On trial: Cricut Maker™ 3 Smart Cutting Machine
This article is part of a paid-for partnership with Cricut
Customise clothes, cups and home furnishings in minutes
What is it?
Cricut is the home of smart cutting machines for wannabe crafters and expert makers, and the Cricut Maker 3 is smarter and faster than ever. This innocent-looking machine can cut more than 300 different materials, from wood and leather to paper and fabric, plus it can make incisions up to 12ft long without a cutting mat – that’s a lot of creativity.
What’s in the box?
- Cricut Maker 3 machine
- Premium fine-point blade and housing
- Welcome card
- USB cable
- Power adapter
- Free trial subscription to Cricut Access (for new subscribers)
- 100 ready-to-make projects online
- Material for practice cuts and first projects
I downloaded the Cricut app, connected my Maker 3, signed up for Cricut Access, then did a test design using the supplied sheet of Smart Vinyl
Get set
Setting up is so easy and if you’re not a fan of reading instructions, just watch a free video tutorial on the app – it could not be simpler. I couldn’t wait to get started so I set up in front of the TV and I managed to download the app, create my account and cut a test design (admittedly the ‘design’ was just my name on a sticker, but I was saving my real creativity for later. Anyway, I chose a font) – all while keeping up with Coronation Street.
Playing around with some of the designs on Cricut Access, I cut and added Smart Vinyl stickers to plain white mugs and my water bottle
“A step-by-step guide comes with the Cricut machine and the instructions are clear and helpful. The maker itself looks sleek and is easy to store away”
What is the Cricut Maker 3 used for?
As well as cutting, the Cricut Maker 3 can score card for crisp, professional-looking 3D projects including greetings cards (hello, Christmas) and gift boxes (Santa?). Buy additional Cricut tools and it’ll even cut wood to make an original sign for your home, or fabrics to make personalised soft toys, bags and tops – heck, this machine can even engrave metal and emboss leather.
I’d recommend buying a Cricut Smart Materials Gift Bundle. It has the basic five-piece tool set, Smart Vinyl (sticky-backed, and there’s no need for a cutting mat) in a variety of colours plus Smart Iron-On in black, which you can use to personalise jeans, bags and T-shirts – it stays on for at least 50 washes. For jeans, that’s basically a lifetime.
Feeling festive, I chose a star design to cut out of Smart Iron-On, used the Cricut weeding tool to remove the excess, and produced an iron-on transfer
Design masters
Choose from 100 projects on Cricut’s Design Space app, or upload and cut your own creations. Even if you use a design from the app, you can also customise it with a name or message of your own.
New subscribers get a free month’s trial of Cricut Access, usually £71.99 a year or £7.49 a month (cancel it at any time, though personally I’m hooked). Cricut Access unlocks even more fun designs on the app, saving you the hassle of paying things one by one.There’s also a whole community of makers with whom you can chat, troubleshoot and share ideas. It’s a lovely thing, all told.
“The extras you can buy are amazing – cutting tools for engraving, debossing, cutting wood, the list is endless. You can do so much with this machine”
Sarah from the Home team produced these spookily smart decorations to liven up plain lamps
Is it worth it?
Versatile is the Cricut Maker 3’s middle name, plus it’s so fast and easy to use. It’s making me look like a creative genius and has saved me from wobbly scissor lines and chunky, clumsy shapes. I’ll be engraving metal to make pendants for friends next. Or embossing leather for keyring gifts. Or both.
For a large design, I used the Cricut scraper tool to rub Transfer Tape on to the back of my gold Smart Vinyl then smoothed it on to my Snapper tote
The metrics that matter
Easy to useI love a video tutorial – it makes getting set up a cinch. It’s also simple to extract your cut design once the Cricut has done its work, so you don’t chew up the edges in the process. This is even true for clumsy people with short fingernails. The tools remove all hassle.
Fast and versatile This is twice as fast as the previous generation of smart cutting machine, and is compatible with 13 different tools to precisely cut, score, write, deboss, engrave and add all kinds of decorative effects.
A quiet powerhouseWith the right tools, the Cricut Maker 3 can cut more than 300 different materials, from delicate fabrics to leather. It isn’t noisy and it’s compact, making it easy to store when not in use.
