Congratulations new Cricut owners!  Just wanted to say congratulations to all the people who got super awesome Cricut deals on Amazon prime day.  So many people got the $194.99 pink Cricut Explore Air 2 bundle that Amazon shut down their Prime day sale for it 7 hours early!  I actually know several people who missed getting the prime day sale price and were so sad and disappointed.  There were also a bunch of current Cricut owners who were fortunate enough to buy the Easy Press for $99.99 on Amazon Prime Day, which I paid $169.99 for on Mother’s Day.  Now on to Cricut Essentials and how to get them affordably.

 

Because of all these new machines and owners I’ve been getting a lot of questions about supplies and Cricut essentials.  So this article is all about Cricut Essentials.  What exactly should be bought with a Cricut?  Cricut is now having a 50% materials SALE right now and prices listed are only valid until July 24, 2018.  But, as always I recommend shopping around and price comparing with other vendors like Amazon, and eBay to ensure the best prices.

 

 

Below the essentials are discussed in detail.  But, remember that essentials will vary depending on the materials preferentially cut.  For example, many sewing accessories are not necessary if not cutting fabric.

 

Cricut Essentials

 

1. Tools

• Mat
  • At least one comes with the machine, which will last a long time if kept clean and treated carefully
  • There are different sticky strengths for different materials and the light grip works for most things
  • Fabric grip for cutting fabric and strong grip for cutting wood
  • When the mats lose their sticky they can be washed gently and hung to dry

         

• Transfer Tape – used to transfer adhesive vinyl stickers after cut

      

• Weeding Pick
  • Essential to “weed” or take out the parts of the material that was cut and is no longer needed/wanted
  • Cricut sells it by itself or in a set, but it’s essentially a dental pick, so a dental cleaning pack from Amazon as shown below would work the same way for cheaper.

 

         

 

Additional Optional Tools that are Useful

• Teflon (Iron-On Protective) Sheet
  • Used to protect the heating element (iron, heat press, easy press).
  • I got one free with a glitter heat transfer vinyl set I purchased on Amazon, or they can be purchased alone.

    

• Alcohol – I use rubbing alcohol, but many people use denatured alcohol which is stronger to clean off things before attaching the vinyl
• Scoring pen (scoring wheels for Cricut Maker only) – for paper crafters

• Portable trimmer – optional but very useful for cutting down the material size
• Tweezers – for rolling flowers
• Scraper – to secure materials, smooth on transfer tape
• Measuring tape or ruler – use one you already have
• Glue – needed to put some projects together and the type of glue depends on the project
  • Glue options: glue gun, E6000, craft glue, glue stick

 

2. Materials

Basically 100+ materials can be cut by the Cricut, the limit is only what can be imagined.  This is a short list of just some of the materials that are most commonly bought and cut

• Heat transfer vinyl (iron on)
  • My absolute favorite material, as it already comes with the transfer tape attached and it’s easier to weed and work with

• Adhesive Vinyl
  • To cut designs into “stickers”

• Cardstock
  • For flowers, cards, banners, etc.
• Fabric
  • bonding material needs to be attached to the back of fabric in order to cut with the Explore series machines
  • The Cricut Maker already has a special rotary fabric blade to cut without any backing (bonding)

 

 

Hopefully this list will get you on the right track for the Cricut essentials.  The product links above are provided for your convenience with no obligation to buy.  I am a Cricut and Amazon affiliate so clicking the links helps to support MomMDHawaii.  All products that I used were bought by me and all opinions are my own.

 

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