Anyone with a hobby or craft room knows that eventually, you must do some heavy-duty organization and find a way to display your cherished items. For me, it was finding a way to display my Cricut Cuties.
A Cricut Cutie is a three-dimensional collectible figurine that represents the cartoon cricket of Cricut’s former logo. The company’s current logo is just its name with some antennae. Cricut Cuties seem to be a sought-after item to collect, and they are not available for purchase individually. You can obtain them by purchasing a mystery box that might contain one. Part of the fun is that if your mystery box has a Cutie, it will be a surprise as to its color, as they come in many different colors. In the past, some colors have been considered rarer and were more sought after than other colors.
Mystery boxes are a surprise as to what you will receive, so this purchase might not be for everyone. The contents are usually themed or related in some way and are a discounted assembly of products. My mystery boxes have contained items such as permanent vinyl, removable vinyl, cutting mats, infusible ink transfer sheets, poster board, foil iron-on, pattered iron-on, transfer tape, a vinyl weeder tool, gel pen set, foil transfer insert cards, infusible ink pens, and heat resistant tape. Digital mystery boxes are also available.
According to a Cricut customer support agent I spoke with, the company’s technical team stated that most mystery boxes are exclusive to Cricut Access customers and that standard and premium Access members can purchase the boxes online. The perks of a standard subscription (according to the Cricut website) include:
unlimited use of 300,000+ images
unlimited use of 700+ fonts
10 percent off licensed images
thousands of ready-to-make projects
unlimited collections
$10 coupon for cricut.com every 3 months (includes free shipping)
10 percent off cricut.com purchases, including machines (up to $100 savings per item)
priority member care
A premium subscription also includes the following:
20 percent off all materials
free economy shipping on orders totaling $50 or more
Mystery boxes are certainly fun, but whether they are useful for you depends on several things. If you recently purchased a Cricut machine, the boxes allow you to build your craft supplies without investing a lot of money on many different items. This also helps keep your supplies to a reasonable quantity if your craft room is small. Gathering materials in this way also eases you into experimenting with different materials that are compatible with your cutting machine. For example, I had never used heat activated color changing vinyl when I attempted to use it on a coffee mug. I had received some in a mystery box, and it allowed me to cut and change my design until I was satisfied with it without buying an expensive supply of vinyl and wasting much of it due to first-time use errors. The boxes also help you replace your standard supplies when tools and mats need to be replaced.
A mystery box may not be for you if your craft room is already overflowing with supplies, if you do not want to risk being disappointed in the materials you receive, if you do not want to chance not receiving a Cricut Cutie, if you do not want to get a repeat Cutie color, or if you do not care to collect Cuties or display them.
Although I do get excited opening a Cricut Cutie box to see which color I received, I found myself tossing them into a drawer and not really enjoying them. I finally decided it was time to display them. I thought about a vase or a display case, but then I settled on a decorative tree.
The best part of using a tree is that you can display your Cuties (or other cherished craft-related collectibles) year-round. A pre-lit decorative tree also gives you the opportunity to enjoy some ambiance with your craft room lights on or off. During the Christmas season, you will have an extremely fun, themed Christmas tree!
I used a four-foot pre-lit artificial Montclair Spruce from National Tree Company. The tree appealed to me because it was not too tall or large to fit nicely in my crafting area, was pre-lit, and had a decorative base that allowed me to display it nicely year-round as a decorative tree rather than solely as a seasonal Christmas tree.
To decorate the tree, I purchased green metal ornament hooks and 1/8-inch thin double-faced white ribbon to experiment with the better hanging option. Although the ornament hooks appeared to wrap around the base of the antennae without scratching the figurines, I decided to hang them with ribbon. I cut approximately a foot of ribbon, centered the ribbon around the base of the antennae to tie a knot, then used the tails of the ribbon to tie the Cuties directly on the branches. By doing this, I felt confident they would not slide to the ends of the branches and fall off due to their weight. With the remaining ribbon, I tied a small bow to add a crafty touch.
The result? I have a mix of childlike joy and relief. I enjoy looking at my collection of Cuties displayed in a unique manner, and I’m relieved I am finally doing something with them other than collecting them in a drawer. It is a perfect balance of hobby excitement and relaxation from the glow of lights during the day. Cricut Cuties do grow on trees!
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