Personalize Gifts with Cricut

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links. 

Want the ability to easily make a personalized wedding gift or perhaps some unique home décor? Then you might find Cricut electronic cutting machines to be the best DIY crafting tool since the sewing machine. 

There are two machines that Cricut currently offers on their site:

• Cricut Explore One™
• Cricut Explore Air™

Cricut Explore One™ 

Cricut Explore One™ is a simple design-and-cut system. It’s versatile, easy to use, cuts very precisely, and is also incredibly affordable. With its irresistibly low price and limitless cutting potential, the Explore One is perfect for a new or beginning crafter. Here are a few notable features of the Explore One: 

Materials – All Cricut machines can cut an unbelievable variety of materials, for example:

• Paper
• Vinyl
• Iron-on
• Craft materials
• Upcycled materials
• Fabric
• Plastic
• Thick materials

Precision - Features Cut Smart™ technology, which allows you to cut a wide range of shapes and sizes with exceptional precision, from ¼" tall up to 11½" wide x 23½" tall. 

Smart Set® Dial - Each machine features a Smart Set® dial, which sets your settings (e.g. speed, pressure, etc.) for you so you don’t have to keep track of them. You just select the material that youre using on the Smart Set® dial and the machines Cut Smart® technology will deliver a clean, professional cut. 

Images and Fonts - You can upload your own images and fonts for free on all three Cricut cutting machines.

Cartridges - Both machines work with any Cricut cartridge and have the capability to hold all of your cartridges “virtually” in the cloud within your Cricut Design Space online software. So once you’ve loaded a cartridge, you’ll have it everywhere you go. 

Cricut’s Design Space™ and iPad® app - All Cricut Explore machines work hand-in-hand with Cricut’s Design Space™ (for PC, Mac®, iPad®, and iPhone®) that you get access to for free. 

Cricut Explore Air™

The Explore Air is the whole kit ‘n caboodle. It offers all the impressive features mentioned for the Explore One, but two key things set it apart:

1. It has a dual carriage for cutting and writing or cutting and scoring in one step. If you do a lot of paper crafting, this is the machine for you!
2. It has built-in Bluetooth® capability. You just use Cricut’s free iPad app and design anything you want from your iPad, just like you would on your home computer, but with the convenience of being able to take your projects with you anywhere. Then, you can just wirelessly send your project from your iPad to your Explore Air to bring it to life.

Now that you know a lot more about how Cricut Explore® machines work, I’ll focus next week’s post on how you can design here, there and everywhere with Cricut Design Space. You’ll be blown away by how easy it is.

Until then … Happy crafting! 

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Make It Now

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links.

Now that you’re more familiar with Cricut Explore One™, Cricut Explore Air™ and Cricut Design Space™, it’s time to chat about some of the really neat things you can create when you put it all together.

As you’re getting familiar with your Cricut machine, it’s a great idea to take advantage of the free Make it Now™ projects and images that you get with Cricut Design Space™.

For example, check out this adorable 3D Hot Air Balloons Mobile.

It’s a fun, easy starter project and makes for the perfect baby shower or toddler’s birthday gift (and can you believe its made with felt?). And what’s a gift without a card? Cricut has an incredible selection of card examples made with Cricut Explore machines. There’s even a whole selection dedicated to everything baby, which is where I came across this cute baby shower card.

Birthday
What better way to tell someone how special they are than with a hand/Cricut-made card and gift? This super fun shaker card is perfect for a 21+ birthday.

And even if you purchase a gift, you can always use your Cricut Explore machine to personalize it. For example, if you bought a friend a purse or a wallet, you could use your machine to monogram it with their initials. Or if you bought them a plain shirt or sweater, you could customize it with a fun image or statement.

I love this sparkly pineapple t-shirt. All you need is a blank shirt, a roll of Cricut Iron-on, and images from the Cricut® Summer Love image set.

Pool Party
Soak up the summer fun with a pool party! You can use your Cricut Explore to create everything from invitations to decorations. Here are some really creative ideas for how to add some special splash to a pool party.

Engagement/Wedding
Make your own beautiful table decorations, banners, party favor boxes, cards, and more for the happy couple in just a few minutes! You’ll find some really impressive ideas in Cricut’s Design Space, such as this lovely Mr. & Mrs. card.

There are an unbelievable number of project examples in the Design Space, which are categorized by type (e.g. baby, holidays, home décor, school, food, etc.) and by level (easy, moderate, and advanced). You can also find a ton of great ideas for projects on Cricuts Blog and Pinterest page.

The summer season is a perfect time to get your very own Cricut machine and familiarize yourself with Design Space and all the incredible projects you can create. Try out a few projects each month and you’ll be amazed at how easy it is. By the time the holiday season rolls around, you’ll be a Cricut pro and will wow your friends and family with your stunning crafting skills!

Happy crafting!

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