In this post: A project tutorial; how I made a Holiday Ornament Fabric Garland with my Cricut and the FIVE things I love MOST about the Cricut Explore Air 2!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.
Have you been contemplating about getting a Cricut Machine? If so, here are 5 things I love about my Cricut Explore Air 2 and a detailed tutorial on how I made this ornament fabric DIY garland for the holidays.
NOTE: The tutorial details for the project will be in BOLD type.
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Supplies Needed DIY Holiday Garland Project:
- Cricut Explore Air™ 2 machine
- Cricut Access Membership
- FabricGrip Mat
- StandardGrip Mat
- Heat N Bond Ultra
- Cricut Scissors
- Fabric in your chosen colors
- Bonded Fabric Blade
- Iron-On Foil and Holographic Vinyl in your chosen colors
- Cricut EasyPress 2 (or iron)
- EasyPress Mat (or ironing board if using iron)
1. It works quickly and quietly.
I have worked with other vinyl cutters in the past and I will say that my favorite thing when I first got my Cricut Explore Air™ 2 machine is how quiet it is and how quickly it works! There’s no high pitch sounds while cutting and the machine works very smoothly. On some projects, depending on the material, there is also a Fast Mode button that will speed it up even more. It cuts up to 2x faster than previous models.
For the holiday ornament fabric garland project, you’ll truly be able to cut out the shapes quite easily. Once you click on my project in Cricut Design Space HERE, you’ll be able to customize what you want and cut out each mat as needed from the materials you choose.
Be sure the design looks as you’d like, then cut out mat 1-5 separately following the on screen instructions in Design Space. Be sure to select the correct materials and switch out your blade between your silver fine point blade and your pink fabric blade and your mat depending on the material you’re cutting. The three red mats were cut from bonded cotton fabric and the gold, green and silver mats were cut from various colors of iron-on vinyl.
It’s also easy to create with because you can connect your laptop or phone via bluetooth and cut out any of the images within Design space or even create your own designs! From custom graphic t-shirts and paper cards to home decor items, the options to make your creative ideas a reality are endless!
2. Easy to switch out types of tools.
Speaking of switching out blades, it is so easy to switch out any tool. As you’re preparing the cut, your design space will remind you what tool you need and where to install it.
As you can see below, you simply pull back on the tabs with A and B on them and place the tool inside, then close the tab. I love how easy it is to switch out the Cricut tools.
The various tools available are so useful, from writing to scoring and cutting. See all the tools HERE.
For the holiday garland project you will want to use a bonded fabric blade. These are pink which helps you to be sure you’re only using it on fabric so it stays sharp and isn’t dulled by other materials.
3. It can cut many different materials.
The Cricut Explore Air 2 is capable of cutting over 100 materials. Everything from cardstock, vinyl, and iron-on to a range of specialty materials like chipboard, cork and bonded fabrics.
I have cut so many different types of materials with my Cricut Explore Air 2 which really means I can make a huge variety of craft projects with nearly exact precision. Here are a few examples:
Back to the project…
For this project I cut out shapes in bonded fabric and iron-on vinyl.
To cut fabric you will need to put some sort of bonding on the backside. I used Heat N Bond Ultra. Use an iron or EasyPress 2 to heat it for a few seconds all around so it adheres to the entire piece of fabric.
Turn your knob selection to bonded fabric (on the bottom of the knob). Place your fabric bonded side down and fabric side up on the fabric mat.
When design is ready, press the Cricut button the machine to start cutting.
**Once cut, leave the bonding paper on the back of each ornament! You’ll be ironing-on vinyl to these ornaments so you don’t want to remove the backing paper because it will bond to whatever is underneath when it is reheated.
4. It has convenient compartments for storing tools.
You can store your bonded fabric blade, pens, scoring tool, scissors and various other tools within these compartments. I find this so handy!
5. It makes my crafting ideas easy to create with precision.
I’ve truly been able to think up any cutting, writing or vinyl project and make what I imagined using my Cricut Explore Air 2.
If you want to see more of my Cricut projects – click HERE.
To finish this project, cut out the vinyl shapes from different colors of foil or holographic vinyl (or other types if you prefer.) BE SURE TO MIRROR THESE SHAPES IN DESIGN SPACE! And don’t forget to switch your blade back to your fine point blade.
Weed those designs and place onto the fabric ornaments.
Finally, use the Cricut EasyPress 2 or an iron to apply the iron-on foil and holographic vinyl to each ornament shaped fabric cut-out.
And now the project is done! I added it to a torn fabric garland that I already had made and am so happy with how it turned out. It’s festive but a bit more muted and neutral than typical holiday colors to better fit my decor.
See why I love this machine? The Cricut Explore Air 2 is so versatile and I really love a lot about it. I hope you learned something from these 5 things I love most about my Cricut Explore Air 2 and had fun following along with this project. If you make one, I’d love to hear about or see it!
What do you think? Let me know in the comments and feel free to ask questions.
If you love this project, please share via Pinterest!
Thanks for reading! Have an amazing day and get out there and create something!
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