First, make sure you're saying it right: While the cutting machine brand Cricut may look like "cry-cut," you pronounce it like "cricket," the noisy little insect. And the brand has definitely made noise in the DIY arts and crafts world. If you're an artist, parent, teacher or anyone who occasionally needs to craft a gift, project, holiday garland or party decoration, you'll want to know about the deals now being offered on Cricut machines during Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days.
The Cricut's only limits are the edges of your creativity. You can create elaborate party invitations, personalized stickers for an event, scrapbooking accessories, banners for classrooms or home, holiday mantel decor and much more. The Cricut comes with a design app and a content library of digital images (and you can subscribe to get even more), plus a built-in learning plan to teach you how to use your machine. It works with paper, iron-on, heat-transfer vinyl, cardstock, stickers, labels, fabric, foil and more.
The Cricut Explore 4 is on sale for its lowest price all year, $199, down from $249. This might be a good starter Cricut for new crafters. It includes the Cricut machine, a materials sampler, fine-point pen, light-grip mat, weeder tool and 25 images of digital content in the Design Space app. You can upgrade and pick up this Cricut in the engagement bundle or the engagement plus bundle, which includes more accessories.
CNET's Russell Holly gave the Cricut Explore 4 a review score of 8 out of 10, praising its speed and price -- and this was before it went on sale. He called the machine "easy to recommend as the best Cricut machine to either get you started on a new crafting journey or as the best upgrade path if you own a previous generation."
Don't want to spend that much? The Cricut Joy is on sale for $139 (originally $179). This is Cricut's smallest machine, perfect for cards, labels and simple decals. It would be a good choice if you have a small apartment or limited space in your craft room.
The Cricut Joy Xtra is on sale for $149, down from $179. It's a compact machine too, but it offers more options than the slightly cheaper model.
But maybe money's no object? Go all in with the Cricut Maker 4, on sale for $379, down from $399. Yes, that's only $20 off, but if you're going to splurge, it might be worth considering. However, Holly questioned whether the Cricut Maker 4's abilities and features truly justified the higher cost over the Explore 4. The big benefit here: It supports over 300 materials, allowing you to do anything from making your own puzzles out of chipboard or basswood to custom leather jewelry, so if those are your craft areas, the small price dip might be worth it to you.
If you just need a small heat iron to iron patches or vinyl onto hats, shirts and other projects, consider the Cricut EasyPress Mini, selling for just $39, down from $69. Amazon reviewers love it for its compact size, making it ideal for desktop and tabletop projects. One reviewer says it's better than their regular iron for pressing in tight pleats on clothing. Craft on, Cricutters.
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Why this deal matters
If you've had your eye on a Cricut machine, now's the time to assess all these different options that are on sale. They won't be for much longer, as Prime Big Deal Days ends on Wednesday, Oct. 8. This is a particularly good time to purchase the Cricut Explore 4, which has gone down to $199, its lowest price of the year so far.
