Unboxing our Cricut Explore Air 2 Machine and Easy Press

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

Before having kids, I was very crafty. I would make blankets, paint, and more. There was rarely a time that I wasn’t being super creative doing something.

After having kids, all of that sort of got put to the back burner, unfortunately.

Every single year, I say that I am going to do more creative work. Yes, I know having a website is creative, but it’s not the same.

I didn’t want something that felt like work, I wanted to be able to sit down and really create things again.

Here we are though with a 7 and a 4 year old and I still haven’t.

Insert: Cricut.

When Cricut reached out to us to see if we wanted to work together, I wish you could have heard the squeal coming from my house. Maybe my neighbors actually did.

I felt like it was the perfect opportunity to be able to combine my love of writing with my desire to get back into crafting and a creative space.

And that is exactly what happened.

See us unboxing our new Cricut Explore Air 2 and Easy Press

I had never had any type of machine like this even though it had been on my Christmas list for probably the last 3 or 4 years. I always made excuses why also things should come before it.

Read: I always put other things before my desire to craft again.

I always say that part of that was my postpartum depression and subsequent realization that I have more than just postpartum depression and anxiety and it is something that will likely affect me the rest of my life.

It’s taken until now to realize that one of the ways I can help myself with my depression is to get back to something I have loved for a long time and for me that’s crafting again.

Why the Cricut family of products make for a great intro into crafting

I will completely admit that when I first opened the boxes and started looking around that I was completely intimidated.

Oh. My. Gosh.

There are so many things to learn.

Full transparency: It hasn’t been exactly easy. There are a lot of things to learn.

The reason that I think the Cricut family of products (specifically the Explore Air 2 and the Easy Press) are a great intro into crafting is because there are a ton of resources available through Cricut to make sure that you create the perfect project every time.

I remember being intimidated about where to even begin but through their resources and tutorials it has made it even more easier to figure things out.

Don’t get me wrong, I have messed up and wasted material (from what I read this is common just in the beginning), but I quickly realized what I did wrong (hint: I didn’t read all the tutorial instructions).

But overall, I have started having a lot of success with projects that I feel like I can start moving onto even more ideas!

3 Tips for your first Cricut project

Pick an easy project. Something that is one color, with one cut. Like labeling a canister in your kitchen.
Have a weeding tool available. If it did not come with your machine, I recommend this being a first purchase.
Use Cricut Design Space to chose something that is already designed for you instead of making something yourself.