DIY Stick Horse with Cricut

OMG todays project is maybe one of my favorites ever. Ever since the launch of the Cricut Maker last summer I have had so many ideas floating around in my head that I wanted to make a reality. One of them was my Personalized Finger Puppets and I just LOVE the way they turned out. It's no secret that I'm a die hard Cricut fan. (See all the proof here), with the Maker and it's adaptive tool system, the possibilities of creativity really are endless! The performance and versatility really are unmatched.

Growing up my brother and I had our own stick horses. We loved chasing each other around on them and, on occasion used them as weapons haha. Well my best friends daughter has been loving horses lately (thanks to the Spirit Riding Free on Netflix) and I had the idea to attempt to create a stick horse of my own for her and I LOVE the way they turned out!

Supplies

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Cricut Maker
Cricut Cutting Mats (You'll want a standard grip as well as a fabric mat)
Cricut EasyPress (Or Iron)
Cricut EasyPress Mat

Cricut Iron On (I used black, black glitter, white and white glitter)

Cricut Designer Fabric (I used Sweet Prairie)

Wooden Dowel (I used 1/2 inch)

E600 Glue (not pictured)

Sewing Clips (not pictured)

Batting (not pictured)

I started by designing the file in Cricut Design Space. Did you know the Design Space software is available for iOS, Android, Windows, AND Mac?! You really can use it anywhere! Especially with the machines bluetooth wireless technology! The original Design Space image is actually a unicorn (one of the "Three Unicorns" from the Unicorn Squad cartridge)  but I really wanted to do a traditional stick horse so I modified it to be a horse, you could totally leave it a unicorn for a more magical look though! Here is what it looked like before:

And with a few little modifications, voila, it's a cute horse!

The project is good to go if you want to make your own, all you have to do is click "Make It"! It's always easiest to change the colors to the materials you'll be using on the canvas screen to make loading the mats easy. 

Once you're in the mat preview screen, take a look at all of your mats. Don't forget to mirror any mats that will be any form of Iron On. Because for this project you will be cutting two of everything, facing two different ways, you technically don't have to mirror, but it's a good habit to get into. You can see from this picture where you can select the mirror option (the green toggle switch). 

This is also where I usually play around with the mats to minimize my iron on waste by moving all of my cuts appropriately on the mats, that is totally optional though, just me and my OCD haha. Also, be sure in between mats to double check your settings and be sure that you have selected the right material for each mat, especially if you are using glitter and lite iron on, and be sure to use Fast Mode where you can for up to 2x faster cutting and writing!

With all Iron On, you're going to want to put it face down on your cutting mat so your machine can do what is called a "kiss cut" where it cuts the vinyl but leaves the carrier sheet in tact. 

Technically with your fabric you also want to put it face down on your fabric grip cutting mat but again since there will be two cut out, I placed it face up and was fine. 

Watching the rotary blade work never gets old. And those cuts... perfection! The rotary blade makes cutting virtually any fabric without backing possible like it never was before!

Once all of your mats are cut, weed all of your iron on and start separating the front pieces from the back.

 Then, using your EasyPress (or iron) begin to apply your iron on. Because they are always updating it, be sure to reference the EasyPress recommended settings before getting started. You'll want to put the glitter iron on down first because it requires the most amount of heat. I did the mane and bridle in glitter, so those went on first. 

And then I applied the standard iron on, the eyes, nose and ears. 

Repeat on the other side. A couple of tips while working with your iron on:

-Be careful that your carrier sheets don't end up under any of your vinyl

- Always be sure to cover all iron on either with a carrier sheet or protective barrier of some kind so that it doesn't come in contact with the heat source. 

Then it's time to sew! Using sewing clips (or pins), clip your two pieces together and sew! Be sure to leave a small opening at the bottom to add batting and the dowel. 

Once you are finished sewing, begin stuffing your horse with batting, be sure to get it all the little corners too. I used a small wooden dowel to help, but your fingers work just fine also. 

Keep adding batting until you are happy with it. 

Then place your dowel inside, it may take a little wiggling but you'll want to me sure it goes all the way through, to give the head stability. Once you've got it through, seal the opening using E6000 glue. Once you are finished, add sewing clips and let it dry. 

Let the glue dry for several hours.

Removing the clips may be a little difficult depending on how much glue you used but you should be able to get them off with a little muscle. 

And that's it! The Maker really does all the hard work for you, all you need are the materials and some basic sewing skills and you can make a DIY Stick Horse of your own!

To make your own DIY Stick Horse click HERE

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.