I have such a fun ornament tutorial to share with you! This project combines some of my favorite things: Felt, embroidery, tassels and a little sparkle!
I was recently contacted by Cricut asking if I would like to try out their cutting machine, the Cricut Explore Air 2. Of course I said yes!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.
This is the mint green Cricut Explore Air 2 open and ready to go. It can cut over 100 different materials! I was a little intimidated that it might be tricky and have a big learning curve but it was very straightforward and easy to set up. Yay!
The software it uses is called Design Space. It’s very intuitive and takes you through each step to create a project. Using my laptop, I made some simple shapes from the sidebar menu to create my ornament designs. The first 2 are just a circle and 2 hearts added at the top and bottom, joined together and scaled. There are all sorts of designs available on the Cricut website and app.
The next step was putting a piece of this cool Mesh Glitter Vinyl onto the special cutting mat. The mat is sticky to hold the material in place. The glitter vinyl has a clear liner sheet, that goes face down onto the mat.
The program prompted me to load the mat into the machine and press go! The little cutting blade was so fast, zipping around cutting out each shape.
Afterward, I pulled away all of the in-between stuff. This is called “weeding” 🙂
What’s left the clear liner sheet with the shapes, glitter side down. I peeled the liner off the mat and cut between each shape.
I fused each shape to a piece of brightly colored wool blend felt with an iron and press cloth, then removed the clear liner. Ta-da! Now you can see the glitter, although it’s difficult to see in the photo. It is really sparkly!
Time to stitch! I love how the glitter vinyl’s mesh holes make little polka dots of color plus the perfect place to stitch. I used some Sue Spargo variegated rayon Razzle floss for some extra shine and color. After stitching the interior I finished it off with a chain stitch around the border of the vinyl.
When I was all done stitching, I glued another piece of felt to the back then trimmed both layers leaving an 1/8″ border around my stitching.
The last step was adding a hanger loop and a floss tassel on the bottom. Super cute!
The Mesh Glitter Vinyl comes in a variety of colors, like the turquoise you see below on the right. I backed that one with white felt and trimmed it with scalloped scissors. The possibilities are endless!
I love these! I have so many other ideas for using the Cricut machine and will share them in the future. I feel like I just let a genie out of a bottle!
Do you have a Cricut cutting machine? What do you enjoy making with it?
P.S. I case you re wondering, yes, the Cricut Air Explore 2 does cut fabric! But, it has to be bonded fabric, meaning interfaced. If you are interested in cutting felt specifically, then you would be better off with the Cricut Maker machine. I found the following video for a full explanation of the differences between the machines here is you are interested! Explore Air 2 vs Maker comparison video
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