Have you ever received a surprise gift you didn’t even know was available to buy? A Christmas gift you didn’t know you wanted or needed?
My answers to these questions are YES. YES. And, YES!
I have absolutely loved making gifts for people, by hand, ever since I was a Girl Scout in elementary school. As I get older, my hand-eye coordination is slowly deteriorating. Knowing my passion for handmade gifts, a family member gifted me the Cricut Explore Air 2 for Christmas in 2019.
Seriously, my first reaction when I saw it was “What is this?” and “What am I supposed to do with it?” There was definitely a learning curve, but I eventually figured out how to make some really great projects with it. I will be sharing several of them, in individual posts, over the next few weeks.
The first birthday gift I made using the Cricut Explore Air 2 was a shadow box for my mom’s 75th birthday. She immigrated to the United States, from Italy, with her family when she was only 13 years old. She became a U.S. citizen five years later when she turned 18.
I ordered wooden pieces in a variety of shapes from a shop on Etsy. I hand painted the Italy and United States wooden shapes as well as the wooden banner.
Then, I used the Cricut machine to cut the vinyl to put on the wooden banner and shadow box glass. “Blessed to Be” and two hearts were cut in black vinyl. The “75” and all of my mom’s “titles” were cut in white vinyl.
I wanted to incorporate everything about my mom in this gift. Her Italian roots, her move to the U.S., and all of the roles she plays in people’s lives: daughter, sister, wife, mom, Nonna (“grandmother” in Italian), and friend.
You will notice in the last photo, my alignment is a little off-center. That’s because it was my first “major project” and I didn’t know I had to use transfer tape to put the decals on the glass. The gift may not be perfectly aligned but she loved it and that’s all that matters.
Do you own a Cricut cutting machine? I would love to know which one and if you have a favorite project you created.
Have a great day!