Learn how you can make loads of easy Cricut Joy projects, even if you’re a complete beginner! This nifty little machine has so much potential, not to mention how portable it is, making it easy to craft on the go! I love my Cricut Joy machine for party prep, handmade gifts and adding personality to everyday objects and I have no doubt you are going to love making some of these easy Cricut Joy project ideas for yourself!
If you’re still deciding if the Cricut Joy is the right machine for you, check out my full Cricut Joy review, including the pros and cons of this small but mighty cutting machine! Or if you’re a newbie, just getting started, you can find a list of my favourite Cricut Joy accessories and tools here.
Easy Cricut Joy Projects For Beginners
These Cricut Joy projects will help you see all the potential of what you can create with a Cricut Joy machine. Each of these projects can also be created on the larger Cricut machines, as well as on the newer Cricut Joy Xtra, which comes with a larger size and even more creative potential!
You will also find heaps of simple Cricut Joy ideas on my YouTube channel too!
Acrylic Bookmarks
Personalised acrylic bookmarks are a fantastic gift idea for book lovers or as teacher appreciation gifts. Best of all, they are one of the easiest projects to make using your Cricut Joy machine!
Acrylic Keychains
While you’re at it, why not make some of these personalised acrylic keychains too? Another simple idea for a quick personalised gift or stocking stuffer. These are also great for party favours such as weddings, bachelorette or kid’s birthday party favours, instead of giving them a sugar overload with too many sweets. I made some of these for our Disney cruise gifts.
Tic Tac Toe Bags
These Disney-themed tic tac toe bags have to be one of my favourite Cricut Joy projects so far! They turned out so cute and were another of our fish extender gifts for our Disney cruise, but you can make them with any theme in mind and personalise them too with each person’s name. They would be fantastic kid’s birthday party favours!
Sleeping Masks
If you want to make themed or personalised party favours, these sleeping masks are such an easy and inexpensive option. They are perfect for slumber party gifts or for hen’s night parties. These were for my daughter’s Wednesday-themed sleepover.
Back To School Labels
Don’t panic if it’s almost back to school time and you’re all out of book labels. You can make your own labels using your Cricut Joy. Use everyday vinyl to label books and folders or use the printable Cricut label paper for more intricate designs.
Custom Baseball Hat Designs
Ever tried to find the perfect cap design only to fall short, or seen a design you LOVE but for a small fortune? Well, no need to worry now. You can personalise any baseball cap with your own designs with your Cricut machine. This will save you loads compared to getting a hat designed at a print shop for a special event too.
Cardstock Cake Topper
For my daughter’s 8th birthday, she had a cat-themed sleepover and I had so much fun adding little cat details with my Cricut. It’s such a fun craft tool if you love party planning! This cake topper wasn’t a perfect first attempt but it turned out cute and did exactly what I wanted it to do! You can check out the YouTube tutorial here.
Bees Knees Leggings
One of the things I love using my Cricut Joy for is personalising clothing, such as t-shirts. The smaller size does limit your options on the type of designs you can make, but these bee’s knees leggings are the perfect sized project for the smaller machine. How cute do they look!
Wine Bottle Bags
Turn plain wine bottle bags into cute DIY gifts to suit any occasion. Longer projects like this one work great on your Cricut Joy since you aren’t limited by the width that you need for some larger vinyl projects.
Write & Cut Gift Tags
One of the features that is so often overlooked with the Cricut Joy (and other Cricut machines) is the write feature. You can insert the speciality pens into the blade holder of your machine, and have it write. or draw sections of your design instead of cutting. This is great for making labels but it’s also a really fun option for gift tags where you want to personalise them or simply have some tiny details that are too intricate for the blade to cut. You can watch my YouTube tutorial here.
Personalised Drink Jars
One of the easiest party favours to make are these personalised drink jars. Personalised with each guest’s name using vinyl, this is a really easy and practice party favour they can use on the day or send them home filled with treats! Watch the tutorial here.
Decorative Candles
This DIY candle tutorial shows you how to make wooden wick candles that you can personalise with your Cricut Joy. If you’re not keen for the full process, you can pick up some plain candles from your local discount store instead and decorate them to look fancy for gifts or decor in your own home!
Disney Autograph Book
If you’re planning a trip to a Disney park anytime soon, you might like to take an autograph book. I made my own Disney autograph books using a basic mini scrapbook from our local Kmart store here in Australia and with vinyl cut using my Cricut machine.
Cute Christmas Ornaments
A vinyl cutting machine is such a great tool for Christmas crafts and these decorated Christmas baubles are a beautiful addition to your tree or to add to a Christmas gift.
DIY Can Coolers
When it comes to quick and easy Cricut crafts for beginners, these personalised can koozies are right up there as great beginner projects. Just take care not to use too much heat when working with the neoprene material. These are perfect for making your own inexpensive party favours such as for a bucks party or birthday party.
DIY Party Invitations
The Cricut Cutaway Cards make cardmaking so easy, but what about turning them into your own DIY party invitations? While I do love making my own digital party invites, these holographic mermaid invitations look beautiful.
Personalised Disney Cruise Fish Extender Hanger
For another Disney Cricut craft project, I personalised these basic pocket organisers from Amazon into a cute Disney cruise fish extender hanger. If you participate in the onboard gift exchange, you hang this from the hook next to your cabin door and other people in your gift exchange pop gifts in there. Lots of fun! This same process can work to decorate loads of other items you have at home though, such as bags or home organiser pockets.
DIY Cupcake Toppers
The smaller size of the Joy makes it just right for making smaller crafts such as cupcake toppers. These beach ball cupcake toppers were made using Smart Paper with the Cricut Maker 3, however, you can also get Smart Paper in the Cricut Joy size, to save you from having to trim it yourself. It has a sticky pack, making it even quicker to layer cardstock. And you can create cupcake toppers to suit any party theme!
Wine Of The Month Gift Labels
Why wait until Christmas for an advent calendar-style gift? This DIY wine of the month gift is such a fun idea and you can do it with beer, jerky or anything that isn’t food or drink. This tutorial doesn’t include how to make these gift tags, but as you can see, they are a simple design you can create in your Cricut Design Space software and the right size for your smaller machine.
Cricut Cards
If you haven’t tried making cards with your Cricut Joy yet, you totally should! This is the first Cricut beginner project that many of us kick off with for a good reason. The card mat is an absolute must-have and this is a great tutorial to get you started. Making cards with the Cricut Joy is so easy that even my kids can do it with very little help from me.
DIY Checkers & Chess Set
This DIY checkers and chess board is really thinking outside the box for creative ways to use your Cricut machine and the result is both beautiful and functional. Best of all, it doubles as both a chess and checkers board.
Dollar Tree Fall Mug
These cute fall mugs are an easy way of making your own cute mug, without the overwhelm of learning how to use the Cricut mug press just yet. This project uses a plain mug and permanent vinyl to add a design.
Mason Jar Herb Garden
If you’re limited on space or don’t have your own outdoor garden, why not create your own indoor garden instead? Use your Cricut Joy to add herb labels to some simple mason jars to grow your favourite herbs right in the kitchen, or out in your yard.
Infusible Ink Koozies
Infusible ink seems a little daunting but this is a really great beginner project to get you started, using infusible ink sheets to make your own super cute can koozies. You can find the tutorial here.
Caticorn T-Shirt
If there is one negative about the Cricut Joy, it’s the size of your design space. You are limited by what size designs you can cut which can be a bummer when making personalised t-shirts. (This is where the Cricut Joy Xtra is a great alternative). But you can get a little creative with how you lay your design on the mat and it means you can create a lot more than you expect. This caticorn t-shirt was an example of playing around with positioning on the cutting mat until I got it to work. You can watch my video tutorial here.
Teacher Stemless Wine Glasses
These funny stemless wine glasses are a great novelty (yet functional) teacher gift for end of year or teacher appreciation day.
“If You Can Read This…” Socks
These novelty “If you can read this…” socks can be made to suit so many things – bring me a beer, snacks, give me hugs… a cute and cosy DIY gift for everyone!
Monogram Hand Towels
Add a personal touch to your kitchen or bathroom decor with your own monogrammed hand towels. This is a lovely housewarming gift idea or wedding gift you can make with your Cricut too.
Valentine’s Mason Jar Candle Holders
Make your own Valentine’s decor with these mason jar candle holders. This project uses the vinyl image to create an inverted image by peeling the hearts away once the paint is dry. So cute!
Infusible Ink Coasters
These infusible ink coasters are simple yet add a touch of glamour to your home decor. Best of all, they also look fancy enough to make as gifts for friends and family.
Christmas Snowglobe Ornaments
These personalised Christmas snowglobe ornaments are a cute idea to gift to family and friends for Christmas or as an adorable alternative to Christmas cards or class gifts.
Heart Card
This beautiful heart-shaped card is a lovely handmade Valentine’s Day card or for any romantic occasion, made with your Cricut Joy.
Thanks A Latte Card
This adorable thanks a latte card is a perfect thank you card, paired with a coffee voucher for your caffeine-loving friend or co-worker.
Snowman Gift Tags
These cute snowman gift tags are the perfect addition to your Christmas gifts for a little extra personal touch to the gift wrapping.
Candy Jars
These adorable Valentine’s Day candy jars can also be made as gifts for other occasions if you’re looking for inexpensive handmade gifts or end-of-year gifts for your kids’ classmates.
With more than 30 Cricut Joy beginner projects, you’ve got no excuse to get your Cricut machine out and start creating! These project ideas include plenty of handmade gift ideas, home decor and functional ideas to help organise your home and life!
Which will you be making first?