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

I finally got a Cricut! I’ve been wanting to get one for a couple years now. I loved seeing what friends created and felt like I was always ordering things online that I knew I could create with my own Cricut. Last month I got the Cricut Explore Air 2. It’s even cooler than I imagined and I am using it a lot. Tonight I’m sharing a little bit about how I am using the Cricut!

Luckily I have a few friends that helped me get started. One friend sat down with my and walked me through making my first cardstock project and my first vinyl project. From there, I spent time browsing the Cricut site, Pinterest and yes, texting my Cricut savvy friends to ask them questions when I got stuck. It’s actually a lot easier to use than I expected and really a lot of fun!

Using the Cricut Explore Air 2

The Cricut Explore Air 2 can cut over 100 materials. It cuts everything from cardstock, vinyl, and iron-on to a range of specialty materials. It has a fine-point blade for cutting a wide variety of materials. It also has a Fast Mode for up to 2X faster cutting and writing. The Cricut Explore Air 2 comes in all different colors (and is currently on sale on their site!).

As an example of how I use the Cricut Explore Air 2, I’m sharing a holiday project for my mom. She’s going to make with all 4 kids this Christmas and they are all so excited. I wanted to send the kids with some baking supplies to help my mom. Instead of sending a plain bag of supplies… I decided to have some fun with my Cricut.

I found a cute gingerbread shape in the Cricut design shop and used it in the design to (easily) make a large gingerbread to be Grammy and 4 little gingerbreads to be her 4 grandkids. Then I added a “We Grammy” and a heart. I printed it on vinyl and on an iron on sheet. I also printed it in 2 different sizes. The vinyl sheet I used was in a pack of some super festive Christmas vinyl I found in the Cricut shop. Using the stick on vinyl I made the cookie plate. Using the 2 different size iron on sheets, I made the tote bag for the baking supplies and a potholder.

I linked to the project here. How fun is it that you can save your projects as “public” so others can enjoy them too?! Now what to make next with the Cricut Explore Air 2….