There are two different kinds of stencils: those that you can reuse, and those that are single use. Single-use stencils are usually made from Cricut stencil vinyl and are great for use with etching, painting, and applying wood burning gel.
In this tutorial, I'll show you how to take your stencil for Cricut one step further and make a reusable stencil. Reusable stencils are a great way to apply designs to things that you aren't normally able to. A fantastic use of learning how to make a stencil with Cricut would be to make fun designs on the top of your coffee, and with so many amazing designs to choose from, you will definitely find exactly what you are looking for on Envato Elements.
Are you a fan of stencils and can't wait to make your own with your Cricut? You cannot miss this course from the Envato Tuts+ YouTube channel, where I explain everything in detail:
What Materials Can I Use to Make a Cricut Stencil?
Reusable stencils are normally not made from Cricut stencil vinyl, but are instead made from a thicker non-adhesive plastic sheet like Mylar. However, Mylar is often hard to find, so you can use many other different things, like overhead transparencies, clear plastic sheets, and frosted sheets.
Frosted sheets are my personal favourite to use as they are easier to see than the clearer ones, and they're softer to cut through on your Cricut, so you won't blunt your blade as quickly. I have gone through many types of materials in my search to find the best stencil paper for Cricut, and these are definitely my recommendations.
What You'll Need to Make a Stencil With Cricut
- Acetate/Mylar/frosted sheet
- Coffee bean stencil icon
- Your Cricut machine
How to Make a Stencil on Cricut
Step 1
After adding your design to your canvas, start off by resizing your design. You can do this by hovering your mouse over any corner block and dragging it in or out depending on whether you want it smaller or bigger.
Step 2
In order to complete the next steps, we need to have this design on one layer, so if your design is on more than one layer, you will need to right-click and Weld it.
Step 3
Add a shape by clicking on Shapes and selecting the shape you want the stencil outline to be. I will be using a Circle, but another shape may work for you!
Step 4
Resize the shape to have enough space around the edge of the design. Another way to resize a shape is to type in the size you want it to be in the Size section at the top of your screen. Most stencils don't need to be very big, so you can easily use your Cricut Joy to cut these stencils, even the vinyl ones!
Step 5
Right-click on your circle and click Send to Back, so we can line the two designs up more easily and see the coffee bean on top of the circle.
Step 6
Now it's time to make sure that our design is centered, so we need to select both layers, click on Align at the top of your screen, and select Center.
Step 7
With both layers selected, right-click and choose Slice. If you cannot slice, it is because you either have one layer selected or more than two. It only works when you have two layers selected.
Step 8
On the right-hand side of Cricut Design Space, on the Layers panel, select the two layers that don't have the design cut out of the circle or shape that you've used.
Step 9
Move those two layers away from the main design to make sure you have the correct layers selected, and delete them.
Step 10
This is what you should end up with, and you are ready to cut your design out of whatever material you have chosen!
Congratulations!
Your stencil is now complete, and you can use this stencil to decorate your next coffee!
Looking for the Perfect Coffee Icon for Your Cricut Stencil?
Finding the perfect stencil for your Cricut project is so important, and there are so many different things you need to keep in mind when looking for a stencil for your Cricut designs. Here's a selection of the best Cricut stencil icons.
1. Misc Coffeeshop (SVG)
So many of these are the perfect choice for any Cricut Joy stencil vinyl project, and these ones have some very nice, simple designs, which is a real plus when it comes to making a stencil for your coffee cup.
2. Coffee and Tea (SVG, PNG)
Many of these ones would also look really good when you are learning how to make a stencil on Cricut Design Space, but they are more on the challenging side because of the details within the icon itself.
3. Coffee and Tea Doodles (EPS, JPG, SVG)
Now these icons and doodles would work amazingly as outlines. So I would recommend uploading the SVG and using only the outline as a cut file. These images are very detailed, but would work beautifully for a stencil or even as print then cut on other projects.
4. Coffeeshop (SVG)
These icons are more examples of ones that would work really well when you cut the outlines or just the lines of these icons. Most of these icons wouldn't be too detailed to work as stencils, but would still be quite challenging to use.
5. Coffee Time (EPS, JPG)
Probably the most challenging one to use, but again, using the outlines of these ones would work very well for your Cricut stencil project.
Learn More Complementary Skills for Cricut
To go along with these stencils, you can learn some other Cricut skills and expand to other projects. Check out some of these tutorials that will help you to up your game in Cricut Design Space.
