6 Cricut Tips and Tricks I Wish Someone Would’ve Told Me

My Cricut Journey

My name is Angie and I LOVE Cricut.   I’ve had a many people ask me “how do I use the cricut.” So here’s some Cricut tips and tricks I think can help anyone starting out.  I got a Cricut cutting machine for Christmas several years ago.  By the end of Christmas, I’m sure my family was tired of me.  I begged, really forced my family to buy it for me.  I sent them coupons, told them what color I wanted, what stores had it on sale during black friday…the whole works.  Yes, I even promised to make them all kind of cool things if they bought it.  In reality, I should’ve bought a Cricut myself years ago.  But hey, it was Christmas.  They asked me what I wanted and I made my request known.

I mean…look how annoying I was 🙂

So to my surprise (well, not reallly) there was a big box with a pretty bow under the tree that year.  MY CRICUT!  What I didn’t realize was the large  learning curve it would take to figure it all out.

What is Cricut?

It’s a smart die cutting machine.  This cool little device is a table top cutting masterpiece for DIY’ers like you and I.  Once connected to a computer or smart device you can create a design and it will cut it on almost any type of thin material.  Many crafters use their Cricut to cut designs for t-shirts, cups, bags, home decor, jewelry, etc.  The possibilities are endless.  If you’ve never heard of Cricut, visit their website by clicking HERE.  They come in different colors and models.  You can also purchase Cricut and Cricut accessories at all major hobby stores.

Here are my 6 Cricut tips and tricks I wish someone would’ve told me when I first started:

Don’t worry about how to use the cricut.  I’m going to give you some cricut tips and tricks that will help in your journey.

Cricut Tip #1.  Plan to spend way more money than just the price of the machine.

My Cricut Explore 2 came with a blade and blade housing, the blue LightGrip Mat, a black writing pen, and a few tools.  Everything I needed right? Wrong.  As soon as you get into crafting you will quickly start making a list of other items you want/need to complete your projects.  Here are a few things you might want to get right away that I find essential: Cricut brand fine point blade replacements, basic tool set, mat variety pack and any brand ruler and paper cutter.  Once again, these can all be found on Cricut.com, Amazon, Joann.com, Michaels.com, and Hobbylobby.com.  The stores also sell machine bundles that include a lot of these helpful items and a few materials to start cutting.  Just compare and contrast the price to make sure the bundle is worth the price.

Cricut Tip #2.  Stock up on supplies when they go on sale.  Cricut doesn’t go on sale often in the hobby stores.

When you see a sale on Cricut items, pay attention.  You may know that the 3 major craft chains, (Hobby Lobby, Joann, Michael’s, which I like to refer to as the Craft Trinity) all have 20%-40% coupons you can use everyday.  Those coupons almost always exclude the Cricut brand.  So when the stores run sales on Cricut materials or tools, STOCK UP.  I buy extras of the essentials I mentioned above and also pick up at least one new material I’ve been wanting to try.

Cricut Tip #3.  Always replace the plastic on your mats right away.

Since the cutting mats are sticky, they come with a protective clear covering.  ALWAYS put the clear covering back on the mat as soon as you finish using it.  Initially, I was very loose with replacing the cover on my mats. Several times I accidentally put my hand or arm on them, transferring the oils from my skin to the mat.  The dust from the air builds up on the sticky surface and multiple times my craft scraps and bits of paper would end up all over the mats.  Please learn from my mistakes and protect your mats at all costs.  Mats are too expensive to keep buying.  And I know you’ve seen the posts floating around about cleaning the mat, I tried it and don’t recommend it.  It WILL get debris off the mat, but it will NEVER be as sticky as it was.

Extra bonus tip: Place a piece of tape or anything sticky to the outer side of the clear sheet.  This way you are always placing the clean side back down on your mat.

Here is one of my mats.  I put a random sticker on the outer side of the clear cover.

Cricut Tip #4.  Practice with Cheap materials first.

If you are just starting, and are new to cutting machines like I was, start with cheap materials at first.  There is definitely a learning curve when you first start out.  Practice with copy paper or old scrapbook paper you have laying around.  If you want to practice with vinyl, buy the sheets of vinyl that run between $1 – $3 at first before you shell out $10-$20 on a roll of vinyl.

Cricut Tip #5.  Svg vs. Jpeg

Cricut is all about cutting out designs/words/shapes.  All users have access to the Design Studio which is full of templates and objects to use.  Some are free, others cost between $.99 – $20 depending on the project.  If you just can’t find the image you are looking for, you can upload your own.  Beware though, all images are not created equal.  The most known picture format is jpeg.  There is also png, gif, tif, and eps, but the file type you want for Cricut us is SVG which stands for scalable vector graphics.  It is basically the cleanest, most pure form of the graphic so that it never gets distorted no matter what size you make it.  Just remember, the basic clip-art you find on the internet is not ideal for Cricut use.  Search for svg files.  You can purchase groups of them for cheap on websites like Etsy.com.  Lastly, here’s a video from Bren at Addicted to Cricut.  It is a great explanation and tutorial. https://youtu.be/3j6cYRTtDdk.

Cricut Tip #6.  There are tons of online stores that sell craft materials for your Cricut.

When you are ready to go crazy and buy all the things, my advice is to shop around.  Everything doesn’t have to be the Cricut brand.  Siser and Oracal are very popular vinyl brands.  Hobby Lobby carries “The Paper Studio” which has a wide range of paper and vinyl’s to choose.  You can also find pretty much every material you need on Etsy.  Type the keywords “vinyl for cutter” or “faux leather” or “cardstock” to find tons of resources.

Well, I hope these Cricut tips and tricks were able to help you use your Cricut more effectively.    The possibilities are endless.  Cut and craft your heart out.  As I learn more tips and tricks, I’ll share them, so don’t forget to come back.  To learn more about me and my craft journey, CLICK HERE.

Until next time…Stay Crafty!

Angie

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