In this post, I’m sharing a step-by-step tutorial for Cricut Maker Wood Project – a DIY car ornament that makes a perfect gift for anyone in the family. I’ll also show you how to cut Balsa wood and test out three different sizes of Balsa wood in this tutorial.
Hello, Cricut Buddies! Welcome to Cut N Make Crafts.
We just hit a new milestone in our relationship so I thought it would be nice to make a cute gift for hubby. It’s been a decade since we first saw each other in school, surprisingly I also remember the date which was 4th December 2009. Ah! How time flies!
So, to celebrate this milestone, I created this effortless car ornament using adhesive vinyl and Balsa wood. If you’d like to create something similar or get some tips for working with Balsa wood on Cricut Maker then read on!
Table of Contents
DIY Car Ornament-Cricut Maker Wood Project Tutorial Video
Techniques Covered in This Balsa Wood Project Tutorial
- How to cut Balsa wood?
- What’s the best Balsa wood to use with Cricut Maker?
- How to transform an image into a silhouette to use with Cricut?
- How to write with Cricut?
- Best vinyl settings for intricate cuts
How to Cut Balsa Wood on Cricut Maker?
To cut Balsa wood on Cricut Maker, you would need the knife blade because wood cannot be cut using the premium fine point blade. Here’s a complete list of supplies needed when cutting Balsa wood. If you would like to make the wooden ornament as shown in this video, you can also order the additional supplies listed below.
Supplies Needed:
- Cricut Maker
- Knife Blade
- Balsa Wood (preferably 2mm)
- StrongGrip Mat
- Masking Tape
- Oracal adhesive vinyl in black (optional)
- Cricut Essential Tool set (optional)
Steps for cutting Balsa Wood on Cricut Maker
To cut Balsa wood on Cricut Maker, follow these steps.
- Add a simple shape on your Design Space canvas.
REMEMBER: Knife Blade is ideal for cuts of moderate detail, no smaller than ¾”. So, make sure you select a large image with little to no intricate details.
2. Select the Balsa Wood setting from the materials list depending on the thickness of your wood. You can either select 2.4mm or 1.6mm.
3. Insert the Knife Blade in compartment “B”.
4. Place Balsa Wood on the StrongGrip mat and tape it down using the masking tape.
5. Move the star wheels all the way to the right of your machine, this can be really difficult but you gotta do, what you gotta do!
6. Load the mat and watch the magic happen!
What’s the best Balsa wood to use with Cricut Maker?
After testing three different thicknesses of Balsa Wood, I’ve found that the 2mm Balsa wood works THE BEST with the 2.4mm thickness setting from the Cricut Material settings. This always gave me the best result with my machine even though the thickness of the wood was 2mm.
How to transform an image into a silhouette to use with Cricut?
In this tutorial, I used a photo from our wedding and transformed it into a file ready to be cut using Inkscape software. This is free software that you can download from Inkscape.org.
After installing the software, add the image to the software and from the menu go to “Path” Next, click on “trace bitmap” and you should see a new box using which you can manipulate the image. Feel free to play around and test out different settings until you’re satisfied with what you have. You can always come back to the software and modify the image if you’re not happy with the look after uploading the image to Design Space.
How to write with Cricut?
To write with Cricut, you would need a special font designed for writing because most of the fonts will turn into bubble fonts if you use them for writing meaning you will get an outline of the text. For a complete guide on how to write with Cricut plus a list of some of the best free writing fonts, check out my post How to Write with Cricut: Ultimate Guide.
Best vinyl settings for intricate cuts
I used Oracal 651 adhesive vinyl to create the wooden car ornament using Balsa Wood and Cricut Maker. This is a very popular type of adhesive vinyl and can be used for indoor and outdoor projects. It’s permanent with a lifespan of 5-8 years. CLICK HERE to get some now!
For more info on different types of vinyl, check out my post Different Types of Vinyl and How to Use Them.
At first, I used the premium vinyl settings and noticed that the top of my head went missing due to the intricacy of the cut, so I tried the washi settings which gave better results and would recommend this setting if you’re cutting out an intricate pattern on Oracal 651 or any other vinyl.
The End
With that, we have reached the end of this post where I shared a complete step-by-step tutorial for a DIY Car Ornament – a Cricut wood project. Some other things I shared in this post were the steps on cutting Balsa wood, the best Balsa wood to use with Cricut Maker, how to transform an image into a silhouette to use with Cricut, how to write with Cricut, and lastly, the best vinyl settings for intricate cuts.
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