Gifting a thoughtful gift doesn’t always need to be an elaborate or pricey endeavor. By having a little foresight, you can easily elevate your present by taking advantage of Cricut Design Space. With so many images and pre-designed projects available, upgrading an otherwise simple or inexpensive gift is a breeze. Here are a few options to give a boring gift a pop of intrigue…
Create your own Packaging
Picked up a small souvenir on your last trip? Use this Perforated Pull Tab Gift Box template by Doreen Ng within Cricut Design Space. Perfect for gifting keychains, earrings, or some baby hands.
You’ll find everything you need listed in the description. Other than your Cricut machine and a brayer, you only need cardstock, an acetate sheet and double-sided tape. Or you can substitute the acetate for transparency film, an old cutting mat cover, or any other lightweight transparent sheet you can come by.
Once assembled, use a twist tie or two to secure the item in place, and your gift is ready to go! You can easily personalize this project to fit your needs just like I did here:
Add An ELABORATE GREETING CARD
Don’t feel as though your gift alone is special enough? Create an elaborate, handmade greeting card that is the main focus, letting your gift be secondary. Most people really appreciate knowing you created something from scratch with them in mind. That knowledge in the forefront of their mind will naturally elevate any gift, no matter how small.
Here are a few examples of some greeting card projects available within Cricut Design Space, at varying levels of difficulty.
This Camera Photo Greeting Card by Kimberly Projects in Design Space is probably the simplest example, and yet the most heartfelt. The project includes a print-then-cut image for the adorably designed camera face. The message card is left blank for you to add your own personal message. But the true feature of this card is the excuse and opportunity to print and share a memorable photo. Whether it’s a picture of you and your loved one on a trip together, or a candid shot that they didn’t even know you had taken, this greeting card will double as a gift, with or without an accompanying gift.
Fancy Folds Card November by Beverly Howard and it’s origami-style fold out design is an example of a greeting card that looks more elaborately detailed than meets the eye. This design only uses five colors and thirteen (mostly) simple shapes for quick and easy assembly. Changing out the holiday images -and paper- for your specific needs makes this card a unique yet versatile option.
Card-Fancy Tunnel Card-Birthday by Sharon Drudy is….well, frankly horribly named. But where it lacks in a creative title, it makes up in a truly creative design. Using methods similar to a shadowbox, this pop-up card opens to a beautifully layered bouquet.
…and speaking of bouquets…
Accompany with PAPER FLOWER BOUQUETS
Find yourself with what you later decided was too quaint a gift to give alone? Bust out your Cricut and make some flowers made of paper. Paper flowers are basically free, last a long time, and don’t need to be watered. (In fact, water is highly discouraged). Plus they’re hypoallergenic!
Typing in “Paper flowers” in the Cricut Design Space search bar will offer a myriad of options to work from. You can select a simpler project such as the Flowers in a Basket project by Naomi Stolz.
Or you could go a bit more detailed with the 3D Flower project by Nisara.
Custom GIFT BOXEs
Adding some personalization to your gift box is a simple way to add pizzazz to your gift. You can transform a simple gift box by adding the recipient’s name or something that they are a fan of to it.
Theming the gift box to the occasion is also a terrific way to quickly spruce up a dull gift, like these examples for a housewarming present:
Or these celebratory cake or candle boxes that would work for any birthday, graduation, or anniversary:
And here’s my last minute modification to a standard gift box template:
And that’s not it!
As you can see, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time you give a gift. Simply do a search within Cricut Design Space and see what other creatives have already designed and shared. Especially for those of you that are paying a monthly subscription for it — might as well save yourself some time and mental bandwidth and take advantage of what it has to offer.
And who knows, maybe someone else’s project will spark an idea for your next creation.
Alright, you get the gist. Share your stuff below. Okay, bye….