Make it Monday // 3 Autumn Mini Happy Planner Covers

It is so chilly up here that I just know snow is going to fall before I'm completely ready.  Everyone else I know is down south still wearing shorts and flip flops.  I've fully busted out the boots, hoodies, and fall candles!  So it is only fitting that I dress up my planner for Fall!!

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One of the things I wish MAMBI would do is release a ridiculous amount of deluxe covers for the Mini Happy Planner.  I've debated on painting a few of mine just to have the diversity I want.  I have yet to take the plunge into taking the rings out of a six ring binder.  I almost tried this weekend but I chickened out!  So now I'm just using the gold deluxe cover for fall and a brand new snap in cover!! Below are three covers for you to cut with your Cricut Explore, so enjoy!

supplies // printable covers, printer, regular printer paper, Cricut Explore, 5mil laminating pouches, Cricut mat

Circut has recently updated their print then cut area to be 6.75 inches by 9.25 inches.  This update also changed the registration marks so my previous way of laminating then cutting no longer works.  After a ton of trial and error trimming my laminating pouches I found that my Cricut was able to read the registration marks even if they work laminated!  Queue the celebration!

So, open the desired back image and print that on your regular printer paper.  What I tend to use is 28lb paper.  It is slightly thicker but not as thick as card stock and that really makes the cover stand up to wear and tear more.  Upload the desired cover image to a new canvas in Cricut Design space.  There is no clean up needed so just follow the steps and save as a print then cut image.  Add this new image to your canvas, size the height to be 7.5 inches.  If the proportions are locked then the width will auto adjust.  Select Make It in the upper right hand corner, then send your project to your printer.

You can now access your printer's advanced settings in order to set the print quality.  From the pop up after selecting Sent to Printer, click on Advanced Settings.  Now you can select the paper type, any saved print settings, etc.  Print the image on the reverse side of the page you just printed.

Place the printed page into a 5mil laminating sleeve and feed through your laminator.  I find that 5 mil over regular printer paper holds up enough through wear at tear and a regular laminator gets hot enough to create a good bond to the paper.  If you try to laminate card stock with a regular old laminator it won't get hot enough to form a strong bond and the lamination will start to peel back from the paper.  That's not good!

If you're mat is not sticky enough you may need to use some washi tape to hold it down.  Feed it into your Cricut Explore and choose the proper setting.  I use Poster Board + and cut the project three times.  Once it reads the marks & cuts once I press the Cricut button on the machine another time to cut it again.  Then, after that cut, I press the Cricut button a final time.  This only reads the registration marks once and you don't have to unload & reload the mat.  It is super helpful!

DOWNLOAD THE COVER IMAGES HERE!

If you find your machine won't read the marks, try to cut in complete darkness or as close to it as you can.  I cut these guys multiple times in this experiment and it worked all 5+ times.  So hopefully it works for you!

The corners of these covers are square but if you'd like them rounded just use a corner rounder.  Obviously its easier to make the file with square corners and trim if you'd like than to do it the other way around!

I hope you enjoy these covers and that you're enjoying the Fall weather if it's getting chilly where you are!!

Want even more Cricut Explore DIYs?  Click here!

xoxo, Moe