The Cricut Holiday Gift Everyone Wants Under the Tree!

I got a cutting machine as a Christmas gift ten years ago! As an adult, there aren't many gifts that I hope for, but a cutting machine was one of those I hoped to find under the tree. It literally changed my crafting game. I learned how to vinyl all the things, to make custom invitations for birthdays, designed shirts and clothing for basically any event, and cut out everything from paper for science fair posters to leaves I used to create DIY wreaths. 
I couldn't imagine not having a cutting machine. It's like a workshop not having a hammer or a screwdriver. And honestly, you don't even have to consider yourself crafty to use a cutting machine. The biggest game-changer for me this year though has been getting a Cricut Joy. If you have ever thought getting a cutting machine would be a good idea, or even if you have a larger traditional machine like the Cricut Maker, the Cricut Explore, or even the Silhouette Cameo, I'm going to lay it all out there so you can clearly see why the Cricut Joy is the holiday gift everyone {should} wants under the tree.

The Cricut Holiday Gift Everyone Wants Under the Tree

For years, I had a Silhouette. It was my first machine and after years of using it, I really felt like it was a superior product to the Cricut. I no longer feel this way.

The one reason I would recommend a Silhouette machine over a Cricut

I pride myself on being transparent and honest with you. I want to only recommend products I would tell my real-life friends to buy. For years I used the Silhouette and it was a great tool for me. This was also back when Cricut wasn't digital, it only offered cartridges you'd have to buy. I just didn't have time for all that.
The Silhouette is a great product if you have a basic understanding of {or time to learn} design software. 

I won't repeat myself, but if you want to read my honest review of both the Cricut and the Silhouette cutting machine, check out this post. 

I've seen the Cricut product line evolve and I must say I'm impressed!

Why the Cricut Joy Makes the Perfect Holiday Gift

Small but Mighty

I was always the smallest in school. The one that always got pushed to the front if a group photo was taken. The one who got picked up and tossed around because people could. But I was also pretty feisty. I heard the phrase "small but mighty" a lot. It's the same phrase I use to describe the Cricut Joy. 

I have multiple cutting machines, but all of them, but the Cricut Joy, are tucked away in a closet because they just take up too much space in my office. The Joy can easily sit on a counter ready for any project! 

Don't miss this post! Three Little Things to Make with the Cricut Joy

If you've got kids like I do, it's also a great machine that has BlueTooth wireless capabilities, which makes creating easy even away from home. Those group projects and presentations are easy to create professional-looking materials for by using the Cricut Joy. It will tuck easily into a backpack and you can use the Design Space software for IOS, Android, Windows, and Mac. 

Create Quickly

I'm the first to admit that I overthink projects. I will create a pinboard, read tutorials, and search for inspiration. I'm often sitting on an idea for weeks if not months. It seems like such a process sometimes to create that I don't often do. 

The Cricut Joy doesn't require a lot of special tools to use it. There is no mat required when you use the full suite of brand-new Cricut Joy materials. This means you have less to buy, fewer steps, and faster results. 

You can quickly create just about anything in under 15 minutes!

Easy to Use

It took me years to master my Silhouette cutting machine. I love how user-friendly Cricut is to create with. It's easy to create something unique and custom at a moment's notice. It's probably my favorite thing about the Cricut Joy.

Customize Anything

Remember those round spinning stands that you'd spin endlessly looking for the bike license plate with your name on it? I'm fairly certain those started our generation's love of anything with our name on it. 

You can use the Cricut Joy to customize just about anything in just about any way you can imagine. I recently shared how I used an old family recipe handwritten by my husband's grandma to create a keepsake bowl. 

My favorite Cricut Joy Materials

The Perfect Cricut Joy Holiday Gift Bundle ala Rachel

Cricut Joy

Cricut Access

Cricut Joy Card Mat

Cricut Joy Insert Cards

Cricut Joy Smart Vinyl

Cricut Joy Smart Label Writable Paper

Cricut Joy Smart Label Writable Vinyl

Insert Cards

Have you bought a card lately? At a minimum, you'll be dropping around $5 for a card. This is crazy to me. Is this crazy to anyone else?

I actually send a lot of cards {I got a quarantine pen pal, a sweet little 3rd grader from church}. I'm also a faithful letter writer so cards are one of those expenses I suck up and buy, but generally, I prefer to make my own, and seriously, the whole Cricut Access makes it easy to create and cut fun cards. 

You will need this card mat to make cutting the insert cards easily. But seriously, I think if you buy the Cricut Joy for making custom cards alone, it will pay for itself in no time!

Cricut Joy Smart Vinyl

Once I learned how to use vinyl, I can't quit putting vinyl on basically everything. When you use the Cricut Joy Smart Vinyl, you can cut without a mat on your Circut Joy cutting machine. Did I mention it's small but mighty? Because it is. I actually created flamingo "wallpaper" for a whole room using my little machine and a long roll of Smart Vinyl.

DIY Removable Vinyl Wallpaper using the Cricut Joy

Cricut Joy Smart Label Writable Vinyl

One of the features I like the most with my Cricut Joy is that I can write, peel, cut, and stick with it. No mat needed, so I can just load it and go and cut out everything from stickers to labels for organization.

Make sure you use the Cricut Joy pens and markers {stay away from the gel pens and metallic markers} and you'll be on your way to creating custom anything in no time!

Personalized Gift Labels using the Cricut Joy

Cricut Joy Smart Label Writable Paper

The Smart Label Writeable Paper has been a game-changer for me for holiday wrapping and gift-giving. When I was a teen, my mom started wrapping our gifts and leaving off the gift tags so we wouldn't snoop. I would have one kind of wrapping paper, my brother would have another. 

I started doing this with my kids too because I found that they snooped often. The one hitch in my plan often came when I'd run out of one particular kind of wrapping paper for one of the kids. So this year, I took to creating personalized labels for the kids because I can easily make more labels using my Cricut Joy and my Smart Label Writable Paper but it's not super easy to always find the same wrapping paper {especially when I often buy it the year before on super discount sale after the holidays!}. 

Each kid has a label that says "love, mom, and dad" with an image that is just their own. The dogs are for my daughter, the car is for my oldest son and the trees are for my Christmas loving youngest. 

While I was making my personalized gift labels for the kids, I also drew and cut out some personalized labels for hostess and neighborhood gifts that say The Teodoro Family. These were so easy to make and a fraction of the price to make them instead of buying them.

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If I didn't have a Cricut Joy already, you bet I'd have it at the top of my wish list this year. I honestly can't recommend it enough as the perfect gift to give this holiday season. You don't have to be a crafter/DIY'er to appreciate the Cricut Joy either. 

Who Would like the Cricut Joy?

• teenager
• college student
• teacher
• creator
• crafter
• small business owner

Want to know what surprises me the most when I share the Cricut Joy? It's usually the college boys who are the first to talk about how rad it is. It can make stickers, it can draw, it cuts. I mean, I can't think of a single person who couldn't find a use for it. 

So why not add it to your list and be a holiday hero?

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