My Intro to Cricut Maker – An Honest Review

I would like to share my honest review of the Cricut Maker. This was my intro to Cricut Maker. First a few disclaimers.

This post and photos may contain Amazon or other affiliate links. If you purchase something through any link, I may receive a small commission at no extra charge to you. Any supplies used may be given to me free of charge, however, all projects and opinions are my own. #ad

I have finally entered into the wonderful world of using a Cricut Maker. I have been intrigued by Cricut products for a very long time. Using the Cricut Maker really is like magic. I can see that this will open up a whole new world of creating possibilities. Let me share my own experience with you.

I was fortunate enough to have my friends @OfficialCricut provide me with the latest Cricut Maker in a beautiful champagne shade along with enough supplies to create several items. I must admit that I was intimidated by the thought of using such a powerful tool as the Cricut Maker. Even unboxing it seemed daunting.

Anytime we look at the possibility of a learning curve I hesistate, especially if it involves a new technology. I didn’t need to be intimidated as it turns out that there are tons of user-friendly, how-to videos provided on The Official Cricut Facebook Group page. Everything from how to unbox your Cricut Maker to how to set-up up and pair with your computer. (Or other device). Following the instructions I was up and running in no time at all.

I have been curious about this marvelous machine and I wanted to make sure it lived up to its reputation. Anytime an investment is required of me, either money, time, and learning curve I want to make sure it is worth the price.

Let me tell you something, this is totally worth it. I have already made up a long list of projects I want to make using this Circut Maker and I also want to share those projects with you thru my YouTube videos and blog here.

I am in LOVE with this machine. Yes, I can recommend it without hesitation or reservations.

Since you all know that I absolutely love knitting and crocheting I thought that adding a fun saying on a t-shirt would be my first project. I found a couple of practice shirts (old shirts from my husband) and made my first attempt using HTV (Heat Transfer Vinyl).

I want to share my experience with you. After making 2 practice shirts I went to Hobby Lobby to purchase a nice color t-shirt to make my final product. I made the design large but you can adjust the size in Circuit design space.

Photo of my vinyl ready to be put onto my shirt. -  Just One More Row with Yarn Ball
My prepared heat transfer vinyl is ready to be applied to my shirt. This was just my third attempt at creating a design in Design Space and weeding and preparing it for my shirt.

Loading the materials into the Cricut Maker was super easy. The machine will even blink with instructions when it’s ready to load the page. The double arrow will flash. I made sure that I attached my vinyl (shiny side down) onto my green mat. The green mat is for use Standard Grip and it worked well for my vinyl project.

Loading vinyl into Cricut Maker
Loading the vinyl onto my Cricut Maker. I decided to use this beautiful blue for my finished shirt.

I had left over vinyl and I used the Cricut Portable Trimmer to save what I had and be able to use it. Wasting any materials is unnecessary. Tthis little trimmer gave a nice clean cut. I used this color for my first t-shirt and now I’ll have more vinyl for other projects.

Photo of trimmed vinyl, being loaded into Cricut Maker to cut out additional images.
By using the Cricut Portable Trimmer I am able to easily use any remaining vinyl for other projects.

You can find all products I used here at Cricut.com

You can find the model of Cricut Maker that I am reviewing here:

Circut Maker

Cricut Access ( for exclusive fonts, images, licensed images)

If you are more of a visual learner I have included some photos and also a free YouTube Video tutorial. The link to the YouTube video tutorial appears on the last page of this post.

  1. Following the instructions found on the “Cricut – The official page” facebook group I was easily able to learn how to unpack and set-up my Circut Maker. The video even taught me how to pair with my pc and download the Design space program onto my computer. Your box also contains labeled instructions to guide you in the set-up of your Cricut Maker.
  2. I opened up my Design space program and was able to look at all of the templates and so, so, many images and font choices. There are tons of choices. I chose to use a font and a design that is available thru the Cricut Access option.
The Cricut Design Space interface is so user friendly. You can browse tons of templates, fonts, project ideas and images. Use an existing project or create your own design. It’s fast and easy.
  • Follow the instructions for your project. Design space makes it fast and easy. The instructions tell you exactly what to push and when on your machine. I chose to use a t-shirt template… then went and selected a font I liked and typed in my text. Design space even allows you to change the direction of your images, text.. (even rounded it into a curve to follow the yarn ball design). Then I selected my image.. a beautiful yarn of ball.. and adjusted the sizes to meet my needs.

It’s as easy as

  • Select your templates or make up your own design
  • Select your text font. There are lots of fonts available
  • Select your images.
  • When you design is just how you want it, then click on the Make It! button.

Next I follow the prompts.. beginning with Make it! Cricket Design space guides you each step of the way. (You will need to make sure your Cricut Maker is turned on so your Design Space can find it. ) Each time a step is needed your are prompted which button to push on your Cricket Maker. You can even see the progress of your cutting on the screen of your computer or other paired device.

I even learned some new skills such as weeding. Weeding is when you use a special tool (weeding tool) to remove the unwanted vinyl. This ensures you have a nice clean, crisp image.

Weeding vinyl for heat transfer using the Cricut Maker and Easy Press
Here I am weeding my blue vinyl. I carefully removed the unwanted vinyl from my yarn ball design. The result was a clean, crisp yarn ball.

I’m sharing made my design on Cricut Design Space so that you can enjoy it as well. I named “Just One More Row” Feel free to use this design for personal use. Do not sell it or claim it as your own.

Using the Circuit Maker turned out to be a lot easier than I thought. Even if you’re not the best with learning new Technology but Cricut made it easy and fun to do. Now my only regret is not trying it sooner. Just think of all of the fun projected I missed out on.

Don’t forget I have uploaded a free YouTube video tutorial for your convenience. Here is the link: Cricket Maker YouTube Video review

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