5 Must Have Crafting Tools!

I talk a lot about making crafts so today I thought I’d share with you my 5 must have crafting tools! These are my favorite tools that I use on a daily basis. Some of them are affordable life and time savers and others are a little more pricey but well worth it!

Favorite Crafting Tools

1. Advanced Tape Glider – This is probably my favorite tool that I use all the time. It is so easy to tape the back of cardstock or paper especially when layering things. My kids even use it when they are working on school projects. It makes everything go quickly and no fighting with folding tape. This tape is sticking on both sides and glides on easily. Look at the nice straight line of double sided tape!!! Click on link to read more about it:

Scotch CAT 085 Advanced Tape Glider with 2 Rolls of 1/4-Inch by 36-Yard Acid Free Tape,Cure Pink

2. Paper Cutter – I own 4-5 paper cutters. I have a tendency to collect them since I use them so much! I like having a heavy duty one and then a smaller more precise cutter. I like the Cricut Portable Trimmer for easy grabbing and portability. For projects where I need to cut a bunch of paper, I like the Premier StakCut Green Board Trimmer. This one is quite a bit more expensive. It is like the ones they have at schools. The other one I have is a Purple Cows Trimmer than is great too. TIP: when blades start getting dull, slice through foil a few times. This sharpens them up!!

3. Cutting Mat, Long Ruler, and Rotary Cutter – So this is a three in one! I love all of these products and use them together most of the time. These are essentials for quilting but I use them a lot for cutting long paper or fabric. You line the ruler up with the mat and use the rotary cutter right up the ruler edge to get a straight cut. I would love to have the bigger mat (24×36 inches) but it is pretty expensive so right now I have the Fiskars 12×18 Eco Cutting Mat and Fiskars 18×24 Inch Eco Cutting Mat Board.

Fiskars 45mm Contour Rotary Cutter
Fiskars 3×18 Inch Acrylic Ruler

4. Cricut Tools – I personally love the Cricut tools. If you have read any of my other blogs especially about ones with vinyl, I talk about my tools. I highly recommend the Cricut Tools Craft Basic Set.

It has my favorite tools in it and if you buy them separately they are more expensive. The only thing I don’t like in this set is the tweezers. They are hard for me to use. I use the weeding tool all the time and wish I had more since I seem to set it down and lose it all the time. I spend way too much time looking for it! Some people use dental tools which would probably work great it. I also really like the scraper and spatula. I have tried using credit cards as a scraper when dealing with vinyl but it doesn’t work as well as the scraper. They bend too easy while the scraper is sturdy and easy to use.

5. Cricut Explore – Now this is my most expensive tool but also my absolute favorite big purchase. It is so worth it! You can do anything with this machine and the possibilities are endless! A lot of people use it to start a small business. It will pay for itself quickly if you decide to start selling your crafts. There are a ton of youtube videos on how to use the machine. It really is pretty easy once you figure out a few things. Another TIP: to sharpen the blades just push the pin down so the blade shows and stick it into a ball of foil a few times.