Book Review- The Unofficial Book of Cricut Crafts: The Ultimate Guide to Your Electric Cutting Machine

The ultimate Cricut how-to book that covers everything you need to know to purchase a Cricut and use it like a pro!

Are you new to Cricut crafting? Returning after a hiatus and desperate for a refresher? Perhaps you’re an old pro looking for brand-new ideas, tips, and tricks for your crafts? Look no further than The Unofficial Book of Cricut Crafts.

Throughout the more than 300 pages of this book, author Crystal Allen will not only present you with craft ideas that embrace every awesome element of this popular cutting machine, but, perhaps most importantly, she’ll start you at the very beginning of your Cricut journey with loads of information about the different Cricut machines (Cricut Explore Air 2, Cricut Maker, and Cricut Joy) so you can determine which is best for you before you buy.

After you unbox your Cricut and have a general understanding of the parts of your machine, Crystal will teach you how to use Cricut Design Space and get images from Cricut Access, and then you’ll be presented with projects that use the most popular materials your Cricut can cut. These include fabric (cotton, felt, and fleece); basswood and chipboard; leather; vinyl; paper; and heat transfer vinyl. Crystal even tackles infusible ink!

Projects meant to inspire you will include step-by-step instructions and photos. They include:

Personalized leather keychains
Etched wine glasses
Engraved quote bracelets
Felt coffee cozies
Paper luminaries
Chalkboard signs
Inspirational quote pillowcases
Sleep masks
Photo puzzles
Leather headphone keepers
Infusible Ink coasters
A rag quilt
and more!

The Unofficial Book of Cricut Crafts is perfect for the first-time Cricut user, the small business owner who has been using Cricut for years, and everyone in between

Leif Erikson Day is celebrated on Oct. 9, and it’s a great time to learn more about the Vikings and why we still remember Erikson all these years later.

If you don’t know about Leif Erikson (sometimes spelled Eriksson), he’s believed to have been born in Iceland, and is considered the first European to set foot on continental America, more than 500 years before Christopher Columbus.

123 Homeschool 4 Me has a printable mini book about Leif Erikson and the Vikings for kids to read and color. It talks about who the Vikings were, what kind of ships they used, how they got to America and more. It’s a good overview for younger kids to use.

A good unit study is available from Simple Living Creative Learning, which includes a page where kids can write what they know, what they want to learn and what they learned through the unit, as well as information on the Vikings, longships, helmets, clothing and more.

Get a printable Viking unit study with reading passages, comprehension questions and other activities aimed at grades 4-8 from Creative Classroom Core at Teachers Pay Teachers. (And see more Vikings content from TPT here.)

Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus has some great unit study ideas, too, including suggested books and videos. The post includes information about the Viking voyages, society, mythology and ships, as well as some vocabulary and a list of famous Vikings. While you’re over there also check out her free printable lapbook, which includes mini books on ships, a timeline, a Viking women coloring page, draw your own Vikings, geography, ancient runes and more.

Piqolo Kids has a lesson on Viking women with (available for purchase) worksheets about a day in the life of Viking women. Even if you don’t grab the printables there’s some good resources on that page and a link to a video on Viking women.

Learn how to draw a Viking ship with instructions from Drawing How to Draw, or grab Vikings coloring and labeling worksheets from Kids Puzzles and Games.

There’s a Leif Erikson Festival annually in Norway, Michigan, which you can learn more about here.

Have you read?