Friday, March 24, 2017

Creating Home Decor with Cricut

Today I am sharing with you how you too can make some fabulous items to decorate your home, with the help of the Cricut Explore Air™ 2  If I can learn to use all of the machine's capabilities, trust me, so can you!


The next DIY is an entirely original piece that I designed in the Cricut Design Space™, and Cricut Craft Room. I used some inexpensive supplies in addition to the Cricut Explore Air 2. Cricut     Glitter Vinyl,  and Cricut Transfer Tape. This glass plaque is a kitchen cutting board from a Dollar Store!  The sparkling gem border is also from the Dollar Store!


 I first went into Cricut Design Space™ to design my project playing around with fonts, some images, and spacing.  Because, I am cheap, I chose to See all the Free Projects in Cricut Design Space. I used the design I created in Design Space, and the library I still have in the Cricut Design Room .


 Are you confused yet?  You see, The New Design space is easier to use, and allows for more complex manipulations of your design.  In my case, once I had played around until I came up with the desired, and realized that the chosen font was not free (See all the Free Projects in Cricut Design Space ) I thought I might try again to find one I could get for free.  I tried replicating my Design in the Cricut Craft Room using a font that I liked, and already included in my library. ( I have been with Cricut for a long time, and I have an extensive library of images and text)


I chose to use some Glitter Vinyl.  It was my first time cutting into that material, and I was a bit nervous!  But rest assured it is just the same as any other material, except that it is so shiny!  The Glitter Vinyl from Cricut is of high quality, no glitter comes off, and the blade of the Cricut Explore Air™ 2 machine cuts through it like butter.


Once the words made, I lay a piece of transfer tape over the Glitter Vinyl and burnished it with the handy Cricut Scraper tool.  Using the Cricut Transfer Tape makes aligning the letters so much easier onto the project.


Before applying the words to the glass cutting board, I chose to remove the four little clear rubber-like feet that were on the underside.  With some rubbing alcohol, I was able to remove the small bit of sticky goo that remained.


 I also chose to clean the entire glass with some rubbing alcohol.  I like to do so to ensure that there will be proper adhesion of the vinyl to the glass.


With the Cricut Transfer Tape, and the help of the Cricut Weeders Tool I got the cut words and all the beautiful letters safely off the cutting mat.


 I then lay the letters over the glass board, and applied some pressure with the Cricut scraper tool  over the Transfer Tape.  I removed the transfer paper carefully.


To make sure I aligned everything correctly, I had placed the glass cutting board onto a rotary cutting mat with a grid; this allowed me to make sure everything lined up just right.


As a final step, I chose to add some sparkling gem border I had been hoarding for some time.


To apply the already sticky backed border precisely onto the plaque I re-used the Transfer Tape to lift the flower border off the packaging and apply it to the glass board.


 This piece is intended for my Master Bathroom which is undergoing a remodel.  The bling on the plaque will match with some of the other accessories in the new room.

Thank you for viewing my latest project.  Come back soon to see how I learned to take digital images from the internet (Free and Legal) and turn them into vintage ephemera embellishments to use in my
Mixed Media and Art Journaling, all with the help of Cricut!

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