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Don't let its size deceive you, the Cricut Joy is the small but perfectly formed cutting machine that crafters are raving about!

If you’ve seen the excitement around all things Cricut the past few years but have been unsure if you’re crafty or tech-savvy enough to fully get to grips with one of the clever multi-use machines, the Cricut Joy could be just the thing for you.

The Cricut Joy is the smallest of the three machines in the current Cricut product line-up, but don’t let its size fool you...

Although it's considerably smaller (and cheaper) than its bigger siblings, the Circut Explore 3 and Cricut Maker 3, the Cricut Joy can still make short work of complex crafting projects.

If you want to dip your toe into the world of all things Cricut but aren’t sure where to get started, the Cricut Joy is a perfect choice. This budget-friendly small but mighty machine can cut, write and draw, making it the perfect crafting companion to any DIY project that needs a bit of extra flair.

What is the Cricut Joy?

The Cricut Joy is an electronic cutting machine designed for the hobby crafter. It takes the cutting technology of the larger Cricut machines and packages it into a nice neat portable machine that allows you to craft whenever and wherever you want.

The Cricut Joy works in the same way as previous Cricut models – it uses an articulated blade, controlled by the Design Space software, to precisely cut through a range of materials. The blade tool can be swapped out to hold a pen for drawing designs or writing in beautiful fonts, and also, the Cricut Joy Foil Transfer Kit which lets you add metallic gilded accents to your projects.

How is the Cricut Joy different from other models of Cricut machine?

The main difference between the Cricut Joy and other Cricut cutting machines is its compact size; it’s almost two-thirds the size and weight of the Cricut Maker 3 and Explore 3.

This overall reduced size means it has a smaller workable area when designing and cutting projects and has a cutting width of 11cm (4.5”) compared to the 30cm (11.5”) of other models.

The Cricut Joy also has a sleeker design with no buttons on the machine; it simply switches on when connected with the power cord and links to your phone or computer wirelessly via Bluetooth.

The other noticeable difference is the lack of a second tool slot – the Cricut Maker 3 and Explore 3 have two tool housings allowing you to use more than one tool at a time on a project.

What can you do with the Cricut Joy?

Don’t be fooled by its size! Even though it’s small, the Cricut Joy can cut through 50+ materials including Art Board, Cardstock, Vinyl (Iron-on/Permanent/Semi-Permanent) and Paper. This makes the Cricut Joy ideal for a wide range of fun and easy craft projects.

Getting your home organised has never been easier! Put a pen into the Cricut Joy tool holder and have it draw out your design/write your labels. Then swap the pen out for the cutting blade so that it can ‘kiss cut’ (a shallow cut used for creating stickers or labels where the tool only cuts through the top layer of the sticker paper and not the backing sheet) your label shapes ready for you to use.

Being able to craft with vinyl is one of the main reasons people treat themselves to a Cricut machine. There are so many ways to use vinyl, but a fun and easy project to start with is making some simple decals that can be added to mugs or drinkware. Your keep cup will look instantly more stylish.

Whether you want to make matching t-shirts for a family holiday or put a witty quote on a tote bag, the Cricut Joy has you covered. You can add colourful designs to almost any fabric using HTV or Cricut Infusible Ink sheets.

Simple but effective greeting cards

Making a greeting card is a great first project to try on the Cricut Joy, and it’s made all the simpler thanks to the Cricut Joy Card Mat and Card Inserts!

One thing that the Cricut Joy has that the other machines don’t is the Cricut Joy Card Mat. The Cricut Joy Card Mat works with Cricut Joy Insert Cards to help you make stunning greeting cards within a matter of minutes without having to use a scoring tool or get messy with a glue stick!

What vinyl can the Cricut Joy cut?

The Cricut Joy can be used to cut several different types of vinyl:

Smart Vinyl – Cricut originally designed Smart Vinyl to work specifically with the Cricut Joy (although it is now a standard feature on all new Cricut machines) so that users could cut projects without using a mat.

Since you aren’t governed by the size of the mat when cutting Smart Vinyl, the Cricut Joy can cut single images up to 1.2m long (4 feet) or make repeated cuts for the whole length of the material roll.

Permanent Vinyl – If you want your project to last, then permanent vinyl is the material to use. Once applied to a surface and given 24 hours to ‘cure’, it’s really difficult to remove.

Permanent vinyl can also withstand hand washing, making it perfect for personalised cups, mugs and bottles.

Non-permanent Vinyl – Non-permanent vinyl is ideal when creating projects such as wall decals. The adhesive is sticky enough to make sure it holds well but not so strong that it’ll remove paint from the surface it’s applied to when removed.

Iron On Vinyl/ Heat Transfer Vinyl – Iron On Vinyl is used for making custom clothing or adhering your designs to any kind of fabric medium. You cut your design in reverse when using HTV as the vinyl is held in place by a carrier sheet. Once the design is weeded and placed onto your fabric, you use a heat press (the Cricut Mini Easy Press is ideal for Cricut Joy projects) to bond the Iron On Vinyl to the fabric.

Cricut Joy Must Have Tools & Materials

The Cricut Joy can be used straight out of the box to create projects, but to get the most from your machine and widen the range of what you can make, you’ll benefit from buying a few additional tools and materials.

If you want to try out some Cricut materials as soon as you get your machine, consider buying it as a Cricut bundle, which will include materials and potentially some tools, depending which one you choose.

Cricut Joy Pros and Cons

Size – The Cricut Joy has been designed so that it’s able to be used with limited disruption to your workspace while still keeping all the main functionality of the larger machines in the Cricut range. It's extremely portable and perfect for use on the go.

Price – The Cricut Joy is a much more affordable machine that the Cricut Maker 3 or Cricut Explore 3. If you’re just starting out with learning to use a Cricut and don’t need all the extra tool functionality, it’s a great purchase. If you want to cut bigger projects and a wider range of materials, you can always upgrade to a bigger machine later!

Range of materials – Due to its smaller size and lower cut force, the Cricut Joy can’t handle the same range of materials that the Maker 3 or Explore 3 can.

Project size – The smaller width cutting area of the Cricut Joy does mean that you are slightly restricted with how large you can design and cut projects. It’s not impossible to cut a larger design; it just requires using Smart Materials (so you can use the matless cutting feature) and a bit of planning.

No cross-compatibility of tools – The Cricut Joy can’t be used with mats from other models of Cricut due to the width difference of the cutting area. Blades from other models of Cricut also aren’t cross-compatible as the tool housing on the Cricut Joy is a different size.