you can always try to rotate the images to see if you can fit them on a 12×12 piece of cardstock (less taping!)

Take for example this screen.  CDS put it so that the image went down to the 13 inch line.

Click on the image, and then click on the rotate button on the top right.  Rotate it and move it in until it’s above the 12-inch line.  Again all of this I show you in the video.

Click continue and select 80lb Cardstock as your material.  

Cutting Out Your Mickey Mouse DIY

So, now it’s time to cut out all the pieces to the Mickey Mouse cut out. You might use a different mat size for each cut, and that’s fine. All of my large layers I used a 12×24 long mat and the smaller pieces I used a 12×12 standard grip Cricut mat.

I found the best way to save time later is to tape two pieces of 12×12 cardstock together before I put them on the 12×24 mat. I used scotch tape but you could also use blue painter’s tape since it will be the back side.

To save time, you can always use 12×24 cardstock.

Once it’s taped, smooth it down on your large green mat.

Load the mat into the Cricut when you are prompted to do so.  The Cricut will stop in between mats of various colors prompting you to unload the mat. 

Then CDS will show you which mat and color layer it will cut out next.

Remove all the excess cardstock from the mat and then remove the cut-out shapes.

Putting Together Larger than Mat Cricut Life Size Mickey Mouse

Once you have all the pieces, it’s time to start assembling the bigger than mat Cricut Mickey Mouse cut out. 

Some of your large pieces will already be taped on the back because you taped them before you cut.  Match up the pieces and tape the backside together of the rest of the shadow layer.

Turn over the shadow layer and lay down where all the pieces go on the front side.  Make sure to lay them out before you start taping, in case you have one turned the wrong way.

Once they are all laid down, remove one, flip it over, apply tape or glue (I love my tape glider for this!) to the backside and then set it back into place.

Continue until you have all your pieces glued down.  Isn’t the life-size Mickey Mouse so cute??  

Now, you can stop here and just hang the Cricut cut out on a wall but I wanted the Mickey Mouse cut out to stand up on the floor so I did a few extra easy steps.

I also made a bunch of larger than mat Minecraft characters to decorate my son’s Minecraft themed bedroom.

How to Make Cricut Larger than Mat Characters Video Tutorial

 

Mickey Mouse DIY Standees

For the last part of this post, I’m going to show you how to make a foam board stand up so you can put these large Cricut Disney characters anywhere!

I used a piece of foam board from the Dollar Tree but you could probably also use cardboard.  I placed the paper Mickey Mouse cut out on top of the board and traced around him with a pencil.

Then I cut inside the lines so that it’s a little bit smaller.  I tried to use scissors but it wasn’t very easy.  TrueControl knife (which is a craft knife) blade and self-healing mat to the rescue!  It worked like a charm!

Place the foam board on top of the self-healing mat and cut around the pencil lines.  It doesn’t need to be pretty by any means.  No one will see the backside.  It’s only needed to help Mickey Mouse stand up.

Punch out the cut piece.  If any part gets stuck, just cut it again.

Apply tape or glue to the backside of the colored layer Mickey Mouse and set it on top of the foam board.

If there’s any foam sticking out, turn it over and carefully trim it off.

To make the foam board stand up, I cut a long piece of foam board that was about 3 inches wide. 

Fold over the top 3-4 inches (do not break all the way through).  Glue it to the foam backing and you’re done! 

It’s not the sturdiest stand but it works!  You could always glue two pieces together to make it sturdier. 

Make a Minnie Mouse cut out the same way and any other Disney character you love!

You are all set with Mickey Mouse party decorations or room decor with these cute Cricut larger than mat characters.

Here they are next to a fabric Disney tumbler I made to show you how tall the Disney cut outs are!

This was the first project that my boys even commented on and said what a good idea they were with all the different colors!  My son said we should decorate them for every holiday, so maybe you’ll see more posts with them in it!

I do believe the Minnie Mouse cut out is my favorite!  Which one is your favorite?

You can use the larger than mat Cricut technique to make characters even bigger too!

Here are some printable directions.

If you’d like to save this post on how to cut larger than mat on Cricut for later, simply hover over the top left corner of the image below and PIN It now!

Please let me know if you have any questions and thanks for stopping by.

Have a creative day,