- Hello, everybody, Jennifer Maker here. It's a beautiful day to show you how to engrave acrylic night lights with a Cricut cutting machine and share some new designs. Now, engraving on a Cricut
does take some special tools, some time, and some patience, but these night lights are so worth it and I know you're going
to love the results. I'll show you which machine
you need to get the job done, which tip to use, and how
to customize a design. I'll walk you through the whole process from start to finish. So let's head on over to the craft table and we'll get started. (warm music) I love trying out all the different things that Cricut machines can do. Many people are surprised to
learn that you can engrave right on your Cricut
Maker or Cricut Maker 3, but you totally can and they're some of the coolest
projects I've ever made. Now, my last set of engraved
acrylic designs was a huge hit so I hope you like this new
nature themed collection with these super cute animals. Aren't they just so sweet? But you don't have to
use my designs at all, because in this video
I'll also share my tips for choosing the right kind of image that will look best when it's engraved and all lit up like these. These engraved acrylic
nightlights are so fun and I love how simple they are to make with the right materials,
tools, and techniques. Once you finish engraving,
you just clean it off, pop it in the base, and
it's ready to enjoy. I can't wait to show you
how you can make them too. Now, the most important thing is to make sure you get the right size of acrylic disc, like this. The acrylic discs that I'm using are no larger than two millimeters thick, or 1/16 of an inch. Since the disc will go back
and forth under the roller bar, it needs to be thin enough
to glide under it smoothly and not so thick that it
can mess up your machine or the acrylic itself. And unfortunately, that can happen, even if the material is
just a little bit too thick. And even if your acrylic
disc says on the packaging, or in the listing, that it's two millimeters it doesn't mean that
it's exactly that thick. Two millimeters is the max width that the Maker and Maker 3 can handle, so it's a really good idea to
check the width of your disc before you get started. I can't stress enough, don't try to engrave thicker materials. You could really damage your Cricut and you could waste your acrylic discs. I don't want to see that happen to you. So I'll engrave my acrylic with the Cricut Maker 3 right here, but you can also use an original Maker. You'll need the quick swap housing, which looks like this, and an engraving tip in it. Currently, these are the
only two Cricut machines that are capable of engraving acrylic, so don't try to do this with your Cricut Explore, Venture, or Joy. The housing will not fit in those, right? So this is a Maker tool, and if you get them you just have a bunch
of materials and tools that you can't use. However, if you do have a
Cricut Explore, Venture, or Joy, you can still use the designs
I made, just not to engrave. That's right, you can use the designs to foil or to draw on your Cricut with a Cricut marker or a pen. I will link you to my
favorite tutorial for that a little later in this video. So while you can't make
exactly the same nightlight that I've made here, you can still use the
files for something cool. And you'll want to
because they're so cute. Now, since we need the acrylic to stay very secure on the mat, you'll want to use a purple
StrongGrip machine mat. And I'll show you how to
do that with painter's tape to keep it perfectly still. Now, engraving does create some
little plastic bits of waste that you don't want to get inside of your Cricut cutting machine, so definitely have a soft cloth ready to wipe your discs,
mat, engraving tip, and your Cricut down when
you're finished engraving so you don't get those
little bits in there. Now, one last thing to note is that this project
takes a while to engrave, a long while. (laughs) These engravings took between
18 and 35 minutes to complete. If your designs are more
complex than these are, or if you add more text than I used, it will take even longer, but it is well worth the time and nobody's going to believe
that you made these at home. I love adding to my crafting
superpowers, don't you? So are you ready? Let's get my free nature
designs, my free animal designs, and then we'll make some beautiful engraved
acrylic nightlights together. Step one, get my free engraved
acrylic nightlight designs. First, let me show you how to
get my free nightlight files. Go to jennifermaker.com/508 and look for Libraries in
the red bar at the top. Then either click get a password
if you don't yet have one, or click enter the library. You can find the designs on the page by searching for design number 508 and then click it to
download the zip file. Inside you'll find a DXF folder, a printable PDF for tracing by hand, and a folder with SVGs for engraving. In this video, I'll show you
how to engrave an SVG file onto acrylic with a Cricut
Maker 3 cutting machine, but you could also use an
original Cricut Maker for this. I've created four designs
that are ready to engrave: a fox, a hedgehog, an owl, and a rabbit. There's also a file with a set
of lines for filling in text. Today I'll show you how to
engrave the fox and add a name. Then you can use the same steps to create the whole collection or customize an entirely different design that you found or purchased. First, upload your chosen SVG
file to Cricut Design Space. If you're unsure how to do this, go to jennifermaker.com/svgs to learn how to unzip
and upload SVG files. Then add the image to your
canvas and let's get started. Step two, prepare the file. This is what my fox
engraving design looks like in Cricut Design Space. Before you begin preparing
the design to engrave, make sure you have a
good internet connection and any auto sleep functions are turned off on your computer. Remember, these night lights
take a while to engrave so you don't want to lose the connection and have to start over. Your settings may look different than mine depending on your operating system. Now click on the shapes icon to the left and select a circle from the free section, and then add it to your canvas. With the circle selected, click the Operation menu and select Guide. Now it's open in the middle. With the lock icon closed, type 4.5 into the width field to make the circle the same size as the nightlight disc
in my materials list. If you're using a different size, you'll want to use a
different sized circle. Be sure to measure. Then click Arrange and Send to Back. Click and drag the design so it's centered inside the guide circle. With the fox design selected, click the field under Operation at the top and choose Engrave. Now your Cricut will know
how to engrave the design rather than cut it. I've sized these designs to fit nicely on the 4.5 inch round
discs that I'm using, but you can make them larger
if you want or need to. Just keep in mind that
you'll want to leave about a quarter of an
inch between the design and the edges of the disc, or even more if you want, so you have space to
apply the painter's tape. Now we're ready to engrave,
unless you want to add a name. Let me show you how to do that. Click Text and type the name
or word that you want to use. I'll use my daughter's name, Alexa. With a name or word selected, choose a font from the Font menu. I'll use my JM Tall font, which you can download for
free at jenniferMaker.com/437. Keep in mind that if
the font you've chosen is on the thicker side, the Cricut will only engrave
the outline of the words and not fill them in. If you run into this use my
method at jenniferMaker.com/454 It aligns SVGs to fill them in. Now click Operation and
then choose Engrave. This is how it will
look when it's engraved onto the acrylic nightlight disc. Click on the corner of the text box and drag it to resize the name so it fits into the
space above the design, but it's still about a quarter inch from the edge of the guide circle. I think adding a curve to the
text will look really nice. To do this, click on the Curve menu and then move the slider back and forth until you're happy with how it looks. If the letters are too
far apart from each other or need to be stacked vertically, click Advanced then
choose Ungroup to Letters to move the individual letters into place. Once you're happy with
the look and placement of your text and design, click Select All at the top and then click Attach down here to attach the design and the name. This is very important. Don't forget to do this. And once you've attached everything, they will then engrave all together just as shown on your screen. Step three, engrave
your acrylic nightlight. Make sure the correct machine is selected, and then click Make It. On the Prepare screen,
leave Mirror turned off, and then center the image on the mat at the six inch horizontal
and vertical marks. Then click Continue. On the Make screen, click
Browse all Materials and search for acrylic. Select Acrylic, Thick 2
mm, and then click Done. Under Pressure, I suggest selecting More for the best quality engraving
on your acrylic nightlight. Now load the engraving tip
in its quick swap housing into clamp B of your Cricut
Maker or Cricut Maker 3. Move the four white star wheels
all the way to the right. We don't need them and they might catch on
the disc when engraving, and we don't want that. Now remove the clear protective cover from one side of the acrylic disc. Leave the cover on the other side for now. Then place the disc, uncovered side up, on the center of a purple
Cricut StrongGrip machine mat. Use the cross in the center
of the mat as a guide to get the disc as centered as possible. Once it's nice and centered, stabilize it even more on the mat by using painter's tape
around the disc's edges. Try not to tape over any areas
that you'll be engraving. Now load the prepared
machine mat into your Cricut and press the flashing
button to begin engraving. Even though this part takes a while, I recommend you stay with
your Cricut and your computer to make sure everything
keeps running smoothly. When it's finished engraving, unload the machine mat and
remove the tape and acrylic disc. Wipe the acrylic engraving
debris from the top of the disc using a soft cloth. Wipe any debris off the machine too. You don't want the little acrylic bits to get stuck in your machine. Next, remove the engraving
tip from the Cricut and use the cloth to wipe any
debris from its sharp end. If you notice any tape
residue on the disc, you can use a little rubbing alcohol and your cloth to remove it. And then finally, peel
off the protective film from the back of the disc. Step four, assemble the
nightlight and show it off. To finish the engraved acrylic nightlight, simply insert the disc in the
slot on top of the LED base. Plug in the base or add fresh batteries and then enjoy your gorgeous
new custom engraved nightlight. (twinkling music) You can follow all of the same steps using your own choice of design, but how do you know if your design is suitable for engraving? One way to find images to engrave is right in Cricut Design Space. Click on Images and
then Browse All Images. Now search for a subject
you'd like to engrave. I'll search for a deer to
go with our nature theme. You'll notice that there's a green ribbon with an A on these images. That's because these are
only available for free to Cricut Access subscribers. If you check the box next to Free, you'll only see completely free images. I like this deer with its
pretty flourish details, so I'm going to select it
and add it to the canvas. Now under Operation, change it to Engrave. This is how the deer looks engraved. It's really pretty, isn't it? If you want to engrave
something a bit more intricate, you can search again. This time I'll search for flowers. Let's try these. Now change the operation
to Engrave and ta-da. That's how your pretty
flowers will look engraved onto your acrylic nightlight. You can repeat these
steps for any SVG file, and you'll get a preview of what your engraving will
look like when it's complete. And now you have even more options for your fun engraved nightlights, and so many other projects too. When I first started Cricut crafting, I had no idea what these
machines were capable of. I just got my Cricut to
make a pattern for smocking, and I had no idea I could do
all of these amazing things. And engraving on the Cricut
Maker is so much fun, and the final results are so satisfying to display around the house. Wouldn't these make a cute kids gift? You could either also use
them as a housewarming gift, a new baby gift, or even just
as a way to light up a space with some customized cuteness. And remember, even if you can't
engrave with your machine, you can use the files for
another purpose, right? SVGs are so versatile this way, and these designs will look fantastic foiled or drawn onto a card,
framed into a piece of art, and endless other possibilities. And this goes for most
other SVG files too. Now, it's important to note
that the Engrave operation will only work with SVG
files not with PNG files, but wouldn't it be fun to turn photos or other images into SVGs that you can use to
engrave onto nightlights, not to mention using lots of other ways? I've got a workshop for that. To find it, go to jennifermaker.com and look for Learn in
the red bar at the top, then click on Courses and look for the Photo to File Workshop. There, I'll teach you how to turn photos into beautiful SVG cut files that you can use on so
many different projects. It's so fun and I can't wait
to see what you come up with. Speaking of which, I invite you to come post and share photos of your engraved nightlights in my Cricut Crafters group at jenniferMaker.com/cricutcrafters. And if you have any questions
about working with acrylic or using the engraving tip or anything else craft related that you think I can help you with, post those questions there too. Or just leave a comment below this video. I'm always happy to help. And if nothing else, tell me which of these cute
animals you like the best. I'd love to know. I think the fox is the cutest, but maybe it's tied with the owl. I'm not sure. Anyways, that's it for today. Until next time, this is Jennifer Maker, reminding you to craft a life you love. (warm music)
