Cricut Joy Fun: 3 Easy and Cute Projects

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Cricut. All opinions are 100% mine.

What is a Cricut?

First, if you don’t know what a Cricut is, it is a computer-controlled cutting machine. You can use it to cut paper, vinyl, plastic, fabric, etc to make all kinds of cool (and intricate) craft projects. You may have seen people making face masks with them. You can use your own designs and images, use Cricut images and fonts to make your own designs or use their pre-made designs within the Cricut Design Space™.

I’ve been a Cricut Explore Air™ 2 machine owner for years. However, what you may not know is that I haven’t been crafting much lately since I bought a store. It was one of the many things that fell by the wayside that I wanted back!

Why the Cricut Joy?

When the Cricut Joy made an appearance, I really wanted to try it. You may ask “Why” when I already had an Air 2. Well here are a few of the reasons:

The Cricut Joy is small and simple. It makes it easy to do a quick and easy project. (ie….less overwhelming if you are new or don’t have a lot of time).
It uses new smart materials that allow you to make cuts without a cutting mat and for super long cuts up to 20 feet (which is going to be perfect for the name of our boat!)
The Joy’s tiny footprint makes it perfect for small areas or for on-the-go crafting.

The Cricut Joy is available in-store at places like Michaels and online at Cricut.com.

3 Easy and Cute Projects for the Cricut Joy

These three projects are easy, only take one type of material and can be made in minutes. Basically, they are perfect for getting to know your Cricut Joy and finding (or re-finding) your crafting mojo. I decided to do a one for me and two for others approach. First, let’s talk about the project for me.

Emotional Support Plant Planter

Anyone else becoming emotionally attached to your houseplants these days? Well this little craft is for you. You’ll need a medium size planter (tho you can make it bigger or smaller if you want) with a flat, smooth surface. I picked a nice teal color for my permanent vinyl but pick whatever you love!

Startup Design Space. You can find my Emotional Support Planter design there. Make sure to double-check the size for your planter. Also, make sure your Design Space is set to “Joy”. Click “Make it” on my project. It will open up the cut screen for you.

Double check that the information on the left hand side matches the supplies you are using. If it does, click Continue.

Choose the material you are using. I am using Permanent Smart Vinyl (yay no cutting mat needed!). Once you’ve chose, click Go and watch it, well, go.

Next you will weed out all the extra vinyl.

A warning, the lines on this design are a little thin. Be careful when weeding and using your transfer tape. It can be a bit finicky but definitely worth it in the end! If a letter goes rogue, just put it back where it belongs.

All done and weeded! Cut a piece of transfer tape that will cover the entire design. Remove the transfer tape backing, place on top of the design and press it onto the design. I find it easier to peel the vinyl backing from the transfer tape than to try to peel the transfer tape (I know it sounds the same but it isn’t). Again, if you have trouble, go slow and use your weeder to help if a piece isn’t transfering well.

Use the transfer tape lines to line up your design properly. Use your Cricut scarper to make sure your design has been pressed to the planter. Then give it one more go over with your thumb for good measure. You will peel off the transfer tape. Go slow and make sure everything is stuck down. If you have trouble, stick it back and go over it with more pressure. Once it is all stuck, you are done and your cute new plant is EVEN CUTER. Congrats!

Fierce T-Shirt

My second project is a gift for the cutest, fiercest girl you ever did meet. It was an easy decision because I wanted to use craft supplies I had in stock. The shirt I had was just her size plus the Smart Iron-On in Dahlia Holographic was the perfect iron-on colour for a fierce shirt.

Startup Design Space. You can find my Fierce shirt design on Design Space. Note that the design is for a Medium Youth shirt. You will need to make it bigger or smaller depending on the size of the shirt you are making. Clothing should be laundered before you use it in a project.

Make sure your Design Space is set to “Joy”. Click “Make it” on my project. It will open up the cut screen for you.

Double check that the information on the left hand side matches the supplies you are using. If it does, click Continue.

Choose the material you are using. I am using Smart Iron-On (yay no cutting mat needed!). Once you’ve chosen, click Go. Your Joy will remind you that for Iron-On, you need to have your design mirrored and that the material should be shiny side down. Make sure you do (I didn’t)! Then press Go.

Next, weed out all the extra iron-on.

Once you are done, head over to the Heat Transfer Guide find out the temperature suggestions for the materials you are using. Preheat your Cricut Easy Press or iron, line up your design and follow the instructions.

Once the backing was cool to the touch, I peeled it off and my shirt was done. It’s already made my friend’s day as I could drop it off at her house on my daily walk. What an easy way to spread a little cheer!

Elephant Card

Cards are an easy and fun way to brighten someone’s day. The Cricut Joy makes card making even easier with Cricut Blank Insert Cards. Using the Cricut Card Mat, you can make cards in minutes. You insert the card behind part of the mat so that only the top gets cut. Then you tuck a high contrast card behind the cuts. In seconds you have an intricate and pretty card to send to whomever you like. There are hundreds of designs to choose from on Design Space. I decided to go for an everyday card instead of a specific holiday. This happy little elephant confetti card spoke to me so I went the easy route and clicked “Make it”.

I made sure the information on the left was correct and hit continue.

I chose the Insert Card Cardstock option. Next, I inserted the card blank into my Cricut Card Mat. You slip the back of the card under the plastic. You have to make sure that your card is all the way to the top of the mat or your cuts may cut through the top of the card.

Close the card and make sure the front is firmly stuck to the cutting mat. Load into your Cricut Joy and press Go.

Once your card is out, carefully peel it off the mat and remove any pieces of paper that may be stuck inside the cuts.

Next, gently insert the contrasting color insert into the corner cuts in the back side of the front of the card. Then you are done! Sign your card and send it on its way!

I hope you see how fun and easy these little projects can be. It took me WAY longer to write the post and make the pictures of them than it took for me to make the projects!

Overall, I love my little Cricut Joy and it has taken over my kitchen table because I can’t quite commit to putting it away yet. There are too many projects I want to make. Stay tuned on Instagram to see what other fun projects I make. Also, check out my post projects using the Explore Air 2: Pug Life Shirt and Hydrate Water Bottle Tutorial.