I absolutely love decorating my house each year for the holidays and this year my Christmas DIY is a little bit easier because I have a Cricut Maker!
I know this will disappoint many decorating purists, but I am unashamed to say I am an early decorator.In a normal year, I start stringing up lights in early November.
In a pandemic year, I start on Halloween.
I start early because there are so many things I want to DIY for the season, and as a fellow crafter, we both know that a good DIY takes lots of time, loads of hot coffee, and a good movie streaming in the background.
Christmas crafting cannot be rushed!
Sometimes DIY projects can add up, so this inexpensive craft foam project was just the thing to get me started early (and on budget).
You probably have a few questions about cutting foam, because if you’re like me, you are likely skeptical that this little machine can power through something that thick.
Friends, you heard it from me…not only did it cut it, but it was a super clean cut!
I now have visions of foam garlands spouting off sentiments for all of the seasons!
PS: This would also be a fun project to make with kids because the letters could be gussied up in so many ways! I see stickers, rhinestones, markers, foam shapes or paints making this extra festive!
But let’s get some FAQ out of the way!
Does the Cricut cut foam?
Yes, the Cricut can cut foam so long as it is 2.0 mm thick or less on the Explore machine or 2.4mm or less on the Maker.
What is the thickest material a Cricut can cut?
ACricutExplore machinecan cutmaterials 2.0mm thick or thinner. The CricutMaker can cut things up to 2.4mm thick because it has a bit more cutting force than the Explore machines.
What blade do I use to cut foam?
The machine defaults to using the deep-point blade for cutting foam. I do not have this blade, so I manually adjusted the setting to select “knife” blade, and it worked perfectly well!
Other Tips for cutting foam
I used a Strong Grip Cutting Mat. I also put some pieces of painters tape around the edge for extra reinforcement.
Move the star wheels (the little white wheels on your roller) over to the right.Otherwise you will have tiny little tracks on your foam.
Size matters!Foam cuts work best when the pieces are 2” x 2” or bigger.Also, simple shapes and letters yield best results.
How to make the “Oh What Fun” garland:
Supplies Needed:
- Craft foam in colors of your choice
- Bakers twine
- Cricut machine (or other means for cutting foam such as an Xacto knife)
- Cricut knife blade
- Hole punch
Determine length & size:
I started by measuring the general length of the area that I wanted my DIY craft foam banner to hang.
This helped me choose the length of a sentiment that would fit and allow me decent-sized letters.For example, I chose “oh what fun” and the length of this phrase was good for the span I was covering. It allowed me to cut out letters that were 8 inches tall.
I would not have been able to cut the phrase “Dashing through the snow” and be able to fit the entire phrase without sacrificing size of letters.
Cricut Design Space Steps:
- Start a new project by selecting “New Project”.This opens up a new canvas for you to work in.
- On the left panel, select “text”. This opens a text box for you to write in.
- Type in phrase. You can see that the default font is Cricut Sans.
- Change to desired font (I used one called “Impact”).
- Resize letters to the height that you need (mine are 8 inches tall)
- Optional step: fill each letter with the colors of foam you plan to use. This will allow the software to group your letters by color and will arrange them on the cutting mat for you.In order to complete this step you will need to “Ungroup” your phrase so that you can change each letter individually
- Select “Make It”
- Prepare your mats using the tips I outlined above (strong grip mats and masking tape if needed)
Finishing the Project:
Once you have all of the letters cut, make some holes in the top to thread the baker’s twine through.I used my Crop-a-dile because I can select different sized holes with this.
Decorate as desired.
Thread your twine through and hang!
This project is light, so you could secure the ends with something as simple as tape!
Hope you enjoy making this fun, easy and inexpensive Christmas garland.
