If you love etching but are having some problems with it, this is the information you’ve been looking for. We are going to walk you through some common etching mistakes and how to fix them.

Using your Cricut machine as a tool for creating etching designs is so much fun, but we know it can be frustrating if you’re having craft fails. We’ll show you how to overcome those so you can make flawless etched crafts every time!

Etching Mistakes You Might be Making

If you’re just getting started with etching, we have some great resources to help you. This guide is more for people who have been etching for a while, but still aren’t getting the consistent, perfect results they want.

How to make etched glasses

How to etch stainless steel

Materials we’re using:

• Glasses: https://www.dollartree.com/brand-name…
• Vinyl: https://amzn.to/3HhP3mY
• Armour Etch: https://amzn.to/3rZikMK
• Transfer Paper: https://amzn.to/3IR0br9
• Cricut Explorer 3: https://amzn.to/344aFoA
• Our Favorite Weeding Tool: https://amzn.to/3pwnJc2
• Our Favorite Cutting Mats: https://amzn.to/3pdN1KN

Etching Mistakes

1 – Removing the stencil before washing away the excess etching cream

If you remove the stencil and then start to wash away the etching cream, when that cream touches other parts of the glass, it will continue to etch. To avoid this, keep your stencil in place and use some masking or painter’s tape to cover up the rest of the glass to protect it. Then you can rinse away the excess cream without damaging your glass.

As you can see, as you try to weed away that stencil, even the weeding tool is going to spread the cream around and cause more etching. You could clean the tool off every single time but this method is still not foolproof (and we wonder if your weeding tool might be ruined by repeated exposure to etching cream).

2 – Struggling to apply vinyl to a very rounded glass

These glasses are very rounded, making it tricky to smoothly apply vinyl to them. It starts to fold and bunch up in ways that make it difficult to get that vinyl to lay flat.

We’ve got a great hack for you to make it much easier. Cut off as much excess of the vinyl as you possibly can. Then, cut slits around the design, taking care not to cut right through the design itself. This gives you more flexibility when applying the design to a rounded surface and can give you success.

How to apply vinyl to rounded surfaces

Pro Tip: Choosing shorter but wider decals can make it easier to apply them to rounded surfaces. Glasses with straighter edges are also easier to work with.

3 – Using small fonts

When etching, small fonts can be a problem. Etching is meant to be subtle, so if you use a small font, it will be really hard to read. You need to use large, bold, thick fonts for the best results. And remember, less is more.

If you want professional-looking results, you want to keep the text to a minimum. Think about using only a first name or last name or adding a monogram. This will keep the etching looking clean and professional.

Not only are small fonts often hard to read, but they can be hard to work with during the etching process too. It’s more difficult to keep the vinyl down really well and to get really crisp results.

4 – Weeding the incorrect part of the stencil.

When you weed a stencil, you are weeding the opposite part of the vinyl that you normally do. Usually we weed away the negative space and leave behind our actual design. With a stencil, you want to weed out the design and leave the negative space behind.

So, for example, if you have created a monogram as your stencil design, you want to weed out the monogram and leave the vinyl that is around the monogram. Check out the photo above to see where we weeded out Bell Family and kept the negative space around it.

If you weed the wrong part, once you etch, you’re going to end up etching your whole glass instead of just the design!

Add some fun to your fonts with the use of glyphs and special characters. We’re going to show you just how easy it is to take your fonts to the next level and give them some extra flair to them by adding glyphs to Cricut designs. This is one of those things that so many Cricut crafters don’t even seem to know about, but it’s such a great addition to your toolbox.

We will take you through this tutorial step-by-step so you can master this Cricut technique in no time. You can add glyphs and special characters to your designs in Design Space – let us show you how easy it is!

Adding Glyphs to Cricut Designs

What exactly is a glyph? How do I know if the font I’m using has glyphs? And what steps do I follow when adding glyphs to Cricut designs? These are some of the questions we’re going to answer here.

Apps we will be using:

• Font drop
• Unicode App (iphone only)
• iFont App (iphone only)

The font we’re working with:

• Arrow Words Font

Examples of fonts with glyphs:

Step-by-step tutorial:

How to tell if the font you’re using has glyphs:

1 – To find out if the font you want to use has glyphs or not, drag it into FontDrop.

2 – It will show you all the characters that are available in that font and whether there are any glyphs or special characters.

Using glyphs on a Mac:

1- From your home screen, press Command Space and the type in Font Book. Look for the font you want to use and you’ll see the glyph options available there.

2 – Find the specific glyphs you want to use. Once you have one selected, press Command C to copy it.

3 – Type in the text you want to use in Cricut Design Space.

4 – Place your cursor where you’d like to put the glyph you copied. Press Command V to paste it there.

5 – Repeat as needed until your design is ready. Weld.

Using glyphs on a PC:

1 – After downloading and installing the font on your computer, you can find the glyphs for it by searching for Character Map.

2 – Find your chosen font in the dropdown menu. To copy the glyphs that you want to use, press Select and then Copy.

3 – To add the glyph to your typed text in Design Space, choose Edit, Paste. Repeat for any other glyphs you want to use. Select all layers and Weld.

Using glyphs on an iPhone or iPad:

1 – You will need 2 different apps to be able to access glyphs on your iPhone or iPad. The first app you need is Unicode and it’s currently 99 cents. You’ll also need iFont which is a free app.

2 – Download the font that you want onto your phone. Open downloads and click on the font to open it. Select iFont.

3 – Install the font. Press Allow.

4 – Follow the instructions on the screen.

5 – Once the font is installed, open Unicode. Choose Browse Fonts and select the font you want to use.

6 – Select the glyph you want. Then, choose Share Glyph. Select Copy.

7 – Open Design Space. Select a text box and choose your font. Paste in the glyph and type in your words. Go back to glyphs and choose your next one, copying and pasting as you did for the first. With your whole text selected, Weld.

Tooling leather with your Cricut? Yes! It can be done. In this tutorial, we will walk you through the process step-by-step and teach you everything you need to know to tool leather with your Cricut Maker or Cricut Explore. Think of all the fantastic leather crafts you can make with this technique!

We will be creating a leather patch to place on a hat to demonstrate how to use your Cricut to tool leather, but once you see how easy it is, you can use it for nearly any leather project you want.

Tooling Leather with Cricut

Materials used:

• Tooling leather: https://amzn.to/3Q5s0k2
• Leather Satin Sheen: https://amzn.to/3Obsnbi
• Leather Antique Gel: https://amzn.to/3y9ZIOv
• Hat – https://amzn.to/3MAXFa7
• Engraving Tool – https://amzn.to/3aGdS0o
• Cricut Foiling Tool – https://amzn.to/3zJL2XF
• Deep Cut Blade – https://amzn.to/3xwUX0Z
• Cricut Strong Grip Transfer Tape – https://amzn.to/3zrmvpW
• Vinyl Gloves – https://amzn.to/3QeTiV2′
• Sponge: https://amzn.to/3n9G4vH
• Wool dauber
• Our Favorite Cutting Mats: https://amzn.to/3pdN1KN 
• (Nicapa) Scissors: https://amzn.to/3mJPddo 
• Measuring Tape: https://amzn.to/2Y1wtvv 
• DAP Rapid Fuse Glue: https://amzn.to/3HFh8FL
• Fabric Glue: https://amzn.to/3N8HQrp
• Rotary tool
• Transfer tape

Cut Files/Fonts Used:

Monoline desert (note: this is a special monoline version of our regular desert file)

Step-by-step tutorial:

Before we get started, let’s go over a few important things to know:

Let’s begin by looking at the difference in the results you will get from the Maker and the Explore. The patch on the top was made with the Explore and the one on the bottom with the Maker. As you can see, you do get richer detail from the Maker, but they both give beautiful results.

Why is there a difference? With the Maker, we are able to use the Engraving Tool, Deep Cut Blade, and Foiling Tool. WIth the Explore, we can only use the Deep Cut Blade and Foiling Tool so the results aren’t quite as detailed.

Through trial and error, we found that mono-line designs and fonts work the best for this. You can use some double-lined designs if they are very simple and not too detailed. Stay tuned though. We are coming out with more mono-line designs that will be perfect for this technique!

How to prepare the leather:

1 – Using a rotary tool, cut a piece of leather the size needed. Put a piece of transfer tape on the back of the leather. This helps protect your mat and your leather.

2 – Place the leather right side up on a FabricGrip cutting mat. Using a dampened sponge, wet down your piece of leather with nice even strokes. Allow it to dry.

Working in Design Space:

3 – Import your monoline design into Design Space. Your design needs to be changed from cut lines to pen.

4 – With it selected, add an offset. Change the offset line to Cut.

5 – With the pen lines selected (your design minus the offset), change to Foil, Medium Tip.

6 – Duplicate the foil design 4 times and the offset once.

7 – Select all layers and Align Center. Use Arrange to send both of the Basic Cut layers (the offsets) to the back.

8 – If you’re using a Maker, select the first of the foil line design layers and change it to Engrave.

For an Explore, you should have 5 foil layers and 2 basic cut offset layers.

For a Maker, you should have 1 Engrave, 4 foil, and 2 basic cut offset layers.

9 – With all layers selected, choose Attach.

10 – Measure the hat to determine the size you want the patch to be. Size your design in Design Space accordingly. Click Make It.

Tooling and cutting your patch:

10 – Move your design so that it’s a little below and a little to the right of where you put your leather. (Reminder: we put ours at the 2 inches down and 2 inches from the left mark.) Click Continue.

11 – Select your materials, choosing Kraft Board. Also choose More Pressure.

12 – By now, your leather should be dry, but cool to the touch. That indicates it’s ready to be tooled. Place the engraving tool in your Maker and load the mat with the leather on it.

Pro Tip: Be sure that all star wheels are moved over to one side.

13 – Once your leather has been engraved, DO NOT unload the mat. Remove the engraving tool and replace it with the foiling tool. Start your machine again.

14 – After the foiling tool has done its job, it’s time to load the Deep Cut Blade into Clamp B and cut out your patch. Note: Design Space will be prompting you to load the Fine Point Blade but you really need to use the Deep Cut Blade for this. We find that we need two passes to get a deep enough cut.

Staining the patch:

15 – Unload the mat and remove the patch from the cutting mat. Place it on a paper plate or other protected surface and be sure to put on your gloves. Using a barely damp sponge, apply the Satin Sheen liberally over the surface of the leather patch.

16 – Allow the patch to dry well. This will take around 6-7 hours.

17 – Using the wool dauber, apply a small amount of the gel stain to the patch. Wipe away the excess with a paper towel. Let it dry.

Pro Tip: It will color the surface a little bit, but the Satin Sheen will help prevent most of the color from adhering except in the detail lines of the design.

18 – Attach the leather patch to the hat using the fabric adhesive in the center section of the patch and Dap glue around the edges.

We love using our Cricut machines to make paper flowers! This DIY shadowbox with Cricut Rolled Paper Flowers is a lovely way to display them in your home.

Cricut paper flowers are easy to make and the machine does most of the heavy lifting for you! Adding a custom vinyl quote to the outside of the shadow box takes your Cricut project to the next level and makes it a great handmade gift.

Cricut Rolled Paper Flowers

This is a lovely teacher gift idea but of course, can be adapted for Mother’s Day, a baby gift, and so much more.

Fonts and Cut Files used:

Lined Notebook Paper File

Rolled flower cut file

Three hearts cut file

Font: Click Clack

Font: Farewell

Supplies needed:

Various Colored Cardstock: https://amzn.to/3hVANVH

Shadow Box: https://amzn.to/3CrOh4Z

Hot Glue Gun: Lynn Lilly Hot Glue Gun: https://bit.ly/2Rjii49 

Quilling Tool: https://amzn.to/3IOhucV

Black Matte 12”x12” Sheet of Vinyl: https://bit.ly/2QBZLiW 

Kindergarten paper file: LINK HERE WHEN READY

Printer: Canon TS8320: https://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/pixma-ts8320-black 

Cricut Maker: Cricut Maker: https://amzn.to/2S1iFNB

Step by step tutorial:

In Design Space:

1 – Print out the lined paper design on cardstock.

2 – Download the rolled flower file from the website and then upload into Design Space. Add to your canvas. Size it as needed for your project.

Pro Tip: You might need to make a few test cuts to find the perfect size. We change the width of ours to 4.5 and the heighth adjusted automatically in proportion.

3 – Duplicate the flower as many times as you can to fit your piece of cardstock.

4 – Measure your shadowbox. You might want to take the backing off the frame to make it easier. You want an idea of how big the pencil design (or whatever design you’re making) is so you can gauge how many flowers you will need for it.

We tried out the different sizes of test cuts we made to see what would work the best.

5 – Press Make It.

Cutting out your design

6 – Place the cardstock on the Standard Grip cutting mat in the top left corner. Use your burnishing tool to burnish it down and help it adhere to the mat.

7 – Change the material size as needed. Connect to your machine.

8 – Select your materials. We chose Light Cardstock since we’re using 65 lb. cardstock. Load the mat into your machine and cut out your flowers.

Making the flowers

9 – Flip the mat upside down and peel it gently away from the cut flowers. This helps prevent any curling or tearing of the cardstock.

10 – To make the pencil as we did, you need:

• one 3 inch black flower
• two 4.5 inch beige flowers
• nine 4.5 inch yellow flowers
• three 4.5 inch pink flowers
• three 4.5 inch gray flowers

11 – Place the outer end of the flower spiral into the slot of the quilling tool. Twirl the quilling tool to start rolling the flower, using your thumb and pointer finger on either side to help keep it in place on the tool.

12 – When you reach the end, remove the rosette from the quilling tool. There will be a little flap at the end. Let go of the rosette to allow the coil to loosen up a bit.

Put a dot of glue on the circle (the flap) and attach that to the bottom of the flower to hold it together. Repeat for all the flowers you need.

12 – Glue the lined paper onto the shadowbox backer.

13 – Lay out the flowers in the pencil shape on the background of the shadowbox. Secure with glue.

Creating the text design

14 – Open a text box in Design Space. Type in your first word. Change to the desired font. Repeat for each of the words/phrases and fonts that you want to use, arranging them as you go. We decided to make all of the most important words in our quote script while the rest of them were in block letters.

15 – Add a rectangle to your canvas. Size it to fit the finished size of the shadowbox. This will enable you to size your quote to fit properly.

16 – Add the three hearts cut file to the canvas. To break them apart and use them separately, simply Ungroup and then move and size them as you’d like. Once you’re happy with your design, delete the rectangle. Make sure everything is the same color and then select your whole design and Attach.

17 – Cut out the design from vinyl. Weed. Apply your transfer tape and peel away the backer. Place the vinyl on the glass of the shadowbox. Burnish well. Peel up the transfer tape.

Assemble the shadowbox and your project is complete!