One of the most common Cricut questions is, “Will I use a Cricut enough to justify the price?” I share my honest opinion today. This post contains affiliate links.
Unfortunately in life, many things come down to money. This includes crafting. A Cricut is on many crafters’ wish lists, but it can be hard to spend that kind of money, especially for those with tight budgets. And it can be hard to pull the plug for those unsure of the answer to the question, “Will I use a Cricut enough to justify the price?”
I’m a craft blogger, so it is easy for me to say, “Yes!”
I know that this isn’t the answer for everyone. The truth is, there isn’t a definitive answer. It will vary for everyone. But here are a few considerations that will hopefully help in making this decision.
Am I considering selling handmade items or opening an Etsy shop?
If you are considering selling handmade items or opening an Etsy shop and need to create vinyl iron-ons or stencils for painting signs, then a Cricut is beyond valuable! A Cricut is a relatively small expense when it comes to the total expenses of starting a business, and the machine will be a huge time saver. If you answered “Yes” to this question, then you will definitely use a Cricut enough to justify the price.
Do I craft several times a week?
If you enjoy card making, scrapbooking, and general crafting several times a week, then you will more than likely use the machine enough to justify the price.
Do I want to make personalized items for my home?
If you’ve ever priced personalized signs, pillows, or other home decor items, then you know that they are not cheap. For those who want to make personalized items for their home on a regular basis, I believe that they could recoup the cost of a Cricut Explore Air when compared to the price of purchasing these items from a shop or Etsy seller.
Do I want to make worded boutique style shirts for myself or my family?
Those boutique style shirts are so cute! Think “Mom’s Lucky Charm” for St. Patrick’s Day or “Hangin’ with My Peeps” for Easter. These personalized shirts are adorable for babies and kids! Make them for all the kids in their favorite colors for less than purchasing them in the store with a Cricut. If you’re a mom of several kids like me, and you make the whole crew shirts for several holidays, then the Cricut will pay for itself!
Do I have a school aged child?
My daughter is in elementary school. We use the Cricut for her school projects about once a month. The Cricut Explore Air 2 comes in handy when creating headers for poster board projects. I believe that we will use it even more as she is in older grades, too.
That being said, unless your child is doing school projects multiple times a week, I do not necessarily think that school projects are justifiable alone for purchasing a Cricut.
The questions above are all reasons why I believe purchasing a Cricut would justify the price, especially for those who answer “Yes” to more than one. The decision to purchase a Cricut is truly personal. A hobby crafter who would only use the machine a time or two a month may still find the machine useful to create personalized meaningful projects. However, I have found that actually purchasing the machine makes crafters find reasons to use it because they want to feel that they have justified the price.
Have you decided to purchase a Cricut machine? Bundles are a great way to get started with everything that you need! Check out a few of these:
I would like to subscribe to your monthly newsletter, but when I click on the Field to enter my email address, I am redirected to Etsy. 😟
Thank you for letting me know. This is very strange! I will see if I can get this fixed. Thank you!
I purchased cricut air over a year ago after becoming disabled. When i worked as a social worker i purchased a lot of stickers, paper, and supplies to make scrapbooks of my kids and over time added grand kids to the list i was always to busy with work to get it done.or at least that was my excuse i really think its my poor organiation skills have made a few cards that I loved. But would like to use it more…. im a crafter want to be. I have purchased lots of stuff but have not put them to use and would really love to start using all this stuff i purchased again organizing my stuff is a problem i have. I do want to start using my stuff I think once i start to use it and see how to use it I will learn what im doing and do it me I would love to do my scrap books for my family as I am the keeper of the memories for my family Im sure if something happens to me all the memories will be left in a box a go away with me and I would hate for that to happen. I would like to make these books so everyone can enjoy them for years to come my sons love to pull out the boxs of pictures and look at them as well as show friendsI believe if i can get them in books they would enjoy them more i know I will and when i think all this stuff i purchased i could make so much stuff from scrap books to tshirts for my grand kids to enjoy or even help my brother get his business off the ground as I believe I could make stuff to put on our cars to let people know of his business anything you could do to help me start i would appreciate i only work a couple days a week so i dont make a lot of money but will pay or maybe i could exchange social work for your services I do senior and disabled social work for the elderly and disabled I am a NJ social worker and am certified withe state and am good at what i do !
Hi, Thank you for your comment. I currently do not offer one-on-one Cricut consultations or sell materials, but I do try to provide helpful tutorials for others to use to make their own Cricut creations. You can find all of these tutorials and articles on this page: http://ithappensinablink.com/cricut-class-tutorials-and-projects/ . If you learn better from videos, there is a YouTuber named Auntie Tay that has lots of Cricut related videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/tetetakneea . I have found that the best way to get started is just to jump in. Even just cutting out a few shapes from card stock can help build confidence in beginning with the Cricut. Good luck!
I had the very first basic Cricut, the small 6×12 machine. I loved it! My mom recently gave me her Cricut Expression machine because she never used it. I love it as well. I also have the gypsy, which I love as well. I am wanting to begin a business of selling my home made cards, books, calendars, and scrapbook pages. Would it be beneficial for me to buy a newer machine, the Cricut Explore Air and/or should I buy a membership on the design space? Thanks for any advice you can give me.
Hi, The Cricut Explore Air is very user friendly, but it really comes down to how much you will use it as to whether you should purchase a new one. Design Space itself is free to use, but the Cricut Access program is what costs extra. Do you remember the Cricut cartridges? Those are now digital files. You can purchase the images individually as you want to use them, or you can purchase a Cricut Access membership to have access to a variety of the images (note that it does not include them all). You can read more about Cricut Access here> https://ithappensinablink.com/do-i-really-need-cricut-access/
I got one for a gift for Christmas and can honestly say i have never used it. Mostly because i dont know how and am intimidated when trying to figure it out. Its a shame cause my kids were so happy to get it for me.
Have you tried to set it up? At what point are you getting stuck- with set up or with creating a certain type of project?