Never used a Cricut®? No problem! Cricut Joy Xtra™ is the best Cricut® to start with and the reason I know this is because I’m a newbie too!
This post is sponsored by Cricut, but the opinions and ideas are mine.
And I’m not crafty, so you can trust I’m not going to rave about something like this unless I mean it.
The last time I used a Cricut®, my son’s girlfriend (now wife) had to help me. I had no idea what I was doing, and I needed her help every step of the way. So, when Cricut® asked me to take a look at the new Cricut Joy Xtra™, I was hesitant. I even told my daughter-in-law to talk me out of it. She said, “You should totally do it!” (That is NOT talking me out of it, by the way!)
But as I looked it over, I thought more and more – this looks like the perfect Cricut® machine for someone like me! (non-crafty and no time for figuring new stuff out – tell me I’m not alone here!)
With it’s low profile, fit anywhere-go anywhere size, it’s never in the way, and the designing possibilities are endless! So, as it turns out, we were both right! It is the perfect Cricut® for a total newbie who has trouble figuring these kinds of things out and I’m so glad I tried it! AND I didn’t even need my daughter-in-law’s help!
So, let’s talk more about WHY the Cricut Joy Xtra™ is such a great machine for beginners and moms just like you and me!
The Cricut Joy Xtra™ for the busy homeschool mom
I don’t have hours upon hours to spend on crafty stuff. I have a homeschool and a large family to run, not to mention a blog, and a million other things to do in a week! The Cricut Joy Xtra™ was exactly the right fit for my life.
The Cricut Joy Xtra™ is easy to set up.
My 19 year old daughter was interested in using the Cricut® too, so together, we unpacked the Cricut Joy Xtra™, plugged it in, downloaded the app, and immediately started brainstorming projects!
From my experience that day, I highly recommend you set aside a few hours the first time you use your Cricut®. You won’t be able to quickly create the very first thing you come up with because your machine will need to calibrate and you will need to familiarize yourself with the products and paper.
The app is very easy to use and it walks you through everything you need to know. Calibration took about 10 minutes total, but getting familiar with all the resources and Design Space® took a little more time.
It wasn’t hard to figure out, but we did have some trial and error and a few YouTube videos to work through because I knew exactly what projects I wanted to start with, but not exactly how to create them.
So, be patient and give yourself permission to take a few hours to really get to know the machine by playing around with what it can do! It will be worth it, and you’ll have fun in the process!
The Cricut Joy Xtra™ is easy to use.
The Cricut Joy Xtra™ is super intuitive, especially after you’ve done the initial setup. It would literally take 10 minutes start to finish for any project I have to do from here on out.
Pick my project, pick my materials, run it through the app, print (if needed) using my personal printer and Cricut® paper, and cut it out using the Cricut Joy Xtra™.
Lots of ways to use it in your homeschool!
- Reward stickers
- Iron-on t-shirts for field trips or co-ops
- Make a Morning Board
- Make your own Teacher Mug!
- Paper projects
- Holiday projects
- Personalized supplies
- Cut out shapes, letters, and numbers
- Label everything!
One of the projects I found in the Free section of the Cricut® app was a paper angel. When I was a kid, our elementary school would decorate paper angels every year as part of a design competition. I never won, but I sure did enjoy decorating those angels! This project reminded me of those simple, but beautiful angels, so I loaded in the card stock and let the Cricut Joy Xtra™ cut it all out for me.
After I put together this project, I decided it would be perfect as a topper for our Jesse Tree this Advent season! So beautiful, yet so simple!
The Cricut Joy Xtra™ for the large family mom
Organizing and managing people and people’s things are what large family moms do.
all. day. long.
And while I’m all for sharpie markers and masking tape, they don’t always do the trick for all that managing and organizing. And for those of us who named our kids very *ahem* unique names, having a Cricut Joy Xtra™ is the perfect way to personalize your organizing and managing of all those kids!
Ideas for the large family home
- Names on waterbottles
- Shirt designs for family reunions and outings
- Labels for laundry baskets, shoe cubbies, clothing drawers, personal supplies and materials, etc.
- Placeholders for cups (see this post!)
- Stickers and other projects for birthday and Christmas presents!
But, let’s also have a little fun, shall we? How about the back of that humungous van you drive…
Large family van projects with your Cricut Joy Xtra™!
I knew the very first project I wanted to do with the Cricut Joy Xtra™ was to make a vinyl sticker of my Raising Arrows® logo for the back of my van. I’ve wanted one of these for years!
With the Print, Then Cut feature of the Cricut Joy Xtra™, I was able to get exactly what I wanted!
And because the Cricut Joy Xtra™ is large enough to handle 8.5 x 11″ paper, I could make the logo big enough to read from a distance! Isn’t it beautiful?!
How to do this project:
- Choose Cricut® Printable Vinyl, Printable Waterproof Sticker Set, or Printable Sticker Paper.
- Upload image to Design Space® in the Cricut® app.
- Choose “offset” and adjust the distance you’d like the cut-around to be from the design. Choose the color you want the offset to be.
- Flatten the image.
- Load your Cricut® paper into your home printer (this is the printer we own).
- Press “Make It” (You will choose “Print, Basic Cut” and then be able to choose the materials you are using and how deep you want the cut to be.)
- Once the design prints, stick it to your mat and load it into the Cricut Joy Xtra™.
- The machine does the rest!
The Cricut Joy Xtra™ for the entrepreneur mom
Have you ever thought about taking on a part time job that you can do from home? Cricut Joy Xtra™ can make that happen!
The Cricut Joy Xtra™ has an economical start-up cost.
At just $199 USD, this machine can give you a quick return on investment! Plus, Cricut® has a teacher and military discount!
You only need 1 blade (the one it comes with!) to cut all the materials, and the materials are reasonably priced.
The Cricut Joy Xtra™ makes it easy to work from home.
I know several people who use their Cricut® machines to make items to sell from the comfort of their own homes! One friend makes bookmarks like the ones below and sells them at craft fairs and online. Another friend sells designs and stickers she’s made in her online storefront.
The bookmarks below are ones my 19 year old designed to give to her siblings for Christmas, and I’m already thinking of a million other ideas we could make as gifts or sell!
NOTE: Be sure the designs you use are your own or have the proper commercial license for retail.
Ideas for projects you could make and sell with your Cricut Joy Xtra™.
- Personalized clothing (you will need the iron-on materials and an EasyPress®)
- Cupcake toppers
- Birthday & Wedding supplies
- Bookmarks
- Art prints
- Personalized mugs
- Unique cards
- Homeschool labels and supplies
- Paper flowers and other paper projects
- Stickers!!!
The reason I have 3 exclamation points behind “stickers” is because stickers of all sorts are hugely popular right now (I have no less than 6 water bottles in my home covered in stickers!). I made these holiday stickers from free designs in Design Space® to put in my children’s stockings this Christmas, but you could definitely get super creative and make a bunch of different designs to sell online or to friends. (Think about all those large family homeschool sayings you wish someone would make! Now YOU can do it yourself!)
Ultimately, I am super pleased with how easy the Cricut Joy Xtra™ is to use, and I highly recommend you add this lovely machine to your Christmas wishlist this year!
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