
Let’s procraftinate! Everyone is spending a lot more time at home. If you like DIY projects, you may have heard of Cricut. If you don’t have a Cricut, then you may ask yourself, which one should I get? Today, we are going to break down the various Cricut machines. We are excited to help you decide what Cricut machine should I buy?
What Cricut Machine Should I Buy?
Don’t worry, be crafty. Crafting is a perfect quarantine hobby, but it can get expensive. But, your end products are one of a kind and that is priceless. So what Cricut Machine should I buy? You have three options: Cricut Maker, Cricut Explore Air 2 or Cricut Joy. We used all three machines for our Tiger King themed birthday party, and we are excited to break down each machine for you.

Overview of Cricut Joy
Joy to the world. Let’s start with the newest and smallest machine, Cricut Joy. Cricut Joy is light, portable and let’s you quickly personalize projects at home. The device cuts, writes and draws. You can create one of a kind cards, labels, banners, place cards and so much more. This mini crafting machine cuts over 50 popular crafting materials, including vinyl, cardstock, iron-on, paper and more. This machine can cut mat-free projects with Cricut’s new Smart Materials and make long cuts, up to 20 feet. Materials cannot be wider than 5.5″. Joy also has a card mat to make personalized cards in less than 15 minutes. Joy has it’s own line of pens and tools that are not interchangeable with the other machines.

I got the eye of the Tiger. We decorated our wine glasses with Tiger decals. For this project, you’ll need:
- Vinyl, Black, White and Pink
- StandardGrip and LightGrip Machine Mats
- Transfer Tape
- Cricut Tools (Weeder, Scraper)
We used Cricut Design Space, but we could have also used the Joy App. We purchased an Tiger King SVG Bundle and uploaded it Cricut Design Space. Cricut Design Space works seamlessly from desktop to mobile.

Next we placed the Smart Vinyl inside Cricut Joy and let the Joy work it’s magic. You can also use permanent vinyl with a mat. We used the Cricut Tools and Transfer Tape to place the decal on the wine glass. We had to weed the vinyl. Remember to remove the excess vinyl (and not the other way around). The black Tigers were easy, and the pink Tigers had one additional step of layering the floral crown.
The wine glasses were perfect for our Tiger King party. You can also do this project with the Explore Air 2 and the Maker. We prefer Joy for wine decals because it’s a small project and you can use smart vinyl.

Overview of Cricut Explore Air 2
We used Cricut Explore Air 2 to make our Tiger King themed photobooth props. If you ever tried to make photobooth props, then you know the challenge of precisely cutting complex shapes with a pair of scissors. If you haven’t, then consider yourself lucky! Cricut Explore Air 2 is bigger than the Joy and cuts over 100 materials. This machine can cut everything from cardstock, vinyl, and iron-on to thicker materials like leather. The Explore Air 2 features a double tool holder which let you to cut and write or cut and score. The A clamp can be used to hold a pen or a scoring stylus while the B clamp can be used to hold a standard blade, bonded fabric blade or deep cut blade.Unlike the Joy, you can use cardstock that is 12″x12″ or 12″x24.”

For this project, you’ll need
- Cardstock, White, Black, Glitter and Animal Print
- StandardGrip and LightGrip Machine Mats
- Transfer Tape
- Cricut Tools (Weeder, Scraper)
- Hot Glue Gun and Hot Glue Sticks
- Glue Stick
- Bamboo Sticks
We uploaded our SVGs to Design Space and modified them.

We placed the cardstock in the Explore Air 2 and turned the dial on the machine to cardstock. The machine cut out the intricate shapes for us. Afterwards we used the Cricut Tools to lift the cardstock off the Mat. Then we used the glue gun to attach the sticks to the props.
You can’t do this project on the Joy, but you can create it on the Maker. Guests loved our custom photobooth props at the party.

Overview of Cricut Maker
Now we’ve come to the most professional devices of them all the Cricut Maker. The Maker can do everything that the Explore Air 2 can and more. The Cricut Maker cuts, writes and scores 300+ materials that range from delicate fabrics and paper to matboard and leather. The Cricut Maker has an Adaptive Tool System, which creates more precise cutting and 10x the cutting force. The Maker has more blade options that coordinate with the Adaptive Tool System. If you want to work with fabrics and thicker materials, such as wood and matboard, we recommend purchasing the Maker. For our Tiger King party, we created animal print popcorn boxes.

For this project you’ll need:
We used a basic popcorn design from Cricut Design space. The patterned cardstock is what makes this design come to life. You will use the Fine Point Blade, which comes with the Maker and the Scoring Wheel.

We turned the dial on the Maker to the cardstock. We placed the cardstock on the mat and in the Maker. The Maker will remind you to place the Blade and the Scoring Wheel in the machine. The scoring wheel creates the perfect fold line so that the popcorn boxes stand upright. Afterwards we used the Cricut Tools to lift the cardstock off the Mat.
Seriously how cute are these custom popcorn boxes? Now you can’t do this project on the Joy. You can do it with the Explore Air 2 if you have the Scoring Stylus. It’s not easy to manually score a popcorn box. Trust us, we tried once.

We also used the Maker to make customer water bottle labels. This could have also been made on the Explore Air 2.

Cricut Comparison Chart: What Cricut Machine Should I Buy?
Here is a detailed comparison chart of the machines side by side. It should help you decide which Cricut machine to buy.

This year, head over to Cricut and start making your birthdays, holidays and parties more special. This is a lot of information, so to recap, if you want to sew or work with wood, go with the Maker. If you think you will stick to cardstock, vinyl and iron-on, we recommend the Explore Air 2. If you just want to dip your toe into this world, pick up the Joy. Whichever Cricut you choose, let’s get crafty together. Your party and holiday planning will never be the same.

In crafting, there are no mistakes only unique creations.
Anonymous
What a fun idea to spice things up a bit! I would love decorate my glasses and mugs with cute little stickers like these!
I love this whole idea of yours.
This is great info for those that are into crafts!
I guess all party planners must have this cri-cut machine. I’d love to have one and you are doing an amazing job using one.
this cri-cut machine sounds so amazing and an interesting one for decorations and arrangements too…indeed glad you shared this review with us…found it quite useful…
This is cool. I think I need to consider one of this cricut machine soon.
My sister loves doing DIYs and she is planning to get a cricut machine. I will share this info with her, she will find it helpful for sure ❤️
This is awesome and you just give me some inspiration.
I haven’t heard of Cricut machines but they look great for DIY.
I haven’t heard of Cricut machines but they look great for DIY.