Happy Holidays everyone! Christmas is fast approaching which reminded me that there are going to be sales on the Cricut machines and their accessories. I’m here to give you the skinny on exactly what products you should buy and others that are a waste of money in my opinion.
This post contains affiliate links. That means if you make a purchase from a link Sincerely Saturday makes a small commission at no additional cost to you.
Let me first introduce myself if this is your first visit to my blog. My name is Melissa and I am an avid DIY’er and crafter.
I opened my first Etsy shop in 2020 after wanting to do so for years. That first year I sold over 2000 decals using my Cricut air 2. Looking at the sales you would never know I’ve sold so many but I’ve had several wholesale orders for schools and a cotton candy company that consisted of 1500 decals alone.
Over the last two years of running my Etsy shops, I have had the unfortunate opportunity to figure out what products work and products that simply suck!
Name brand is NOT always the way to go and I couldn’t be more excited to share my finds with you to not only save you money but more importantly save you time.
Not all cutting mats are created equal!
Cutting mats are one of the three foundational items every Cricut owner needs to be successful along with good cutting blades and vinyl.
I have tested 9 different brands ranging from Cricut brand to many off-brand mats and without hesitation, the Nicapa brand that can be found on Amazon is the best.
Cutting mats are not meant to last forever but I found that this brand has a longer life than most. I recommend purchasing an assortment pack and at least one 24-inch mat. I tend to use the light grip mat for most projects as these mats are sticker than the Cricut brand mats.
A sharp blade will keep you sane.
I can not tell you the “brick through window” frustration of a dull blade on my Cricut. You will know when to change your blade as you play around with different materials. This pack of blades is worth every penny! I would recommend at least having 10 spare blades at the ready to keep your projects flowing.
Along the lines of having a sharp blade is having excellent weeding tools. Weeding is the term for removing unwanted vinyl from your project. There are a vast number of weeding tools to purchase. I am a retired dental assistant so my go-to weeding tool is a good old explorer like we use in the dental field. Some people like the Pin Pen but I found it to be cumbersome and awkward to use.
Stab-n-Grab Tweezers from 143vinyl.com
A perfect pokey tweezer is also ideal. I LOVE this Stab-n-Grab from 143 vinyl. It has a good hand feel and is weighted appropriately. The tips of all of your weeding tools are super important. If you go cheap on these tools you will find that they tear and scratch your projects because the tips are soft and bend. The tip on these tweezers is tried and true!
Having a proper squeegee is important for the proper adhesion of your cutting material to the mat, placing transfer tape on your vinyl, and burnishing your vinyl onto its final resting place. You will use this tool almost more than any other so having a good one is important.
Sticking it to you.
I know there is a HUGE fan base for certain types of vinyl, and I’m not here for it. I have tried over 20 brands of permanent vinyl and find that there are a few superior types of vinyl but one, in particular, is my only go-to brand. Let me be clear that I exclusively use this brand of vinyl for 99% of everything I sell.
The name is StarCraft and it is best purchased through 143vinyl.com. It is available in 52 colors and all colors can be purchased in both matte or glossy finishes.
A few reasons I love StarCraft are they come in both matte and glossy, the adhesion is amazing, they cut and weed like butter, and they are one color both front and back. This means you have more flexibility in designs that may be seen on the adhesive side. It also helps that it is 100% American-made (in Kentucky) so there is no supply chain or consistency problem.
For vinyl that is translucent or metallic, I tend to stick with StyleTech. There is a huge following of Techwrap on Instagram and Tictok but I find it unappealing thick and hard to work with generally speaking.
To Cricut or not to Cricut…that is the question?
You may be pondering what machine to get. These machines are not all created equal but if you are just trying to craft at home you really don’t need all of the fancy top-of-the-line machines.
A Cricut Explorer 2 or 3 works really well cutting all sorts of substrates and is well-priced to boot. If you are able to swing purchasing a Cricut maker then you open up cutting things like thin wood and engraving. I personally think that an Air model is perfect for a new user.
I get asked all the time if it’s easy to use and if I think people should buy it. The answer is yes and no. Yes if you have a little design experience with software like photoshop, illustrator, Picmonkey, or Canva. All of these are great ways to manipulate designs and figure out layouts.
The user interface takes a few days to get used to. Once you get the lingo down you will be creating masterpieces of all your own.
Who doesn’t like accessories?
There are so many unnecessary accessories marketed to Cricut owners. Yes, I’ve bought some and thought about how I fell for some marketing ploy, and then there are others that I really like. None of them are made by Cricut. That is because there are similar products that work really well and are so much cheaper.
Some people like to have a light source from under their vinyl to make weeding intricate designs a litter easier. I bought one that works like a charm and is well-priced.
Another accessory you may like if you are planning on card or box making is a scoring tool. I bought the one pictured and it fits like a glove in the Cricut.
If you are a card maker or need to address some envelopes making a small investment in a pen holder adapter makes it easy to use all sorts of pens you already own.
A heat press is fun but not necessary when you first start using your Cricut. I found that the small press from Cricut worked well for my projects at the beginning. Please do not spend your money on a huge expensive heat press from a brand name! There are so many good alternatives to choose from.
I FREAKING LOVE THESE!! I decided to purchase them after my scissors fell to the floor for the thousandth time. I love having my pens and scissors with my Cricut for fast cutting and my pens to write thank you notes but they are all too big to store inside the little storage compartment in the Cricut. I did a little research and found these on Amazon. They are SUPER sticky and hold my scissors, pens, and weeding tools perfectly.
Last but not least, transfer tape.
People are loyal to their transfer tape. I am super guilty of this. When choosing transfer tape I have to make sure that my decals will release from the transfer tape easily and cleanly for my customers. I. HAVE. TRIED. THEM. ALL!!!
I will offer my years of trial and error so you can have success the first time.
For regular permanent vinyl, this transfer tape from TapeManBlue is an all-around great tape. It is not too sticky and offers great transferability for my decals.
If you are planning on using thick vinyl or glitter vinyl this transfer tape by YRYM HT. This transfer tape is stiff and is my go-to for glitter vinyl or when I’m layering vinyl on one piece of transfer tape for a customer.
I also enjoy using the clear transfer tape by StyleTech but the tape from TapeManBlue is my favorite. Whatever you do stay clear of shelf liners from the dollar store or target. Yes, it’s cheap but it leaves a gooey residue on your vinyl and is hard to transfer.
Know you know everything!
Leave a Reply