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5 Reasons Why I Love Crafting with My Explore Air 2

December 17, 2019 by Jessica Leave a Comment

There are a multitude of reasons to love crafting with Cricut’s machines and materials, but these are the top 5 Reasons Why I Love Crafting with my Explore Air 2!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.

It was about this time last year that I kept seeing sale ads pop up for the Cricut Explore Air 2. If it wasn’t an ad online, it was walking into the craft store and seeing Cricut displays right at the entrance. The machines were there. Right there! I was just so scared to take the plunge! But I finally did and, to date, it’s been the best Christmas present I’ve ever bought for myself!

My very first project was homemade ornaments for my family and friends. I cut designs out of glitter vinyl and transferred them to clear ornaments. It was so easy to dive into crafting with the Explore Air 2! One of the biggest reasons why I love this machine is that I can create beautiful projects and handmade gifts in such a short amount of time! Design, cut, and apply. It’s that easy! The Air 2 is what launched my love for vinyl crafts and made me Cricut obsessed!

The Explore Air 2 is easy to set up

The hardest thing about the Explore Air 2 is deciding what color you want! There are so many to choose from. But once you’ve picked your favorite, setting it up is a breeze! Everything is step-by-step – from plugging in the machine, pairing it with your devices, and beginning your first project! It’s a great machine for beginners because it’s so easy to use. You’ll be Cricut crafting in no time!

Setting your material is simple

It doesn’t get any easier than turning the dial on the Explore Air 2 to set your material. This machine can cut hundreds of materials like cardstock, vinyl, iron-on, glitter paper, cork, bonded fabric, and more! The crafting possibilities are endless!

There’s a double tool holder for blades and pens

Did you know that you can get a variety of different blades and pens to craft with? That’s right! And switching them up is a breeze with the Explore Air 2’s double tool holder. Just unlock the holder, switch your blade or pen, and continue working on your project!

It’s fun to create in Design Space

When you set up your Explore Air 2, you get access to Design Space and a whole library full of fonts and images. Not only can you search for fonts and images, but you can find complete projects to make! You can even upload your own fonts, images, and SVG files! The thing I really love about Design Space is you can access it from your phone, tablet, or computer! Designing on the go is always fun because I can show people what I’m working on!

You can create unique home decor projects and handmade gifts

Ever since I got my Explore Air 2, I have created so many home decor items, t-shirts, and handmade gifts for friends and family! One of the last home decor projects I made was this holiday lantern. I used snowflake designs and white and gold vinyl to dress up the windows. When the lantern glows at night, you can see the light shining through the snowflake images. It’s so pretty! See how easy it is to make this project below!

How to Make a Holiday Lantern with the Explore Air 2

SUPPLIES

STEPS

Open Design Space and search for snowflake images.
Measure the lantern windows and resize the snowflake images to fit.
Using two different snowflake designs, make two snowflakes white and two snowflakes gold.
Prepare two mats with white vinyl and gold vinyl. Then, continue to cut the images.
Weed the snowflake images. Then, use transfer tape to add the images to each window in the lantern.
Place an LED outdoor candle inside the lantern.
If desired, add berry and pine garland around the top of the lantern and display.

From the machine itself to all of the projects I’ve been able to create, there are so many reasons why I love my Explore Air 2! If you’ve been thinking about taking the plunge and adding a Cricut machine to your wishlist, the Explore Air 2 is a great machine to get you started with Cricut crafting!

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Wooden Fox Ornaments with the Cricut Maker

December 5, 2019 by Jessica 3 Comments

Use the Cricut Maker to create adorable wooden fox ornaments made with basswood and vinyl that will give your Christmas tree a cozy, woodland vibe!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.

If you follow me on social media, then you know that I’m pretty obsessed with foxes! Ever since those fluffy tailed creatures wandered into our backyard a few summers ago, they’ve become one of my favorite animals! So this year, I decided to make a fox themed Christmas tree. Actually, I’m calling it our “foxy farmhouse” Christmas tree. It has a whole lot of farmhouse charm and quite a few fox inhabitants!

Every year, I try to add a handmade ornament or two to our Christmas tree. This year, I’ve added a couple wood slice ornaments that I painted and personalized. But I also just added these wooden fox ornaments to our tree! They’re made with basswood that I cut with my Cricut Maker (yes, it cuts wood!) and decorated with patterned vinyl.

How to Make Wooden Fox Ornaments with the Cricut Maker

I chose a couple fox images from Design Space to use – one was a solid silhouette and the other has a scroll design cut into it. The solid fox shape became my wooden cutout and the scroll design was my vinyl overlay (I learned fast that the less detail, the better when it comes to cutting basswood).

I had never cut wood before with my Maker, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I loaded the knife blade and went through the steps to calibrate it. The blade made several cuts in a piece of printer paper to make sure you get the best cut in your material.

Once my knife blade was calibrated, I placed the basswood on my Strong Grip Mat and secured it with masking tape. I set my material in the Cricut Maker, hit the go button, and sat back and waited.

The Cricut Maker makes multiple passes to cut through wood, so the finished project takes a little longer to make. But it’s worth it!

The basswood is really thin, so you want to be very careful when removing your design. I ended up cutting three more foxes so I could double the wood on each ornament. They ended up being a little sturdier that way. All I did was glue them together with some hot glue and added a loop of twine in between for hanging.

Then, I cut two solid fox silhouettes and two scroll design foxes out of vinyl. I used transfer tape to add the vinyl to both sides of the ornaments. Then, they were ready to hang on the tree!

SUPPLIES

Cricut Maker
Fox images
Basswood
Knife blade
12″ x 24″ Strong Grip Mat
Masking tape
Hot glue gun
Baker’s twine
Winter Wonderland patterned vinyl sampler
Transfer tape

STEPS

Open Design Space and select the fox images. Resize the solid silhouette and continue to cut.
Place the basswood on the Strong Grip Mat and secure each side with masking tape.
Make sure the knife blade is in place and calibrate, if necessary.
Set the material, choosing the Basswood 1/16″ option. Then, continue to cut
Repeat the process three more times until you have four wooden foxes.
Once all the wooden foxes are cut, use a glue gun to glue two wooden foxes together, adding a twine loop in the middle for hanging.
Then, switch the blade back to the Premium Fine-Point Blade.
Back in Design Space, resize the scroll design fox to the same size as the silhouette solid.
Cut four more foxes out of vinyl. Remove the unwanted vinyl from the design.
Then, use transfer tape to add the vinyl to the ornaments and hang!

These ornaments made a great addition to our fox themed tree! They took a little time to make, but it’s worth it to have homemade ornaments I can enjoy year after year!

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This post may contain affiliate links. Making a purchase through one of these links helps support this blog.

Make Halloween Treat Bags with the Cricut Maker

October 22, 2019 by Jessica 4 Comments

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.

Make the cutest candy filled Halloween Treat Bags for your favorite ghouls and goblins with the Cricut Maker and EasyPress!

I’ve had my Cricut Explore Air™ 2 machine for almost a year now! It’s funny to think back on the day I got it, wanting to set it up, but being so intimidated by the machine. It sat in the box for a few weeks before I finally decided to take the plunge. Now, our office has turned into “Cricut Central!” I have two cutting machines, two EasyPress irons, plenty of vinyl to use for projects, and I’ve even opened a shop to sell some of my creations!

One of my favorite things to make with my Cricut machines is gifts for friends and family. So two weekends ago, when I knew I’d be spending the day with my nieces, I decided to make them Halloween treat bags. First, I used the Babette font in Design Space to create their names on the back of their bags. Then, I used a skeleton face image to add to the back of the bags. They were a hit! My nieces loved having their own personalized bags filled with candy!

CRICUT MAKER VS. CRICUT EXPLORE AIR 2

As much as I love how easy it is to use the Cricut Explore Air™ 2 machine, I’ve been having a blast using the Cricut Maker! The Cricut Explore Air 2 was the perfect machine for me to learn on. It’s fairly basic with simple settings.

But the Maker is pretty impressive! There are so many different blades you can use with the Maker to cut so many different materials! I haven’t gone beyond vinyl yet, but I cannot wait to make my own leather earrings and other fabric projects with the Maker! The crafting possibilities are endless!

I actually started designing projects with the Design Space app vs. using my desktop. So I love that the Maker has a built-in shelf to hold a phone or iPad for mobile designing!

Once you design your project and you’re ready to cut, the Maker setup brings you to this screen. So instead of changing a dial, like you do with the Explore Air 2, you can choose the material you’re using right from Design Space. Since the Maker has a stronger cutting power than the Explore Air 2, you’ll get the perfect cut every time!

HEY BOO! HALLOWEEN TREAT BAGS

Since my treat bags were such a hit, I wanted to make one for my candy-loving husband. I call him “boo” all the time, so I created a “Hey Boo!” design in Design Space. Then, I added a couple bats to the design to give it a little Halloween flair!

When my design was ready, I set my material to Everyday Iron-On and pressed go.

Then, I weeded the design, prepped my EasyPress and ironed it onto my muslin bag.

When that side was finished, I repeated the process with the sugar skull design.

The bag turned out really cute and was so easy to make, so I decided to make an extra one to give to my neighbor’s niece on Halloween!

TRICK-OR-TREAT HALLOWEEN TREAT BAGS

This bag is the same concept with a “trick-or-treat” design instead and a slightly different sugar skull.

SUPPLIES

Cricut Maker
Cricut standard grip cutting mat
Black Everyday Iron-on vinyl
Purple Everyday Iron-on vinyl
Orange Everyday Iron-on vinyl
5″ x 7″ muslin bags
Cricut EasyPress
Cricut EasyPress mat

STEPS

Open the “Hey Boo!” design in Design Space.
Resize the image, if necessary. Then, prepare your mat with black iron-on vinyl.
Don’t forget to mirror the image. Then, cut the design.
Weed the design. Then, position the design on the muslin bag.
Heat the EasyPress to 315 degrees. When the EasyPress chirps, it’s ready to iron.
Set the EasyPress for 30 seconds and press the design using gentle pressure. Peel warm.
Flip the bag over. Repeat the process with the sugar skull design.
Then, continue onto a new bag with the trick-or-treat design.
When the bags are finished, fill them with candy or other small treats for Halloween!

If you’re looking for a last minute Halloween gift for your favorite ghouls and goblins, these are an easy craft that take just minutes to make with the Cricut Maker! Happy treating!

This post may contain affiliate links. Making a purchase through one of these links helps support this blog.

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Get Started with Cricut Infusible Ink

August 6, 2019 by Jessica 1 Comment

This post may contain affiliate links. Making a purchase through one of these links helps support this blog.

Cricut Infusible Ink is the hottest way to DIY right now! I’ll get you started with everything you need to hop on the Infusible Ink design trend!

I bought my Cricut Explore Air 2 after the holidays last year and have been using it for so many projects ever since! But there was still one Cricut machine that I really wanted to add to my crafting collection – the EasyPress. I was absolutely thrilled when my husband got it for my birthday this year! Especially after Cricut came out with their line of Infusible Ink products!

Have you seen that stuff? All the heart eyes! Every time I go to Michael’s and check out the display (which has been a lot), I’m always in awe of how the Infusible Ink transfers to t-shirts and coasters. It doesn’t peel, wash off, or anything like that!

So after I got my EasyPress, I started making a list of everything else I needed to start using Infusible Ink! I bought two different patterns of Infusible Ink (linked below) so far and can’t wait to make my own shirts, tote bags, and more!

Everything You Need to Get Started with Cricut Infusible Ink

A few things I’ve learned so far:

If you’re more of a visual learner, make YouTube tutorials your best friend
Choose a small design for your first design to cut just in case you screw it up (like I did!)
Make sure to mirror your design so it faces the correct way after pressing
There’s a “cracking” method where you roll the design that makes it easier to remove it from the sheet
Lighter color material is recommended for Infusible Ink designs
Apparently Infusible Ink won’t transfer to 100% cotton, so you should choose a poly-blend base instead

For more information on how to use Infusible Ink, click here.

I’ll admit that I’m still in the “practice” phase of working with Infusible Ink. I’m afraid to jump right into big projects. Especially since most Infusible Ink packages only have two transfer sheets! But once I’m confident enough to start sharing projects, I’ve got two ideas up my sleeve for fall! I can’t wait to work that that Buffalo Check Infusible Ink!

Have you worked with Infusible Ink? What have you made? If you have any tips for beginners, like me, make sure to leave them in the comments!

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If you’re just getting started with Cricut, head over to my Best Cricut Tools & Accessories for Beginners post!