I’ve always loved beautiful designs with clean lines, muted tones, everything in its place. However, craft has never really been my thing. Though, I am always looking for ways to surprise my niece and nephews.
My nephew, Michael is now 18. During lockdown Michael turned to fitness and body building (rather than doom scrolling) he started researching and building his knowledge, then dedicating his time to his art/body. The result? This young man has a following of over 21K on socials and is launching a fitness brand called Sculpted by Stone. He’s winning body building competitions and we are all so proud of him. Kiara, my niece, is 15 and obsessed with K-pop, and Jack, who’s 14, loves heavy metal. Creating something unique for each of them felt like the perfect challenge. Could I be the coolest aunt ever?
So here I go. I decide to get a Cricut Explore 4 as a fun way for us all to not only help Michael’s business kick off, but for us all as a family to communicate and have fun!
The Challenge
Michael wants to create ‘merch’ or lets call it ‘swag’ for his followers. We are not yet sure if T-shirts, caps, or if workout gear are the items which his fans will love. After a lot of research we found a printer of T-shirts in Alexandria and it was close to $50 a Tshirt at his small volumes. Ouch $$$ which is insane!
Michael wants to offer merch at good value, so how on earth could we lower costs, take more control over the quality of the merchandise, change up the design, for the season, the reason and also really listen to his audience. Cricut seamed to offer a solution for a budding social media star and his savvy aunt!
What is it? – Cricut Explore 4 & Heat Press Mini
Good question. For a newbie, this serious craft Cricut thing is really overwhelming. This machine has six compatible tools, Cricut Explore 4 cuts 100+ materials, writes, draws, scores, embosses & foils. So I have to think of it as leaving my scissors behind and having a magical light sabre that vroom, vroom cuts through all these materials that I can then pick up and attach to other stuff. This is where the Heat Press is needed. So we can take a perfectly cut product and then seal it onto a surface.
Unboxing – Cricut Explore 4
So after more research. The vote was in to get the latest Cricut #4. The machine arrives in clean, elegant packaging that reflects its thoughtful design. It’s matte white, minimal and surprisingly sleek. Alongside it came the EasyPress Mini in a calming Zen Blue (as I need it with all this tech!), plus a few starter materials including Smart Iron-On, transfer tape and weeding tools. It feels more like setting up a mini design studio than a traditional craft kit.
Here is a list of everything in the box,: Smart Vinyl® (3) 13 in x 6 in samples, Cardstock (2) 11 in x 4.25 in samples, Smart Iron-On® (1) 4 in x 6 in sample, Transfer Tape (2) 12 in x 6 in sheets, LightGrip Machine Mat, 0.4 Fine Point Pen Black, Mini Weeder.
The Set Up
Setup was smooth and straightforward. The machine connected via Bluetooth (or you can use USB) and guided me through the steps to access Cricut’s design software, Design Space. It tells you to ‘Prepare your workspace, Find an Outlet, Open & turn on and Install Software. While the interface is user-friendly, I had to watch a few quick tutorials and You tuber videos before diving in. I skipped that step at first and quickly realised I was guessing my way through and gave up! However, after just 20 minutes of guided learning, everything started to click. Bottom line, this baby is like a Tesla, you have to learn how to use it and drive it.
Panic over, the online Design Space is more fun than Canva, with a playful, visual feel and a huge range of creative templates to personalise. You can upload your own artwork, which we did, or choose from thousands of pre-designed options for everything from T-shirts and tote bags to cards and stickers. We uploaded Michael’s logo, which I had worked with him to create. We are almost good to go!
Ease of Use
So we now have our logo in Design Space. To get our design from Cricut’s Design Space (aka the “design cloud”) into our Cricut Explore 4, is like sending a love letter to our machine.
Once I understood the basics of Design Space, the machine itself was easy to use. Designing on a desktop or laptop is much easier to work with than the mobile version, which I found is better for final tweaks or sending your project to cut.
Michael and I upload his fitness brand logo Sculpted by Stone into the Design Space, resizing the file and cutting it.
So we connect our machine via Bluetooth for wireless use, rather than the USB-Cable provided. Then we click “Make it’ in the Design Space which sends our design to the machine. It then asks us to choose material settings; for example if we are using mat or Smart Materials. MMM so what are smart materials? This is a clever innovation which means you can skip the cutting mat entirely as they are designed with a special backing which feeds directly into the Explore 4. Confused yet?
Actually, this is a super cool feature. If we wanted to create a banner or a wall decal this means we can create continuous designs up to 3.6 metres long and 29.7 cm wide. Clearly that would be a very BIG Tshirt! So when Michael get’s his own gym I will be printing out the ‘launch banner’ with no trouble.
So I load our backing material into the Explore 4 and align it with the guides, and press the ‘load button’. Then we all hold our breath and press GO !! Vroom and its off.
Whilst I haven’t tried the Explore 3 I hear #4 is 2 x faster in terms of cutting and delivery. It was also very quiet, no noisy aircraft busting decibel level machinery to hurt our ears either.
Transfering your design to your ‘host’ – Easy Press Mini
This is basically a tiny iron. It comes with its own stand. So why do you need it? Michaels design is intended for a Tshirt, which we could have used an iron to seal the image onto a shirt, but if we wanted to add it to a hat, a headband, socks, toy mascot or even wanted to use a smaller logo, an iron is too big and cumbersome. The other issue is heat consistency and control.
The mini is compatible with many different brands of iron-on (HTV), infusible Ink & sublimation products. It has three heat setiings. So I felt safe knowing which one to use. If we were not using it for craft, I can see how it would be awesome for tasks like ironing seams, pressing zippers & adding small appliques.
Michael used the EasyPress Mini to apply the design – essentially just a short press and cool-down. From setup to finish, the project took under an hour. Our second go was even faster, taking less than 20 minutes.
There’s definitely a learning curve in the beginning. If you’re new to this, give yourself time to experiment and make a few mistakes. Once you’ve done a couple of projects, it becomes second nature.
The Verdict
Michael’s T-shirt turned out better than either of us expected. He was genuinely impressed with the quality and started planning a run of shirts for friends and siblings. It looked clean, sharp and completely wearable; more Adidas than DIY.
With Cricut, we could create a batch at home for a fraction of the cost of outsourcing. Now we have complete control over the design. It was satisfying to make something polished and personal that also delivered real value.
I’ve never been into craft, but this felt different. The machine made the process easy, and once you get the hang of the design software, you start thinking about everything else you could make. Cards, totes, labels, merch. It’s less about being crafty and more about making good design feel accessible. I think they make perfect presents for Fathers Day, Mothers Day, even Christmas. Alternatively great way for teenagers to make money on the side creating merch and becoming an entrepreneur!
What we are Addicted to? Beautiful hardware that looks great at home. High-quality, professional-looking results. Designing on desktop, cutting via mobile (once you know the flow). Endless creative applications, from thoughtful gifts to merch. A strong online community that fuels inspiration.
What we need to be more Addicted? There’s a learning curve at the start; tutorials are essential. Desktop is better for designing than mobile. Leave room for a little trial and error, especially on your first go.
Cricut In Australia, Cricut Explore 4 is $499 and Cricut Maker 4 is $699. Smart cutters and heat presses are available at Harvey Norman, Spotlight, Officeworks and Big W. Keep an eye on the sales as they do great ones! NB: If you’re running a creative side project, business, or classroom setup, purchases under $300 may be tax-deductible. Larger purchases can often be depreciated.