Want to learn how to use infusible ink with Cricut?
Over the Christmas break, I was so fortunate to be given a Cricut Maker, and I have been having so much fun tapping into my creativity with smaller craft projects. As you might recall, I introduced my Maker with a quirky vinyl I made for my front door. I’ve since been honing my skills, and trying out some new things. The Maker can cut so many materials, that it seems like there’s no limit to what I can make! If I can imagine it, I can create it. Today I am going to take you step by step and show you how to use infusible ink with Cricut and make your own funny coasters. To be honest, when I started this project, I really had no idea what I was getting into, but it was so easy! If I can do it, you most certainly can do it. That’s not just me giving you a little pep talk… that’s me telling you I had zero Cricut skills and did it. One more time for the people in the back… If I can do it, you most certainly can do it!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine. I have used affiliate links throughout.
As you might recall, last November I gave our dining room a makeover for the One Room Challenge, and we received a beautiful new custom live edge dining table made by Woodworks by Jared. Our table is a masterpiece of his, and I want to keep it that way. Of course, with three kids who love to leave drinks on wood surfaces, it’s not always easy to keep things in their original condition. Jared poured his heart and soul into this table, adding gorgeous gold resin, and I want to honor his work. My kids just don’t yet think like that… we’re working on it! To help make it a little easier for them, I created some funny coasters to use on our table. (You might also notice below that we’ve added a little kitchen for Wilder that wasn’t in the original space. 😉 ).
When Cricut sent me my Maker, they also sent me loads of goodies to get starter on my making. Included in those goodies was an EasyPress, some blank round ceramic coasters, and infusible ink watercolor sheets. I am not gonna lie, I was shaking in my boots a bit at the thought of using these things! However, I am dedicated to take the time to learn new skills these days because that’s how growth happens. Cricut has a blog filled with ideas and tutorials to make it so easy for those of us learning to play with our new toys, so of course I checked it out and watched a couple of videos and I was good to go! Now I am passing on what I learned to you, and putting it in easy terms for you so you can also understand.
First of all, let’s talk supplies needed:
- Cricut Maker (and Design Space, which is switching from online to desktop soon. You can read about Design Space here).
- Ceramic coasters
- Infusible ink sheets
- Standard mat
- Tools
- EasyPress
- EasyPress mat
- Butcher paper
- White cardstock
OK, to get started with my coaster design, I headed over the My Design Space (where I have this project saved for you) to create my template.
The Cricut coasters are each 3.6″ in diameter so the first step was creating a circle that fit the size of the coaster. Once I did that, I created my lettering, which as you can see read “Save the tables!” I of course was playing off of “Save the turtles,” which is something that my family believes in. Hopefully I can get them to believe in saving my furniture, too. 😉 I chose the Trade Gothic Display font because I liked the simple block lettering. I wanted the lettering to be easily legible on the coasters, and I felt that a watercolor background with a fancier font would be hard to read.
After adding the lettering, I simply mirrored it so that when I cut the infusible ink sheet, and eventually pressed it onto the coaster, it would read the right way. If you don’t mirror image with lettering on the infusible ink, you will have a backwards design. Once I did that, I duplicated my design a few times so that I had 4 similar templates. But listen carefully, because this is actually where I messed up.
I thought I was ready to cut at this point, but I was wrong! When I went to cut, Design Space separated the lettering from my coasters so they would cut individually and not together. I missed one vital step… “Attach.” See that little “attach” in the bottom right corner of the above image? That’s what you need to do to add the lettering to the circle… That way, when it cuts, it cuts the lettering into the circle you’ve created. Bellow you can see how it looks once you attach the lettering to the circle.
You can see the difference in how the lettering looks once it’s attached, and you can see that the button that formerly read “attach” in the bottom right now reads “detach.”
Once I had sorted that our properly, I was ready to cut.
I selected Infusible Ink Transfer Sheet as my material, and then followed the prompts to load and cut with my Maker. By the way, most Cricut sheets come in 12″x12″ size to make it really easy to use on your sticky mat and with your machine. I was able to just slap this sheet onto my sticky mat and press it down.
Once I cut my sheet, I peeled it away from the mat. As you can see, the Maker cut only through the infusible ink layer and not the backing which is really important. That’s why it’s vital that you set your machine for the proper material.
Next, I used my trimmer to cut the excess off.
After that, I cut between the individual circles, so I had 4 separate pieces to work with.
Once I had my 4 separate pieces I weeded out the lettering and peeled away the area around the circle, leaving me with infusible ink where I wanted it for me design. I highly recommend using a weeding tool with the lettering. The “A”‘s can be a little tricky as you want to keep that little center piece in place and not lose it.
Once you’ve got all 4 coasters to this step, it’s time for the real fun to begin with the EasyPress. This machine allows you to set the temperature and time to exactly where you need it. Simply use the heat guide for reference. I set mine to 400 degrees for 240 seconds. (It was warming up below.)
While it was warming up, I prepped my first coaster and the EasyPress mat. Now, the directions said to use a heat resistant tape to hold the infusible ink in place, but as you can see, I had excess of my transfer sheet around each coaster, and it was made of heat resistant adhesive. I simply folded down those edges and it worked well enough to hold it in place.
I realized that with the size of my mat and easy press, I was able to fit two coasters on at a time, so I added another coaster. I also white cardstock in between the coaster and the easy mat to protect the mat. This step was suggested by Cricut as well, to protect the mat.
Next, I placed butcher block paper over the coasters. This step helps protect them from getting ink on the press, just in case.
*Note- I actually did this a little backwards… I was supposed to put the coaster face down with butcher block paper under and on top of it. I put mine face up. It worked out just fine, but I wanted to make sure I told you the proper manner.
Once the EasyPress was ready, I simply placed it on top of the coasters and started the timer I had set on the press, and let it do its thing! I stayed nearby as you never want to leave something with such extreme heat unattended.
When the timer went off, I removed the press, placing it in its docking station, and let the coasters cool before removing the transfer paper which popped right off, revealing my watercolor design!
I repeated the process for the other two.
Honestly, this was SO easy and it was so much fun to see such quick results. The watercolor look is really cool, too. There are different colors available, but I chose this sunset blend because the warm tones suit my dining room well. Infusible ink can be used on so many different surfaces, and I am really excited to try some new things as well. I really want to make a hat, but I might need the EasyPress Mini for that, which allows you to move it easier and get smaller spaces.
Of course, I needed to give the coasters a proper photo shoot, so here are a few extra shots for you.
I am so thrilled with how they turned out and my family has actually been using them! Maybe having the message right there clearly for them to see is helping to save the tables.
If you are considering getting a Cricut Maker so you can also make all the fun things, right now you can get free shipping with code JANSHIP on orders over $100! Come back on Thursday so you can see the hilarious banner I made for Valentine’s day. 😉