On Earth Day each year, it is important to remind ourselves of ways to prevent waste in order to look after our planet. Naturally, as a crafter, I always hate throwing anything away. When using my Cricut Explore Air 2 I often notice how many Cricut Vinyl offcuts can be deemed as ‘unusable’. That is why I decided to show you how easy it is to utilize your offcuts. By cutting down your waste even small changes can make a big difference.
Cricut Vinyl offcuts
It’s easy to simply throw away the offcuts of vinyl we don’t use. Before you do though there are awesome ways you can make the most of every piece. Using the tool on Cricut Design Space called ‘SnapMat’ it’s really easy to do.
Below I show you how I upcycle a simple bralet top into a festival-ready star print bonanza. All it took was some offcuts of glitter vinyl, My trusty Cricut Explore Air 2, the Mini Easy Press 2 and the Cricut heat proof mat.
Cricut Snap Mat
The easy way to use up your leftover vinyl and scrap is using the SnapMat feature. Using the Cricut Design Space App on an iPhone or Tablet you put together your design as normal and click ‘Make it’ bottom right. When you go through to the next screen you should see your standard mat ready for cutting. Bottom left is the ‘SnapMat’ feature; click on it and use your camera to photograph your mat. The photos above is an example of how it looks. The function automatically scans your mat and photographs it meaning you can then place your design directly on top of where you scrap vinyl is placed. It’s really simple to use so have a try for yourself and never waste vinyl pieces when you can turn them into something fabulous.
Place iron on vinyl shiny side down to the mat.
Once you are set up using the SnapMat you can follow the steps to cut as normal and let your machine do the rest of the work.
Wedd off the excess vinyl and cut each shape or in this case stars individually.
Place the stars where you want them and using the Easy Press 2 Mini you can press them on in seconds. I set my machine to 150 for 30 seconds but Cricut has a full list of recommended temperatures on their website.
I hope this showed you how easy it is to prevent waste and help in a small way. Not only are you being more frugal with your materials but you’re doing your small bit to our amazing earth. I created a really simple and cute top perfect for a festival but there are so many things you can make. Use up all kinds of materials to make stickers, card decals, fabric flowers and so much more. Let me know what you think or share to Pinterest if you wish to save for later.
xxx