TaylorMade

DIY, Home Decor & Sewing

10 Things you didn’t know about Cricut Design Space

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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.

One of the most common things I hear from people when they get a new Cricut Machine (besides “I haven’t taken it out of the box” haha :) is that they are scared of the Cricut Design Space software and that they won’t know how to use it. Well I hear ya, but that couldn’t be further from the truth! And I’m going to dive in and show you 10 things you didn’t know about Cricut Design Space….

1.Cricut Design Space is extremely user friendly! I am here to tell you guys… if you just turn it on and open Design Space you will be shocked at how easy it is! I used a Silhouette machine for years and the software has quite the learning curve, I was still learning the features years into owning that machine. I honestly felt very comfortable with Cricut Design Space within an hour or so. When you open Design Space, you will see tons of ready made projects, ideas and tutorials but don’t get overwhelmed (we will come back to that) but for now just press that plus sign on the left where it says “New Project”. This will be your blank canvas for all of your creating!

2. Cricut Design Space is a web based software! That means instead of having to download software that lives on your computer it looks just like any website you visit. The great news about this is that you can access it anywhere at anytime when you are online and you can switch between computers and devices. This also means they have an app for your phone or tablet and let me tell you I LOVE the app! I can create something while I’m waiting in car rider line then pickup right where I left off when I get back home. If you have the Cricut Maker you can connect from any device (like your phone or tablet) because the machine is bluetooth.

3. The Template Feature! This feature is so cool and I use it all the time! It is at the top left corner of Design Space. What does this feature do you ask? Well… Design Space has tons of “blank” items that they have measured for you so you can insert a template for lets say, a t-shirt or a hat onto your canvas and it takes most of the guess work out of measuring. These templates won’t be cut or printed but just are an invisible layer for you to place your project on to play with the spacing etc. Here is an example of their Tote Bag Template, super helpful!

4. Ready Made Projects!! This is something I had no idea even existed before I opened the software…. there are THOUSANDS of projects that are available in Cricut Design Space! Some are included with the Cricut subscription or you can pay as you go, but hundreds are free! The projects are so fail proof because they already have the files, patterns and tutorial loaded in the software so when you choose a project the whole thing pops up on your canvas with exact instructions, pictures and materials! You can also customize any of the projects. This project is for a mermaid tea towel but I think it would be so cute as a little girl’s tee so I could just adjust the dimensions and even the colors.

I used the Project Feature to make these DIY Scarf Tees a few weeks ago!

I also used the customize feature in projects for a balloon garland for my son’s Wild Animal Party. I found a project in Design Space that had the cut files for tropical leaves but one of the shapes didn’t work and I also didn’t need the stands to be cut for them so I just left those out.

5. The Image Feature! this is a feature in Design Space that is separate from the project feature. Where the project feature has multiple directions and steps and shows you from start to finish how to make a project… the Image feature is just that… tons and tons of images that you can add to any project! You can browse or use the search box which I love! The first photo below is what comes up when you click on the Image Tab and it is updated daily. The second photo shows what came up when I searched for “Unicorns”. You can find the search tab (along with sorted categories) in the top right hand corner.

When I was working on my son’s Wild Animal Party I used the search feature for finding a cut file for the shirt I made him.

6. Tons and tons of Fonts and Text! I like to consider myself a font snob but I was happily surprised when I found that Cricut Design Space has some great fonts! My friends at Pretty Providence actually just did a post about their favorite Cricut Fonts and how to group them for projects and it’s a great read! Below are a few of my go to fonts but like I said they have hundreds. Not only do they have cut fonts but also print fonts too which would be super fun for using the print and cut feature or using colorful pens and drawing straight on your scrapbook pages!

I also recently started playing around with the Text Curve feature! The feature is located in the top toolbar and this is also where to can play with the letter and line spacing.

Fonts are not only used for vinyl or paper, I love to use my rotary blade to cut fabric letters and sew them on to a project! I made this Custom Pillowcase Project using the font feature!

7. Make things super custom with the Upload Feature! This is also something I have been using a ton… this is where you can upload photos or SVG files you have created, bought or found outside of Cricut and import them into your design. The Design Space software is actually really great if you find an image you love, you import it and it helps turn it into a nice clean cut file. I like to use this feature for mixing Cricut fonts with hand lettering too!

8. Group your mats by color! This feature is SO cool… you can create a design or use one from Design Space and instead of having to split your design apart manually, it does it for you by color! Take this rainbow that I found under “images” for example… it knows the size of each color band and groups each color together and will guide you during the cutting process and tell you which color to insert into the machine next! Something else that just about blew my mind is called “color sync” and is located on the top right hand corner of Design Space. Let’s say you have a complex design with lots of colors but you only have 5 vinyl colors. You can group the different color segments together creating only 5 colors for your vinyl. Super smart!

9. Contour feature! This is also something I use a lot especially with the “images” tab and the “upload tab”. This feature allows you to hide or take away any portion of a design. All you have to do is make sure your design is ungrouped and then at the bottom right hand corner of Design Space choose “contour”. For example if I love this mermaid image but didn’t want the trident and starfish I can use this feature by choosing which motifs to make disappear.

10. Saving Projects Publicly! I love that you can save projects publicly so you can share them with your friends or on your blog. This feature is amazing because not only can you share them with others, but you can also browse the Cricut community for projects that others have shared! This is some wall art that I made for a bathroom stall at my son’s school and I shared it to Design Space!

Please let me know if you have any questions at all about Cricut Design Space! I think it’s super user friendly and the key is just diving right in… you can’t go wrong!

Wild Animal Party

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My boys are at the stage where a party at home just isn’t as cool as it used to be, they love party places like the trampoline park or an indoor playground. There are definitely some good things about that, like leaving the mess for someone else am I right? But the party planner in me cringes at the thought of it because how will I have fun decor haha?! Thankfully, 8 and 9 year old boys don’t care about party decorations but I still really love a theme and I really enjoy decorating. So, when my son told me he wanted a Wild Animal Party at a play space I thought… challenge accepted!

Thankfully the place we booked did have private rooms, but I kid you not the employee on the phone told me I would have under five minutes to decorate! I mean… I am speedy but not that speedy. I decided I would just keep it suuuuper simple and have everything done ahead of time. If you follow me on IG (@taylormadecreates) then you know that includes my husband helping me carry a balloon garland into the building haha!

Speaking of balloon garlands, I get a ton of questions about them general. Apparently I can’t have an event without it involving balloons haha, so I am going to work on a FAQ balloon post that will be coming soon. But, this one was super simple! I ordered a pack of mixed animal print balloons from amazon and a pack of dark green and lime green balloons. I used balloon tape and my trusty balloon pump and just popped the balloons into the balloon tape. Then I used my

My son loves wild animals so last year I grabbed these animal cutouts at the target dollar section although I didn’t have a plan for them at the time. I haven’t seen them recently but I did find something super similar at Oriental Trading Co online. I used double sided tape and just taped them to the wall… remember I had 5 minutes :) I also used a disposable table cloth under a runner we already for the table.

I knew I wouldn’t be able to bring in a ton of decor, so I went ahead and got animal print gift bags… party utility part decor! I honestly never really use gift bags, I usually love to do something homemade for party favors, but my son really wanted gift bags… birthday boys can be so demanding ;) I used my Cricut to cut the boy’s names out on the bags.

Speaking of birthday boys and their requests, my son really wanted a “wildcat” shirt. So I… you guessed it… used my Cricut to make him a birthday shirt. I found a cougar silhouette online and used metallic silver heat transfer vinyl on a yellow shirt. When we got to the party space and they told me we were assigned to the “yellow room” and I felt like the design gods were really helping me out haha. Unrelated… I bought this yellow shirt in a pack on Amazon and my boys have loved all of these shirts!

Last but certainly not least is this amazing cake. My mom is a very talented baker and I am definitely not, so early on I started asking my mom to make my kids cakes and now it is a big tradition at our house! My kids turn their orders in weeks in advance and she has even been known to “practice” to perfect her designs! This year we told her the theme and she came up with quite the masterpiece! Can you even handle the cheetah icing?!

She made a triple layered zebra chocolate and vanilla cake with salted caramel buttercream cheetah icing! It really stole the show.

Overall, it was a great party. I survived the five minute party prep, and somehow managed to include a balloon garland and gift bags haha! I know our boy had a great time and that is really all that matters ;)

Sources:

Custom Pillowcase Tutorial

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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.

A few weeks ago my sister asked me to make my niece a custom nap mat that needed to be the size of a pillowcase. I knew just what to do! I used to make these Custom Pillowcases by hand (!) but with my new obsession over my Cricut Maker and the rotary blade attachment I whipped this one up in under an hour! This would make a great gift for a kid birthday or a new mom to be… I also think adults would love one too. I mean, who doesn’t love something with their name on it?!

Here’s what you need:

Choose some fabric scraps or pieces for the letters in the name and then you will want to decide on how tall the letters will be. I made my letters about 5.5″ tall so I just made sure all of my scraps were around 6″ x 6″.

Next, we need to iron the scraps. This is one thing that I love about the Easypress 2, it is a little larger/more square than an iron but just as easy and actually much quicker! You can read my honest review about the Cricut Easypress 2 HERE.

Then press a piece of fusible interfacing to the back of the fabric scraps. I like Wonder Under by Pellon. Be sure that the interfacing is a tad smaller than the fabric so interfacing doesn’t adhere to your EasyPress Mat. You will press it on for about 30 seconds and once it is cool, peel the back side of the interfacing off. You will know you did it right if the back now looks shiny.

Now here comes the fun part! We are going to cut the letters out using the Cricut Maker and the Rotary Blade attachment. I love using the Snap Mat Feature in the Cricut Design Space for this… if you haven’t used this feature yet you HAVE to try it, its pretty life changing!

Start out by placing as many fabric scraps (right sides up) as you can on your Fabric Cutting Mat and leave just a little room around the scraps.

When you open the app on your phone you can start by writing out the letters you are going to use for your pillowcase. My niece is named Collin so I plugged those letters in individually. Add each letter one at a time so you can move them freely in the next step.

Place your fabric mat with the scraps on it, on a flat surface. When you have the letters written out in your canvas choose “make it” in the bottom right hand corner and on that next screen that is when you will see the option for “Snap Mat”. Choose the Snap Mat and you will see a square that is shaped like your mat and your camera will open. Line your Cricut cutting mat up with the mat guidelines. The app will pick up the image and that will become your new background on your working canvas.

What is so cool about this is now you can place your letters EXACTLY where you want to on the fabric… you can line a pattern up perfectly or do fussy cut letters or quilt blocks, the options are endless! I was using pretty large letters so I had to split my fabric and letters into two groups. See how I was able to get a little part of everything on the blue floral fabric by moving the “C” around?! So cool!

Load your fabric into your Cricut Maker. Use the Rotary Blade and cut your letters out. Look at those sharp lines!!! Seriously so satisfying every time haha!

Find the center of your pillowcase and place your letters where you would like them. A trick I learned to mark the center of the pillowcase easily is to fold it in half then in half again and press that corner for a few seconds and it leaves a perfect little centered crease.

Once the letters are in place it is time to press them on to the pillowcase. The interfacing is already adhered to the back of our letters and the back of the interfacing is already pulled off (remember we did that before cutting the letters on the Cricut Machine). It’s always a good idea to preheat the surface a little before pressing anything on to it. I used the Jumbo EasyPress 2 for this part.

After pressing, your letters should be very secure at this point but after a few washes they would come right off so we are going to sew around the edge of each letter.

Sew 1/4″ around the edge of each letter, don’t worry about it being perfect!

And in under an hour we have an amazing Custom Pillowcase/nap mat cover that is totally machine washable!

DIY Scarf Tees with the Cricut EasyPress 2

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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.

I have been wanting to jump on the neck scarf trend forever but honestly I just don’t know that I’m a neck scarf girl. When I saw this project for Scarf Tees in the Cricut Design Space I pushed it right to the top of my to-make list!


I have been DIYing custom shirts forever with an iron, which is doable but not very effective so, last year I purchased a heatpress machine. I have really liked it but I will say it is very bulky and in a small craft space might not work. When Cricut came out with the Cricut EasyPress 2 I was super curious and last month I finally got my hands on not 1 but 2 of them!

My first question was what does the EasyPress do that my heatpress machine or iron can’t? After playing with them for a few weeks now, my best way to describe it is that they combined the best features of each a heatpress and an iron and packaged it in one machine! The EasyPress has the heat capabilities and speed of a heatpress but the convenience of an iron.

The EasyPress has an edge to edge heat plate that will get up to 400 degrees with totally even heating. This is the problem with making custom tees with an iron… the heat source is usually in the middle of the iron so you are not getting a consistent temperature and you end up with peeling vinyl. I had a learning curve with my heatpress and it is also pretty big. I have to store it on the floor in my craft room and it takes up a lot of real estate. If you don’t have a big workspace the EasyPress would be perfect for you because I can actually store it right on my shelf. It is also portable, which would be so fun for showers or girls nights where there is crafting involved!

Cricut has an interactive online guide HERE that takes all of the guesswork out of it. On the guide, you enter the of type of material you are working with and what medium it is going on and it tells you the temperature and time needed. Then you set your machine and the cute little bug light will turn green when it is ready. I also love that after 10 minutes of idle time it will start to beep and then it will turn off for safety! If you are still working when you hear the beep you can just press any button and it stays on.

The EasyPress comes in 3 different sizes which is convenient for different types of projects. I have the petite and the jumbo (this is the jumbo pictured above). The jumbo is 12″x10″ and I love it! I have made shirts, pillows, bags etc. with this one. There is a mid-size that is 9″x9″ and the petite is 6″x7″. The petite one os perfect for, you guessed it… small projects; fabric scraps, onesies, hats, shoes, small quilt pieces etc.

Speaking of projects… lets gets started on the cute DIY Scarf Tees…

You will need:

The two shirt files that I used are part of a shirt collection from House that Lars Built. There are quite a few more so be sure to browse around! You can find the ones I used HERE and HERE.

Once you open your file in the Cricut Design Space software, you can customize it. You can change colors, size, layout etc. I was making one of these for my daughter so I made her design a little smaller.

I always cut my vinyl beforehand to make sure I don’t waste any vinyl. When you choose “make it” on the software it will show you exactly where the design is on the cutting mat and you can move it around and that is how you will know what size to cut your vinyl and you where to place it.

With heatpress or iron-on vinyl there is a shiny side and a matte side. The shiny side is the “top” and that will be the side with the carrier sheet to help you later when you press it with the EasyPress. You always cut heatpress vinyl with the shiny side down to protect that carrier sheet and keep it intact. After you cut your vinyl to the correct size, place it shiny side down on your cutting mat. Now we are ready to cut our design! Remember we placed the “top” or the shiny side down so we want to make sure to mirror our image.

After your design is cut you will weed it. This means removing all of the negative parts of the design. You will do these same steps with each design.

Don’t let a design with multiple colors scare you! You take the same steps, just cut each color one by one and weed each layer.

Then you place the design with the carrier sheet (sticky side down!) on your shirt right where you want the design to live forever :)

Now it’s time to press the design with the EasyPress! I looked up the settings on the EasyPress Guide for the vinyl I was using and for this specific shirt so I set my settings to 315 degrees for 30 seconds based on their recommendation. It also told me to preheat my shirt for 5 seconds before pressing the design on.

For a design with multiple colors, you do the exact same thing… just start with the bottom color and work your way up. I started with the blush vinyl, then did the blue then lastly, the red.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE how these turned out! Bee and I love coordinating outfits and I am so excited to wear these!

Overall I’m super impressed with the Cricut EasyPress 2, I can tell that I will be using it a ton in the near future! Please let me know if you have any other questions about this machine that I didn’t answer! Happy Crafting!

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