Cricut Basics: What Materials Can A Cricut Cut + Free Crafting SVG
This post and the photos within it may contain Amazon or other affiliate links. If you purchase something through the link, I may receive a small commission at no extra charge to you.
Have you ever wondered “What Materials Can a Cricut Cut?” If so, we’ve got a complete material list showing what you can cut with the Cricut Maker, Cricut Explore Air 2 and Cricut Joy. We’re also sharing 16 Cricut projects for beginners as well as a free I Love Crafting SVG cut file! If you are a Cricut beginner, you will want to check out all of Hello Creative Family Cricut Basics series.
Disclosure: Thank you to Cricut for working with us on this post, as with all articles on Hello Creative Family all thoughts and opinions are 100% our own.
Hi Crafty Friends! I’m back with a brand new Cricut Basics post! This time around we are going to be chatting about the three different Cricut cutting machines– Cricut Joy, Cricut Explore Air 2 and Cricut Maker and what each one can cut.
I’m also going to share with you what materials I think are great for when you are first learning how to use a Cricut, along with 16 Cricut projects that are great for beginners!
Last but not least I’ve got a brand new crafty cut file for you! Phew! That’s a lot! Who’s ready to get started?
What Materials Can A Cricut Cut?
This is a question that I get asked all the time by readers as they try to figure out which Cricut cutting machine they want to buy.
Cricut currently makes three different versions of their electronic cutting machines– the Cricut Joy, Cricut Explore Air 2 and Cricut Maker.
The Cricut Joy is Cricut’s mini but mighty, portable cutting machine. It is a smaller machine that has the ability to cut with or without a cutting mat. The Cricut Joy cutting mat sizes are 4.5 inches by 6 inches and 4.5 inches by 12 inches.
The Cricut Maker and Cricut Explore Air 2 are Cricut’s full size cutting machines. They use cutting mats that come in two sizes– 12 inches by 12 inches and 12 inches by 24 inches. The difference between the Cricut Maker and the Cricut Explore Air 2 is that the Cricut Maker has an Adaptive Tool System which allows for it to use speciality tools in addition to the tools that the Cricut Explore Air 2 can use.
You can read more about what each of the three machines is capable of in my post What Is A Cricut Cutting Machine.
The Cricut Joy is able to cut approximately 50 different materials, the Cricut Explore Air 2 can cut 100 different materials and the Cricut Maker can cut over 300 materials!
What Materials Can The Cricut Joy Cut?
What can you cut with you Cricut Joy? Great question! Cutting materials you can cut with your Cricut Joy include:
Click here for a current list of the materials that have been qualified to cut with the Cricut Joy.
What Materials Can The Cricut Explore Air 2 Cut?
What can you cut with you Cricut Explore Air 2 cut? Great question! Cutting materials you can cut with your Cricut Explore Air 2 include:
Click here for a current list of the materials that have been qualified to cut with the Cricut Explore Air 2.
What Materials Can The Cricut Maker Cut?
What can you cut with you Cricut Maker cut? Great question! Cutting materials you can cut with your Cricut Maker include:
Cricut Projects For Beginners
Now you know what the Cricut can cut, but with over 300 options of materials to cut, it can be overwhelming! So where do you start?
With a membership to Cricut Access you will gain instant access to Cricut’s huge library of projects. The project ideas there are endless. You can read about What Cricut Access Is and What Is Included here.
We also have a huge library of Cricut projects here on Hello Creative Family. You can find all of our Cricut crafts here.
My three favorite materials for Cricut beginners are:
I love these three materials because they are all fairly inexpensive so if you mess up you aren’t out a bunch of money. Additionally you can make some pretty incredible projects out of them.
Here are some of my favorite projects for Cricut beginners:
- DIY Vinyl Coffee Mugs– Vinyl (Cricut Maker, Cricut Explore Air 2 or Cricut Joy)
- Puppy Love Water Bottle– Vinyl (Cricut Maker, Cricut Explore Air 2 or Cricut Joy)
- Mason Jar Pantry Labels– Vinyl and Cricut Pen (Cricut Maker, Cricut Explore Air 2 or Cricut Joy)
- “Hi!” Animal Sticker Cards– Vinyl (Cricut Maker, Cricut Explore Air 2 or Cricut Joy)
- DIY Clipboards – Vinyl (Cricut Maker or Cricut Explore Air 2)
- Magnetic Kawaii Sushi Print and Cut Bookmarks– Paper (Cricut Maker or Cricut Explore Air 2)
- I Like You More Than Ice Cream Card and Matching Envelope– Paper & Cricut Pen (Cricut Maker or Cricut Explore Air 2)
- DIY Gift Card Holder– Paper (Cricut Maker, Cricut Explore Air 2 or Cricut Joy)
- Geometric Heart Hoodie– HTV (Cricut Maker or Cricut Explore Air 2)
- Narwhal “Color Me In” Zippered Pouch– (Cricut Maker, Cricut Explore Air 2 or Cricut Joy)
- 10 Minute Mom Keychain– Leather & HTV (Cricut Maker or Cricut Explore Air 2)
- DIY Wood Christmas Sign– HTV
- Kids String Art Craft– Paper & Cricut Pen (Cricut Maker, Cricut Explore Air 2 or Cricut Joy *depending on size of finished art you want to create*)
- Pretty Floral Place Setting– Paper (Cricut Maker, Cricut Explore Air 2 or Cricut Joy)
- Cricut Utensil Caddy– Vinyl (Cricut Maker, Cricut Explore Air 2 or Cricut Joy)
- DIY Rice Heating Bag– Fabric (Cricut Maker with Rotary Blade)
I Love Crafting Cut File
I love crafting SO MUCH and I know you all do too! That’s why I’m so excited to share this free I Heart Crafting cut file with you! Plaster this adorable design on all the things– notebooks, hoodies, sweatshirts, shirts, mugs… You can even put it on your Cricut!
Enter your name and email address below and I’ll send the cut file immediately straight to your inbox. Accessing this free cut file will register you up for my e-newsletter and you’ll be notified when I release new free SVG files. Don’t worry if you are already subscribed to our enewsletter. You will only be subscribed once.
- This cut file is for personal use only. A commercial use license can be purchased here.
- This file can be used in part or in whole for your personal projects.
- Digital reselling, sharing, redistributing of the files is NOT allowed. If you would like to share, please direct friends to the original blog post where you found this cut file.
Need supplies to make all your amazing Cricut creations? Click here for the best prices on Cricut cutting machines, bundles, iron-On, vinyl, cardstock and more!
Tell me… Do you have any Cricut questions you’d like to see me cover in our Cricut Basics series?
I am eating up all the information on Cricuts as I can right now. They packaged mine to ship yesterday! I feel like a kid at Christmas who already knows that they’re getting the gift they asked for! Even though I’m getting it for my mom LOL!