Back-to-school season is such a big one: new books, new pencil cases, and that little flutter of nerves and excitement for the kids (and if you’re a teacher, probably a fresh set of nerves of your own facing a new class). Whether you’re jazzing up a reading journal, labelling a school book, or just want a treat tucked into a planner, I wanted to create a set of free back-to-school stickers that felt a bit more special than the usual pack from the shops.
So I’ve designed these free back-to-school stickers with a patterned background, sized just right- think textbook size- so they pop into a book or planner without swamping the page. They’re kiss-cut and die-cut on the Cricut, which means a proper peel-off sticker with a neat sheet edge. You can have a full sheet cut in no time, and I’ll show you exactly how.
In this tutorial, I’m skipping the Canva design stage. I will link the video below for that. (Grab the free back-to-school stickers download; scroll down, if you haven’t already) And take you straight from uploading the free sticker files into Cricut Design Space through to a finished mini sticker sheet, in plain paper or holographic vinyl. These free back-to-school stickers are perfect for school notebooks, planners, journals, or a little treat in a lunchbox.
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What You Will Find Here
See How I Designed The Sticker Sheets Here
How To Cut Your Free Back-to-School Stickers and Pattern Background: Step-by-Step Kiss Cut and Die Cut Cricut Tutorial
What You Will Need
- Cricut machine (Explore, Maker) or JoyXtra
- Cricut Design Space and Canva (free software)
- Standard Gripmat (green)
- Weeding tool (for removing small bits)
- Brayer (optional, to smooth cardstock on mat)
- Sticker Paper
- Transparent Holographic Overlay Lamination Vinyl
1. Upload Your First Sticker Layers (the Sticker Layer)
Open Cricut Design Space and click Upload Image, then click Upload Image again to browse to your downloaded file. Choose your first sheet. Save it as a flat graphic and click Upload. This brings your sticker design straight into your canvas.
They will come in very large; that’s completely normal. You’ll resize everything once both layers are lined up together.
2. Build Your Layers for a Kiss Cut and a Die Cut Together
This is the trick that makes the whole project work, and it’s easier than it sounds.
A kiss cut only cuts through the top sticker layer, not the backing paper, so your stickers peel off easily. A die cut cuts all the way through, around the outside edge of the sheet. A Cricut can’t do both at once in a single pass, so this is built using duplicate layers instead.
For plain paper or cardstock:
- Select your pattern background layer and duplicate it four times, so you have five identical layers stacked together. Centre them all. This duplicated kiss cut becomes your die cut; cut through fully around the edge.
- Place your sticker image layer on top, as a single layer. This becomes your kiss cut, it only needs to go through the top layer.
- Select everything and click Attach. Do not flatten. Attaching keeps the layers separate for cutting but prints them together as one image.
For holographic vinyl, because the extra vinyl coating needs a bit more persuasion:
- Duplicate your sticker image layer three times for the kiss cut.
- Duplicate your pattern background layer seven times for the die cut.
- Select everything and click Attach.
This combination gave a clean kiss cut and a full die cut through the holographic layer without cutting too deep or not deep enough. If your machine and material behave slightly differently, this is a great starting point to adjust from.
3. Duplicate to Fit Two Sheets on One Mat
To get two mini sticker sheets from one sheet of A4 sticker paper, select your whole attached design and duplicate it. Rotate the copy so it faces the opposite direction, then drag the corner to resize both together, just until the red warning dot on the right disappears. That tells you it now fits safely within your cutting area.
4. Send to Print
Select both designs and click Make It. Choose Print and Cut, remove the bleed, and use the system print dialogue. Select your best print quality and send it to print. This gives you your printed pattern background sheet, ready to cut.
5. Applying Holographic Vinyl Before Cutting
If you’re making the holographic version, this is the step that makes all the difference, and it’s worth taking slowly.
Rather than printing straight onto holographic paper, you’re applying a separate holographic vinyl layer on top of your printed pattern sheet before it’s cut. Pop your sticker sheet on the mat and peel back a little of the vinyl backing to start. Then lay it carefully over your printed sheet, smoothing as you go so you don’t trap any air underneath.
Use a ruler or a scraper tool to work over the whole sheet, pressing out any bubbles as you find them. This bit really matters: if bubbles get trapped under the vinyl, it throws the whole sheet off and can ruin the cut, so take your time here rather than rushing it.
This is also why the extra kiss cut and die cut layers matter so much for holographic vinyl. You’re now cutting through both the printed sheet and the vinyl layer together, which is thicker than plain paper, so those extra passes (three for the kiss cut, seven for the die cut) are what actually get you through cleanly without cutting too deep.
6. Load Your Mat and Cut
Place your sheet onto your cutting mat, making sure it’s positioned exactly the way it appeared on your screen, since Cricut cuts using its stored memory of the design rather than reading the printed page itself. Line it up carefully; this matters even more for the holographic sheet once the vinyl layer is applied.
Load your mat and send it to cut.
Load your mat and send it to cut.
7. Peel and Enjoy
Once cutting is finished, peel your mini sticker sheets away from the backing. The kiss cut stickers should lift off easily while the sheet stays intact around them, and the die cut edge gives you a neat, finished mini sheet ready for a planner, journal or school book.
If You Want To Use These Free Printable Back to School Sticker
Click here or on the image below to visit our shop and get the free stickers. They are instant downloads from our shop. You’ll get two sheets: a plain version and a holographic version, ready to upload.
If You’re Having Problems?
Check out my troubleshooting page, hopefully it will answer any questions you may have.
And You Have The Cutest Back To School Stickers
And that’s it: your own set of free back-to-school stickers, kiss-cut and die-cut straight from Cricut Design Space, whether you went for classic plain paper or the holographic version. The layering trick is the part worth remembering. Once you understand how duplicating your layers controls a kiss cut and a die cut at the same time, you can use it on almost any print and cut sticker project, not just this one.
If you followed along with the free download, you’ve now got a couple of gorgeous mini sticker sheets ready for planners, journals or school books, and a technique you can reuse again and again.
