Cricut Die Cut Machine Review

If you make any kind of craft such as homemade cards or scrap booking, then this is the machine for you. Not to mention if your kids have projects such as posters for school, then no more hand cutting letters and measuring them out. This machine can cut out letters, numbers, shapes, and a lot more, in several different sizes and fonts too.

So, I began to research it to figure out if it was a bunch of hype or if it was really as easy to use as what they made it out to be. Turns out I mentioned it to someone and they said they had one and she suggested I get it because they really liked theirs. So, then I started researching for a good price. It retails for around $249, so I really suggest that you shop around, I found it at amazon.com for $180 with free shipping and no tax.

Right now there are three different Cricut machines out there- one is the Cricut Personal Cutting Machine (number 29-001) which is what I ended up getting for $180, the Cricut Expression Machine, which is around $400, and then the Cricut Create Machine which is around $300. What the difference in all these machines other than price is the size. I liked the Cricut that I got because it is portable and has a handle and can be stored away somewhere. The Cricut Expression and Cricut Create are more of desk models that have to have a permanent home somewhere in the house and can't be stored. Another difference is that the Expression can cut larger items because you can use a 12"x12" mat, or a 12"x24" whereas with the other two machines the mat is 6" wide x 12 inches long.

I was glad to get the portable Cricut so that way I could put it in the closet when it wasn't in use, because I didn't have a spot to make a permanent home for it. Now, they do sell bags, totes, and even rolling suitcases for this dude, but I just made a spot on the shelf for it in the closet and no biggie- but I did buy a dust cover for it- even though it folds up covering all the moving parts I just got one for good measure.

So, how does this work? This little item looks like a small inkjet printer and is about the same size and weight. It literally took me less than 5 minutes to get it up and running. It comes with a nice 6ft electrical cord, directions, cutting blade, and one cartridge, keypad overlay, and cartridge instructions as well as a cutting mat.

To get it setup, you just unpack it all and get all the cardboard from the inside out- there's a large power button to push to open the machine. Then, you'll need to install the blade which comes in a little green case and the blade is unexposed- to install it you just put it on the front of the machine and then tighten a little knob and that's pretty much it when it comes to installation.

Next, you'll install the cartridge in the bottom right hand corner of the machine, and then the little LCD display at the top will show what cartridge you have entered. Each cartridge comes with its own keypad overlay because each cartridge does different things, needing different buttons. You can refer to the cartridge's instruction book to see what all it can do.

But how do you load the paper? Well, in the box I mentioned you get a cutting mat. It measures 6"x 12" and there will be a clear plastic overlay sheet you remove (but save it!) and you load your paper onto that. Simply put the corner of the paper onto the green corner of the sticky mat and then lay it on there. Once you've got it on there, push the mat towards the roller until you feel resistance and then hit the 'load paper' button on the keypad, and it will load your paper.

As far as paper goes, you can use whatever- vellum, cardstock, I've even tried some construction paper and had no problem with it. But, when doing heavier paper, you'll see on the blade's casing there is a dial to which you can turn it to different numbers- the higher the number the deeper the cut. I've noticed since my blade is new, that 1 will cut through cardstock and construction paper with no problem, but as the blade wears down you have to experiment with it. As far as size of paper, you can buy Cricut paper that comes in the exact size, but I have a mat cutter I bought so I could cut down paper to the correct size, and also if you happen to use a smaller size paper, there's a button on the keypad called 'paper size' which will adjust the machine to whatever size you're using.

Now you're ready to cut- you can cut shapes and words in the following sizes:

1 in.
1 ¼ in.
1 ½ in.
2 in.
2 ½ in.
3 in.
3 ½ in.
4 in.
4 ½ in.
5 in.
5 ½ in.

To adjust these size settings, there will be a dial on the right side of the machine. On the left side, there are two other dials- one is the cutting speed, the other is cutting pressure. For thinner items such as vellum, the pressure dial needs to be set at a lower setting. For simple cut out items, you can set the speed dial to a higher setting. Myself, I keep the speed on medium, and them the pressure on medium as well, but for the most part I am cutting out of cardstock. I find you can toy around with the machine to find which settings work best. Whenever you change one of the dial's setting, the LCD display will show what setting you changed it to and there will also be a small window by the actual dial with numbers letting you know the changes as well.

When cutting out images- it's a breeze to do it. You can type in whatever you want to cut out using the keypad's letters and the LCD display will show whatever you typed in, and there's a backspace key to let you erase any mistakes. There are also several pre-programmed sayings in each cartridge- for example the George cartridge (that comes with the machine) has sayings such as "birthday blessings" "I love you" and one or two others. Just press that key should you want to do those.

Also, there are several features such as putting words or sayings in thought bubbles, or making it to where they come out in little sign posts, and you also have choices of making them come out in 'shadows' where the words come out without any cutouts in them. You could use the shadow ones as a background in one color and then do another color with the letters cut out all the way and lay it on top of the shadow one for that effect.

Once you have typed in or selected what you want, just hit the cut button and then it will start cutting out your design. There is also a 'paper saver' button that will utilize the paper to the best extent. Should you unload the paper and have some left over on it and want to use it up, you can push the 'load last' button and it will know what area is left to cut on and cut there.


Now, with this machine there will come a few extra costs. Note I mentioned earlier you get one cartridge with the machine- there are additional cartridges sold separately- and as with the machine, you really need to shop around on the price of these as well- they can range anywhere from $40-$99 in stores. I would highly recommend EBay when it comes to additional cartridges- I was able to get two for $65 on there. There are lots and lots of cartridges to choose from, there's one for Christmas, several cartridges with characters such as Winnie the Pooh, Hello Kitty, and Cars. Also, there are several font cartridges available out there as well- and each comes with its own keypad layout.

Eventually, you will need to replace your cutting mat as well. There are some things you can do to prolong your mat's cutting life- for example, you can rotate the mat each time you use it, be sure to keep the clear overlay on the mat when not in use as well. Also, I'd recommend using a sticky lint roller to clean off any fuzzy paper bits left behind on the mat. Eventually when your mats run out- I believe you can get them in a 2 pack for $9.99 or so. You can get these mats over at Wal Mart, and I have even scrubbed them with dish soap and that helps them last as well.

Also, at some point and time the blade will need replacing, and you can find them easily as well, and I can't recall the price- but the blade is easy to change- you just push down on a button on the green casing and it will come out and then you insert the new one.