This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.
I’m so excited to finally share the newest addition to my craftroom… the Cricut Maker! If you follow me on Instagram (@taylormadecreates) then you know how excited I was when the Cricut shipment showed up at my door a few weeks ago! I have been playing around with this machine for about three weeks so I could give an honest Cricut Maker review and have all of the answers to all of the questions ;)
What is the Cricut Maker? It’s a personal cutting machine that can cut a variety of materials such as paper, vinyl, iron on, fabric, leather, felt, chipboard, thin metal etc. Cricut is the brand and the Maker is the model that I received. I have had my eye on the Maker for a while now… literally since they released it haha! In my very early crafting days I had a Cricut but their first model was based on cartridges, so you had to buy a separate cartridge for every font and theme and it only cut paper. A few years later I switched to the other brand, Silhouette and I had that Silhouette machine for years. There was nothing wrong with it, I loved it and used it a lot. BUT… then Cricut came out with their new model, “The Maker” and it cut fabric in a way that would change lives haha! I knew I had to get my hands on one.
The Maker can cut fabric in a way that no other machine can! My other machine could cut fabric but only if you lined the fabric with interfacing. This is because the other machine has one type of blade for all materials so it uses a sharp knife type blade and if you try to cut fabric it will shred. The Maker uses an actual rotary blade that looks like a mini rotary cutter so it is super precise. To be honest I never really cut a lot of fabric with my old machine because it wasn’t a super clean cut even with the interfacing. The Maker can literally cut over a hundred different types of fabric! Felt, silk, jersey, denim, quilting cotton, rayon, tulle, velvet, lycra, canvas… you name it and it can cut it! Below is a screen shot of just a small list of the fabric options the machine pulls up. I couldn’t even sleep the night I got my machine because my head was so full of ideas haha! The only limit is the mat size… they carry a 12×12″ or a 12×24″ but it is perfect for small/medium sized projects like bags, children’s clothing, quilt blocks, zipper pouches, appliqué for clothing etc.
Another huge difference for me is that the Cricut Maker has an intuitive system that scans the material and the tool you are using to determine the settings and pressure needed. From start to finish this makes a single job so much easier. The software is also very easy to use, I felt super comfortable with it within a few days. Cricut software is web based so you do need to be online to use it, the Silhouette software is a downloadable software so it is more in depth. There are pros and cons to both, the Silhouette software is capable of a little more but that also makes it more complicated. I am pretty technically inclined so I like the ability to do a little more, for me this is literally the only “con” in a Cricut/Silhouette Comparison. As far as cutting, on my Silhouette machine, I would set the material, change the dial on the blade (which isn’t something you have to do on the Cricut) and then I would have to do a little trial and error. I would still end up with mistakes pretty often and have to redo things. I have used this machine almost daily for three weeks now and it seems to always know the correct setting. Another game changer that might seem silly but I am LOVING is the little side guide tabs that the Maker has. You can feed the mat right into them so there is no guesswork. The Silhouette machine only has rollers so you can’t always line it up perfectly.
The Cricut Maker has a new “Adaptive Tool System” which is what I think makes the Maker the most unique. It basically means they carry different types of blade tools for different types of projects. Older Cricut models and the Silhouette use a technology that moved the mat in and out and the blade goes side to side but with the new Adaptive Tool System the actual tool in the cartridge can stop and start and go up and down also. It also has 10x the force which is how it can cut balsa wood, mat board and leather. Cricut offers 6 different cutting tools that you can switch out (with more on the way) and 5 different mats that you can use for different materials.
Another huge “pro” for me is the fact that… wait for it… the Maker has bluetooth built into it so it can connect to your machine from across the room!!! SAY WHAT?! As you can see when I discovered this I was super excited. My old machine needed to be plugged in directly to my computer. I don’t have a lot of desk space next to my computer and cutting machines require a lot of room on both sides so the mat can move freely. So, I would usually have to push my computer out a little so the cord could reach and then I would always do all of my cutting on the floor. I have 3 kids and 3 dogs so you can imagine how clean my tile floors are haha! Now I just connect via Bluetooth (super simple to setup in your computers settings) and I can cut on my big center table! Guys…. I am living for this feature! You obviously do have to plug the power cord into an electrical outlet but it is super long and now I have so much freedom. Speaking of Bluetooth, and because the Software is web based the software is available in app format for your phone or tablet. This is also super cool because you can be on your phone and create a little project for example, in the car rider line :) Then when you get home you can connect to your Maker and cut away!
When I was playing around with the app (I downloaded it on both my iPad and my iPhone to see if there were any differences and there really aren’t) I found a really cool feature called “Snap Mat”. It allows you to apply your material to your mat (fabric, vinyl, paper etc…) then snap a picture of the mat within the app and it pulls the image of your material into the Cricut Design Space. The picture of your material now becomes the background of your project on the app. Then you can place a shape or text box and move it around right on top of the scrap material. This is the perfect way to use little pieces of paper or vinyl that aren’t a nice even, square size. It would also be great for creating fussy cut quilt blocks. It works with any material and is so satisfying!
I rarely used the Silhouette store but The Cricut Design store has really impressed me. They have a section called “projects” that include all designs, patterns and instructions to show you from start to finish how to complete a project and list all materials needed etc. Then there is a section called “images” with thousands of designs and pictures. There are also over 50 free projects to get you started and then you have the option to pay for the subscription too. I have added a ton of projects to the “my favorites” section of theDesign Store and even added a few to my immediate to do list haha! I always used my old machine for vinyl projects but I was shocked at how many sewing projects (with patterns) are available. This machine is truly a crafters and a sewists dream!
Overall I am SO impressed with the Cricut Maker! I have used it almost daily since receiving it and have some big plans coming in the near future! Can’t wait to see what else this machine can do :)
First post of 2019! I finally got around to organizing my shiplap photos to share our Shiplap Wall Tutorial! You all probably have a shiplap wall in your house at this point haha, but for those who don’t, This is for you :) This treatment is so pretty and looks so put together but it’s actually really easy!
This costume could be as intricate or as last minute as you want; you can’t do Frida wrong! Here is how I made mine: I used a few basics from 
These were my inspiration photos. I love the photo of Frida on the left and I really love the Frida Barbie’s outfit so that is what I based this costume on. I’d say Bee nailed it right?!
I started with the shirt and found a few pieces of trim at Joann and sewed the trim on the black tee. You could definitely use fabric glue or wonder under. I also got a little piece of gold rope for her bolo necklace.
I really liked the blue dress with the little white flowers on it so I cut some tiny white flowers out of heat transfer vinyl and pressed it on to the dress. Then I added a little trim to the bottom. Again, I sewed it on but fabric glue would work here as well!
Lastly, is my favorite part… the headpiece. I bought some fake flowers from the dollar store and hot glued them to a solid black headband. I did a “faux crown braid”, not really sure what it’s called, I think I just made that term up. Good thing I’m not a beauty blogger because I barely know what I’m talking about haha! I think I’ll stick to crafts and costumes :)
Don’t forget Frida’s signature thick brow. I used dark brown (almost black) eyeshadow and a q-tip to create the heavy eyebrow look. I also added a little pinky-orange lipstick which was Bee’s favorite part of this modeling session ha!
Special thanks from me and my little Frida Girl to Primary.com for the clothes! Let me know if you have an questions and Happy Halloween!
You guys… this animal might be my favorite room makeover yet! If you remember a few months ago (on 
We have a local vinyl store in the area so I went and got 2 sheets of every single color they carried which ended up being around 30 different colors, so 60ish 12×12″ sheets. Then, in my Silhouette software I created 6 different pages of animal silhouettes. I just google searched random animals and used the trace feature until the page was full. I did that until I had 6 pages of different types of animals in different sizes. I had the kids help me think of both common and obscure animals. Then, making sure we didn’t have two colors of the same animal sheet, I fed them all through and cut them out making approximately seven billion stickers… kidding. But there were A LOT! Fun Fact: because I only had 2 sheets of each color and made sure not to cut the same page in the same color… no two animals on the wall are alike!
When I started placing the animals on the wall I made sure to spread out the big animals so I started with those and filled in with little animals as I went. I also ended up cutting some of the vinyl stickers in half on the edges of the walls and door (both horizontally and vertically) to make it look more wallpaper-like. Once I finished the big animals that needed 2 hands the kids pitched in and helped. Who doesn’t want to spend a Friday night applying 800 stickers to a wall am I right haha?? But honestly it was very easy and I absolutely LOVE how it turned out… and I love that it was all under $30!
I knew the wall would be the bright focal point of the room so I didn’t want to go too crazy with the accessories, I tried to stay as neutral as I could :). I DIYed the “mexican pancho” pillows from an old costume we had lying around and I found the Otami pillow on amazon. I will link all sources at the bottom of this post.
I’m really in love with this bed too! It has a vintage feel but it’s brand new (from Walmart of all places). It was super affordable but it’s very sturdy and seems really well built… I highly recommend it!
This room has a funny layout because of where the bathroom door is on the wall so I was left with one more skinny area and a huge open wall. Besides animals my son’s other loves are legos and art. He is very creative so I thought a long skinny desk with a pegboard wall would be a great use of space.
My father in law cut, sanded and finished the wooden top piece of the desk for us. Then I just got two little end cabinets and the board is just siting on top of them. He also framed out the pegboard and painted it white for us. I got most of the pegboard accessories from Amazon and Ikea. The desk is a huge hit, in fact all three kids love it and they are often all in there coloring or drawing together! I should have bought 3 stools instead of 2 haha.
I needed something on the left of the pegboard wall so I drew my son’s favorite animals (inspired by some prints I had seen on instagram) on my iPad Pro, sent them to a local print shop and had them printed in poster size.
The last little area was all I had left for a small dresser so I was so happy to find one that fit the dimensions I needed! I’m telling you, this room design is weird. It had to be shallow enough to fit behind the closet door but short enough to fit under the window sill… tough job! I also left the Ikea book rails up from the playroom days because I still love them!
I found this rug at Target and although it’s a little grown up for a boy’s room I thought it went really well in here. One good thing is it camouflages stains well haha!
Of everything I spent time on in this room, these lights right here are my son’s favorite part of the room! We leave them plugged in but they have a remote, so you can dim them or turn on timers etc! They really are so pretty… I guess the saying is right, it is the little things. Speaking of… I love his personal touch that he left on the door :)
Needless to say, he is LOVING his new room. I secretly think it’s the coziest room in the house (honestly this “cheap” foam mattress we got him is heaven). I will link all the sources below but let me know if you have any questions about where I found something :)
