I’ve been a Cricut owner for over a decade now and I decided it was finally time to upgrade from my Cricut Expression to something newer. I was left debating what was the best Cricut machine for me and my crafting needs. After a ton of research and reading Cricut reviews online I decided to go with the Cricut Explore Air 2 and I absolutely love it! In this post i’ll tell you exactly why the Cricut Explore Air 2 is the best Cricut machine and everything you need to know to get started with it.

When it comes to being user friendly and all-in-one crafting machines Cricuts are the top choice. They are made for any skill level of crafting from beginner to advanced. You might feel overwhelmed when you take a look at Cricut’s website to see all of the machines they offer I know I was!. I was using my old Cricut expression which is the kind that still used cartridges and was eager to upgrade after seeing all of the amazing things you can create with the new, online based Cricut software. All I knew was I needed a vinyl cutting machine after seeing all of the amazing projects you can create with vinyl thanks to Pinterest.

I was told by a fellow crafting friend to check out the Cricut Explore Air 2. It can cut and write up to 2x faster than the previous Cricut Explore models, which is a big deal when you’re creating custom T-shirts or making 20 cups for your kids friends during the afternoon. As I mentioned above it can cut over 100 types of materials including cardstock, vinyl, iron vinyl (for making shirts), glitter paper, cork, and bonded fabric. You can create custom designs or choose from pre-made designs and fonts in the Cricut Design Space. There are thousands of images available to Cricut user, not to mention the countless more available on Pinterest. You can access Cricut design space from your laptop, iPad or Iphone. If you’re like me you probably have space issues on all of your electronics (I really love taking pictures, oops) so you’ll be excited to know that the Cricut software is online based and you don’t need to download and store it all to your computer. This was one of the major selling points to me in Cricut vs. Silhouette.

After reading Cricut machine reviews and learning the above features and reasonable price point, I was sold on the Explore Air 2. Did I mention the Circut Explore Air 2 colors are amazing?! I went for the mint color, but I honestly love them all.

Besides cutting, the Explore Air 2 can also print full color images. Yes, you read that right. The machine can not only cut, but it can also print designs! This is the neatest feature, i’ve already used it to address envelopes and use pretty font on a greeting card.

To be completely honest once my Cricut Explore Air 2 was delivered I let it sit in the box for a few days because I was too intimidated to open it. Now that i’ve opened it and set it up i’m kicking myself for not opening it right away because it was SO easy. I made my first project in less than 15 minutes from the time I opened up the Cricut box and within the next 24 hours I was making shirts, signs cups and more! I’m surprised at how easy it is so use the Cricut Explore Air 2.

After you decide on the Cricut you’ll likely be wondering what Cricut Explore Air 2 accessories you need. There are a lot of Cricut bundle deals which look tempting, but you likely will want to pick out your own vinyl colors and accessories. I opted to purchase the machine by itself and then separately purchase the toolkit, transfer paper and vinyls. I’ll explain more about which vinyls you need below. I also found purchasing separately saved me more money overall.

So, by now you’re probably eager to purchase your Cricut Explore Air 2 and get started with crafting. Here is exactly what I bought last month to get started with my Cricut.

For vinyl you’ll need to learn the difference between the types and what kind for each project. It’s actually very simple and i’ve stuck with these two for all of my projects: shirts, tote bags and anything fabric you will need HTV or heat transfer vinyl. For cups, signs (indoor and outdoor) and anything that you want to permanently vinyl you’ll need Oracal 651. You’ll need a few other accessories like parchment paper and an iron for making shirts and working with HTV and fort he Oracal 651 you’ll need transfer tape. Here are two useful guides for buying the needed items for your projects:

Using HTV for shirts, tote bags, anything fabric etc…

Oracal 651 for use on cups, water bottles, indoor and outdoor signs (anything permanent)


Eventually you may want to invest in a heat press instead of using an iron to save time on your HTV projects. Cricut makes an affordable one!

My biggest resource for learning how to use my Cricut Explore Air 2 has been Pinterest and You Tube. You can pretty much find any tutorial you’ll ever need on one of those sites.

I hope this guide has helped you. Are you a Cricut machine owner? Share your favorite projects and thoughts below! Happy crafting, friends!

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