The Cricut is an amazing tool for the crafter. This machine will take your crafting skills to a whole new level. Your friends will be amazed at the incredible things that you will be able to make and share. Many projects don’t take long at all to complete yet look like it took hours. Most important is that you will have so much fun seeing what you can do!
I first learned about the Cricut Maker when I was looking for a way to add a unique fancy label to some gifts I had made for friends and family. This is when I learned about how the Cricut can cut very intricate text and designs from adhesive-backed vinyl and I knew this would be the perfect solution. I have been hooked ever since and still amazed by all the things that my Cricut Maker can do.
What Can I Make with the Cricut?
The possibilities are actually endless. Many people think that it’s used primarily for paper crafts or scrapbooking. While this is true, it can do so much more! It is a precise cutting machine which reads input from your computer to cut amazing shapes, patterns and lettering from a variety of materials. It can also write fancy fonts with markers of all different colors including metallics and gel pens. There is even a line of infusible pens that enables you to permanently sublimate special ink into porous materials simply using an iron. The Cricut Maker, which is the top of the line, is capable of cutting thick materials such as chipboard and also has attachments for etching and embossing.
This is just a small sample of the types of things that you will be able to make. In many cases, the effort and time involved are significantly less than you might think. With the free software that comes with the machine, there are thousands of projects that you can immediately download and create or you have full flexibility to design your own.
- Home Decor – signs, wall hangings, wall stencils for painting, quotes, mailbox decorations, personalized mugs, organization labels, wreathes, pillow cases, wall art, hanging mobiles, coasters, coffee mugs, paper flowers and bouquets, glass etching, quilts and other sewing projects
- Parties – banners, gift boxes, napkins, hats, bags, centerpieces
- Greeting Cards and Invitations – Holidays, Birthdays, Congrats, Celebrations, Special Events, and more
- Weddings – invitations, shower gifts, wedding party gifts, decorative glasses, place settings, unique favors
- Creative scrapbooking shapes, pages, writing
- Iron-On Wearables – tee shirts, clubs, shoes, scarfs
- Monograms for Iron-Ons, windows clings, coasters, water bottles, glassware etching
- Jewelry – leather cuff bracelets,
- Paper gift boxes, bags and tags
- Customized tote bags and other gifts
- Slide decals for glassware or model airplanes and trains
- Crafting with kids – cut outs, coloring pages, stickers, school projects
- Any many, many more
What Kind of Materials Can I Cut with My Cricut?
Paper
Here is a sample of the types of paper that the Cricut is able to cut.
Copy paper, adhesive cardstock, cereal box, flat cardboard, flocked paper, flocked cardstock, notebook paper, foil embossed paper, freezer paper, foil poster board, glitter paper, glitter cardstock, kraft paper, kraft board, metallic paper, metallic cardstock, metallic poster board, paper grocery bats, paper board, photographs, photo framing mat, poster board, rice paper, wax paper, watercolor paper, solid core cardstock, and white core cardstock.
Vinyl
Vinyl is another category of materials that can be cut which can be used for all kinds of projects including chalkboard, outdoor, glitter, dry erase, holographic, metallic, stencil, printable, matte, adhesive, and glossy vinyl.
Iron-On Vinyl
Iron-on vinyl is particularly fun with all the choices available – printable, glossy, flocked, glitter, holographic sparkle, metallic, neon, and foil iron-on.
Fabric
The Cricut can also cut fabric including canvas, denim, cotton fabric, faux leather, duck cloth, felt, linen, leather, flannel, burlap, polyester, metallic leather, polyester, printable fabrics, wool felt, and silk.
Other Materials
Here are even more – Aluminum foil, adhesive foil, aluminum sheets, adhesive wood, birch wood, corkboard, balsa wood, craft foam, corrugated paper, embossable foil, duct tape, fold acetate, magnet sheets, glitter foam, paint chips, plastic packaging, soda can, metallic vellum, printable sticker paper, stencil material, temporary tattoo paper, vellum washi tape, shrink plastic, printable magnet sheets, wood veneer, window cling, wrapping paper, and wood veneer. Reading through these lists has probably prompted some ideas of your own!
The Cricut Maker Model Can Cut Additional Materials Up to 2.4mm
With the Cricut Maker you can cut even more materials up to 2.4mm thick such cashmere, jersey, fleece, chiffon, terry cloth, tweed, muslin, velvet, jute, knits, thin leather, heavier chipboard and moleskin.
This page on the Cricut sites provides a really nice overview of the wide range of possibilities that can be made using the Cricut Maker. Here you can see examples of projects and the machine in action.
No question that you are only limited by your imagination in terms of what you can make with your Cricut 🙂
What Do I Need to Get Started?
The simplest and most cost effective way to get started is with a bundle from Cricut. This bundle is currently on sale and includes all the essentials tools as well as a great variety of materials to get started. This is for the Cricut Maker. Of course there are bundles for the Cricut Explore Air 2 as well.
What is Cricut Design Space and Do I Need Cricut Access?
Cricut Design Space is a free software package that works with your Cricut. There are thousands of ready-made projects, patterns, and images available to use. Cricut Access is a membership that provides access to additional premium files such as Anna Griffin. I personally find the Access Membership to be well worth it. The files are excellent, and you also receive a 10% discount on all purchases.
How Can I Save on Supplies Costs?
Cricut is always having sales, especially around holidays. If you have signed up for Cricut access you also get an additional discount and free shipping.
Large craft and hobby store such as Michael, Hobby Lobby and Joanne’s are always having sales on Cricut materials and supplies. You can also use the 40% on anything other than the machine and some accessories.
I have also found great deals on Amazon, Ebay and Etsy. The bottom line is that you will never have to pay full price for any of the materials or supplies provided you take advantage of the sales that are always going on somewhere.
Recommended First Projects
There are a couple of projects included in the box from Cricut, which are a great place to start. I also highly recommend Dreaming Tree. They have many, many free patterns, and each project includes a step by step YouTube tutorial, which is very easy to follow. Click on the image below to access the Dreaming Tree patterns.
Where Can I Find More Tips and Tricks for Using my Cricut?
This is just a short introduction. Keep an eye out for a more in depth free guide that I am putting together which contains Cricut hacks and tips. This will be available very soon!
I’m looking forward to hearing what you make with your Cricut!
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