DIY Wedding Hand Fans with Cricut

This DIY Wedding Hand Fan project is a quick and easy way to learn the Cricut software with a lovely outcome. Thank you to Cricut for sponsoring today’s post. This post contains affiliate links.

It’s almost wedding season! My husband and I have several weddings to attend this spring. He’s officiating a few, too, which is always special. We received our first “Save the Date” in the mail this past week, so I know that the season is soon approaching.

Outdoor weddings are always popular, but here in the south, the weather turns hot so quickly. I went to a wedding a few years ago that supplied lovely hand fans for the guests. It was a nice touch, and they also served as a “favor” for the guests to remember the day.

Wedding hand fans are a quick and easy DIY that anyone- even beginners- can create with the Cricut. Hand fans only require simple shapes and text, if desired. They are a great first project that can demonstrate how easy the Cricut Design Space software is to learn in order to create custom projects!

Supplies:

• Cricut Explore Air 2
• Cricut Standard Grip Cutting Mat
• Cricut card stock
• Cricut Pen
• Hot glue sticks and hot glue gun
• Wood Fan Handles

Open up Cricut Design Space.

Choose a shape for the fan. I’m choosing this scalloped square that is available as a part of my Cricut Access plan. If you’ve ever wondered whether a Cricut Access plan is worth it, see my post and thoughts on the topic here.

Determine the size that you would like the fan portion. Size the shape to these proportions.

To create the matching scallop with the pen, I added another of the exact same shape and changed it from a cutting shape to a writing shape. If you’ve never done this before, look at the right hand column. Do you see the images that have the scissors icon and the pen icon beside of them? If you click on the scissors or the pen, it will let you change the type of action. I added another scalloped shape, sized it smaller than the original scallop shape, and changed the new shape from scissors to the pen for writing.

Next, I added the letter “E.” You can add a variety of text to design the fan however you would like. Some brides like to add their monogram while others may add the date of their wedding, etc. This is your wedding project to customize however you would like. Be sure to change the text to the pen icon so that it will write on the fan rather than cut.

Lastly, attach all the elements together on the right hand column. This is to make sure that they write and cut together on the same image rather than as separate images.

Cut the fan out of heave duty card stock with the Cricut Explore Air 2. The software will remind you, but make sure the pen is in the adapter, as well.

Hot glue the wood handles to the back of the card stock.

One of the most common questions that new Cricut owners (or those looking to purchase a Cricut) have is, “Will it be easy for me to learn the Cricut Design Space software to create my own custom projects?”

You may have heard many opinions on the topic. Some (especially those who prefer other cutting machines) may say “no.” Others may say “Yes!” without giving much of an explanation.

Here’s the real answer from someone who uses the software multiple times a week:

Yes, but it may be dependent on your familiarity with a computer.

Let me explain.

For example, my mother-in-law is not very computer savvy. She calls me to ask how to copy and paste something in a Word Doc. This isn’t a bad thing; she just doesn’t use a computer much. She would have a large learning curve if she purchased a Cricut Explore and tried to use the software. Could she learn to use it well? Absolutely, yes! But it may take her longer than someone who uses a computer every day.

I used a computer in my medical job, and I use one multiple times a day for my current job. I feel as if I am able to learn most new software systems easily, and I did not find the Cricut Design Space difficult to learn. I cranked out my first project in a matter of minutes after installation.

My point is that if you use a computer for Word Document or Excel spreadsheet tasks, or you are familiar with any sort of software that requires dragging or dropping and all of that jazz, then you should be able to learn the Cricut Design Space Software easily.

It is important to remember to give yourself time to learn and to begin with a simple project. This DIY Wedding Hand Fan project is perfect because it incorporates easy shapes while testing your ability to add a text design element. Other projects (like a heat transfer vinyl project with simple shapes) are great, too. As with learning anything new, just jump in and get started!

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