Skull Mini Layered Designs 🦇 FCC 14

Make a matching set of three spooky skull SVGs for Halloween.

Today’s project includes three miniature layered cardstock skull designs, each with its own unique Halloween style.

Choose from a flaming skull, a whimsical mushroom (toadstool) skull or a fun pirate skull, or make all three to create a spooky matching collection.

These layered SVGs are designed to be quick and easy to assemble, making them ideal for smaller projects.

They load at approximately 4 inches in size, which is perfect for greetings cards, scrapbook layouts, gift tags, magnets, badges or brooches.

If you’d prefer to make a larger statement piece, simply resize the designs to create eye-catching wall art or framed decorations.

Halloween skulls card toppers by Craft with Sarah

The three skulls have been colour coordinated so that they use matching shades across the collection, making it easy to cut several designs at once without needing lots of slightly different cardstock colours.

Suitable for Cricut, Silhouette and ScanNCut machines, these fun layered skulls are a great way to add a little Halloween personality to all kinds of papercraft projects.

This project was part of the 2026 Falloween Craft Countdown

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Skull papercraft materials supply list

Here is a list of the materials that I used to make this project.

Please note that some of the links included in this article are affiliate links, which means that if you click through and make a purchase I may receive a commission (at no additional cost to you). You can read my full disclosure at the bottom of the page.

This project is suitable for the following types of Cricut machines: Explore series, Maker series, Joy Xtra, Joy and Joy 2.

Paper skulls by Craft with Sarah

Foundation learning

If you're new to making papercrafts with your cutting machine, check out these links to get you started.

They include videos on topics such as: which file to use with your type of cutting machine, how to load the files into your cutting machine's software, how to cut cardstock with your type of cutting machine, how to recolor and modify/customize the cut files and tips for displaying your projects.

The following tutorials are Cricut-specific, but many of the ideas will work similarly with a Silhouette or ScanNCut machine and any cut files that are shared in them are compatible with all types of cutting machine.

Halloween skull Cricut craft video tutorial

Watch the video below to see how to make this project. Keep scrolling for a written tutorial.

Want to share your thoughts on this project? Click here to visit the video on YouTube.

Written tutorial (with photos!)

Here’s how to make this Halloween craft project using a Cricut machine.

Step 1) Download the cutting file & upload to Design Space

Get the files using the box below.

Purchase the File(s)

This cut file is available as part of the Instant Access Bundle.

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Or, purchase this design individually here

Before you upload the SVGs to Design Space, you need to unzip the download folder that they come in.

Not sure how to do this? Click here for a tutorial that covers all the following types of computer and device:

  • How to unzip a folder on a Windows computer
  • How to unzip a folder on a Mac
  • How to unzip a folder on an iPad
  • How to unzip a folder on an iPhone
  • How to unzip a folder on an Android device

How to unzip download folders

After unzipping, upload the SVG file(s) into your cutting machine software.

Not sure how to use cut files with your type of machine? The following links lead to tutorials on how to use cut files in:

If you are using Cricut Design Space, start a new project and then click the “Upload” button on the left of the screen.

You can then either click “Browse” to find the file on your computer, or drag-and-drop it.

Choose one of the files in the “01 Cricut Version” subfolder.

Press “Upload” on the next screen.

After uploading, the design should be automatically inserted onto your Canvas.

To load the other skulls, repeat the upload process for the other two SVG files.

To hide the left sidebar (to give you more space for designing!), click the arrow that’s about half way down the page.

If the designs don’t get inserted onto your Canvas, they will show under “Uploads” in your “Recently Uploaded Images”. Click on them and then press “Add to Canvas” to put them onto your Project.

Need help uploading SVGs? Get step-by-step instructions here in our detailed help guides for Cricut, Silhouette and ScanNCut.

Step 2) Size the design

Click the skulls on your canvas and use the width/height boxes near the top of the screen to make them the size that you want to cut.

TIP: Make sure the padlock icon above the width/height boxes is CLOSED before you resize. If it appears “open”, click it with your mouse to close it.

If you are cutting this design on a Cricut Joy or Joy 2 machine then you’ll need to make each skull a maximum of 4.5 inches on the shortest side.

Step 3) Cut out all the layers

When you’re happy with how the project is looking in Design Space, click “Make” and follow the instructions on-screen to cut out all the pieces.

To change the paper size, go into the dropdowns over on the left side of the screen and choose the paper size that you want to use. You need to change it for every single colour.

To save space on your cardstock, you can move things around by clicking and dragging. Make sure when you’re moving things about that nothing overlaps because otherwise, it won’t cut out properly.

TIP: New to using cardstock with your cutting machine? Check out these machine help guides for Cricut, Silhouette and ScanNCut that go through every step of the process, including tips for getting the best quality cuts from your machine.

Step 4) Stick the project together

Use 3D foam pads and glue to stick the layers together.

Use these guides to see the order to stick the layers together in.

Printable versions of these assembly guides are included in the folder when you download the cut files.

My favourite glues to use on papercraft projects are Bearly Art Glue and Collall All Purpose Glue.

These are great because they don’t “warp” or bend the cardstock like some glues do. You can use as much of it as you want and the card stays perfect – and it dries perfectly clear too!

Bearly Art Glue comes with a tiny nozzle to make it easy to apply glue to small areas of card. The Collall glue doesn’t come with this, so it’s easiest to decant it into needle tip applicator bottles so that you have more control.

The foam pads that I use are from “Dot & Dab”, but any foam squares will work. If yours are big then you may need to cut them smaller with scissors to fit inside the edges of the layers.

When adding the foam pads to larger pieces of card, make sure you add some in the middles of the pieces of card so it gives stability to the middles.

If you don’t add any foam pads in the middles then it can “sag” under the weight of the other layers which doesn’t look as good.

Continue sticking the pieces together, following the assembly guide, until your papercraft is all finished.

Here’s how the fire skull looks when all the pieces are stuck.

Layered skull craft project to make with a Cricut

After sticking all the pieces of card together, your skulls are all finished!

Whether you make just your favourite design or all three as a matching set, these miniature layered skulls are a fun addition to your Halloween crafting.

Their compact size makes them incredibly versatile, and they’re perfect for adding a handmade touch to greetings cards, scrapbook pages, gift tags and party decorations.

They also look fantastic turned into fridge magnets, badges or brooches, or enlarged and displayed in a shadow box frame as part of your seasonal décor.

Because all three designs use coordinated colour palettes, they look especially striking when displayed together as a collection, while still each having their own distinctive personality.

Skulls papercraft SVGs by Craft with Sarah

Happy crafting,
Sarah x