Cricut: How to Make Personalised Velvet Star Decorations

Open the Cricut Design Space app and start a new project.

Open the “Text"' menu from the toolbar at the top of the screen. Search “Donjuan” in the search bar.

Select the “Donjuan” font.

Type the personalised initial into the text box that appears on screen.

Ensuring the padlock icon is locked, resize the inital so that it has a height of 1.5".

Repeat the previous step for all the initials of your family.

The 'Donjuan' is a multi-layered font so the Cricut will separate the grey layer behind from the top layer onto two separate cutting mats. To ensure the second layer is visible, unhide the base colour by clicking on the eye icon on the right-hand side of the screen.

Once all of the layers have been unhidden and you're happy with how everything is looking on the canvas screen, click the green "Make It" button in the top right-hand corner of the screen.

As this project uses iron-on vinyl, the design elements will need to mirrored to ensure they read correctly once cut, to do this select the "Mirror for iron-on" function located on the left-hand side of the screen for both mats.

Once happy with how the mats are laid out, click "Continue".

Once through to the machine set up screen, select the "Everyday iron-on" option from the popular materials list.

Apply the iron-on vinyl to the LightGrip cutting mat ensuring the shiny side is facing down; using the Cricut brayer tool or XL scraper will help to ensure good contact between the mat and the vinyl.

Once the arrow button on the machine begins to flash load the cutting mat, then press the flashing Cricut icon to begin the cut.

Top Tip: Before cutting each mat, double-check that the design has been mirrored.

Once the cut is complete, turn the mat over and peel it away from the iron-on vinyl.

Weed the designs, removing the unwanted vinyl from the letters.

Set you Cricut EasyPress to the temperature shown on the online Cricut interactive Heat Guide > https://cricut.com/en_us/heatguide

Top Tip: As this project is quite small the EasyPress Mini is ideal.

Position the darker colour of iron-on vinyl onto the star first, followed by a piece of baking parchment.

Press the design for the stipulated amount of time, then remove the iron-on carrier sheet as directed.

Once the area has completly cooled, position the lighter colour of iron-on vinly on top, off-setting it slightly to the right to give a three dimensional effect.

Place the baking sheet down once again and use the EasyPress to press the design for the stipulated amount of time. Remove the iron-on carrier sheet as directed.

Once all of the intials have been applied to the velvet stars, why not add further decorative elements like tassels and items cut from basswood or kraft board?