12 Cricut accessories that actually earn their drawer space
Every Cricut owner accumulates a drawer of regret — tools bought in a 2am optimism spiral that never touch a project. This list is the opposite: the twelve things that survive every tidy-up in my craft room, because they get used weekly. Prices are Amazon Australia; most sit well under $30.
Links below go to Amazon Australia. We currently earn nothing from them — if that ever changes, this note will change too, plainly.
1.A LightGrip mat (the blue one)
The green StandardGrip mat ships with the machine and shreds cardstock and lifts vinyl mid-cut once it wears. The blue LightGrip is what vinyl and paper actually want. Buy the 12×24" — you'll grow into it.
See LightGrip mats on Amazon AU →2.Fine-point weeding tweezers
The hook tool in the starter kit is fine until you meet a script font at 8pt. Proper fine-point tweezers turn weeding from rage-craft back into craft. A two-dollar difference in tip quality is an hour of your life per project.
See weeding tweezers on Amazon AU →3.An XL scraper
The little scraper is a burnisher pretending to be useful. The XL version seats transfer tape in two passes instead of ten and doubles as a mat-cleaning squeegee. This is the tool I lend and never get back.
See XL scrapers on Amazon AU →4.A brayer roller
For getting fabric and larger vinyl sheets onto a mat without bubbles or stretch. Fifteen seconds of rolling saves a misaligned cut you won't spot until weeding. Non-negotiable for anything bigger than A5.
See brayers on Amazon AU →5.PTFE (Teflon) pressing sheets
If you do any HTV at all: one sheet protects your iron plate, one protects the garment, and none of your vinyl ends up fused to the wrong thing. Cheaper than one ruined hoodie.
See PTFE sheets on Amazon AU →6.Heat-resistant tape
Holds layered HTV designs in registration while you press. Painter's tape scorches; this doesn't. A roll lasts years and prevents the heartbreak of a top layer pressed 3mm off-centre.
See heat tape on Amazon AU →7.Clear transfer tape with a grid
Cricut's own is good; the generic gridded rolls are 80% as good at 40% of the price, and the grid is what keeps long decals straight on a car window or a toy tub. Medium tack for everyday vinyl.
See transfer tape on Amazon AU →8.Replacement fine-point blades (genuine)
This is the one place I don't buy generic — off-brand blades sit differently in the housing and quietly wreck your cut settings. Buy genuine, buy the multipack, change them more often than feels thrifty.
See genuine blades on Amazon AU →9.A magnetic parts dish
Stolen shamelessly from mechanics. Blades, housings, tiny screws, the weeded scraps with static ambitions — everything stays where you put it. The single best sub-$10 upgrade to a craft desk shared with children.
See magnetic dishes on Amazon AU →10.A vinyl roll organiser
Rolls stored in a tub curl, crease, and vanish. A hanging or cubby organiser means you can see what you own before you buy a fourth roll of the same rose gold. Ask me how I know.
See roll organisers on Amazon AU →11.A self-healing cutting mat (A3 or bigger)
Not for the machine — for everything around it. Trimming vinyl off the roll, cutting transfer tape, resizing card. Protects the dining table and gives you straight edges by default.
See cutting mats on Amazon AU →12.Mat-cleaning supplies: baby wipes and a lint roller
The unglamorous truth: a $4 lint roller re-tacks a "dead" mat more often than any spray marketed for the job. Wipe, roll, air dry. Your mats will outlive your patience for this hobby's prices.
See lint rollers on Amazon AU →Got a tool that survived your drawer cull? Tell us on Pinterest.