How to Use Your Cricut for the Classroom | Decoration Ideas

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If you’re looking at how to use your Cricut for the classroom, then this is the post for you!

With some experience under my belt, it was time to do some bigger projects with my Cricut.  I’d done a number of vinyl projects – party favours for my son’s birthday party, mugs and signs. Those are all links for you to look back and check out. Now it was time to do something bigger and more adventurous – I wanted to do something for my classroom.  So with back to school upon us, I’d like to share how to use your Cricut to decorate your classroom. You can use your Cricut in so many ways to decorate your classroom. Here are a few ideas.

On a whim, I had bought a vinyl package off of Amazon – it was a good deal that I couldn’t resist. It was a variety of colours – some I would not have necessarily chosen and so this was a good opportunity to branch out of my colour comfort zone and try something new. Here is an affiliate link for the vinyl that I got.

For details on adhesive vinyl – how to cut, weed and apply, be sure to check out my Cricut Basics post.

My room already has a vinyl quote on the wall. A fellow staff member did this initiative a few years ago – putting up inspirational quotes throughout the hallways of the school. Staff members were allowed to choose a quote of their liking. The maintenance people did this. As I am in a portable classroom, separate from the building, my quote is actually in my room, on one of my walls.

I am quite a minimalist when it comes to my classroom – my bulletin boards have information on them, but it is not highly decorated, nor do I have big displays. Since I teach a specialty area, that is my theme. I also teach a wide range of grade levels so my room needs to appeal to everyone. So here are some basic decorating ideas that can translate into any subject area or grade. For inspiration and ideas, I had joined a Facebook group called Cricut for the Classroom.

So let’s look at some ways how to use your Cricut to decorate your classroom.

The Door

One of the first things you can do to use your Cricut for your classroom is to embellish the door. I had found a picture of a classroom door for inspiration.  My door is metal and so I knew that applying vinyl would be easy. I’ve always wanted a type of welcome on my door. This simple “hello” was perfect.

I wanted a script font (always good practice for students to learn to read cursive writing) and found one on dafont.com called KG Eyes Wide Open. I must say I’m quite a fan of the KG line of fonts – I have quite a few of them.

This project required me to learn how to slice as it is quite big – I had to slice it into 3 sections in order to get it the size that I wanted.  In order to slice, you need two objects in Cricut’s Design Space. I already had the first one – the word “hello”.

For the second object, I used a simple square and resized it to the maximum size for my mat – which is 11.5 x 11.5. I strategically placed the square on top of the word “hello” – I wanted the slices to occur at a place that would make it easier for me to piece back together. For me, that meant in between letters.  So the word was broken down into 3 parts. As mentioned, my vinyl pack came with all sorts of colours – 3 sheets of each which worked out perfectly.  As my door is a kind of burgundy/purple, I picked a fun, light colour.

After weeding, I left the vinyl on the backing. I didn’t apply the transfer tape – I left that for when I was actually in my room, just before applying. Like any vinyl application, I had to clean the surface – so I wiped the door down with rubbing alcohol. In order to make sure it would be straight, I put a line of green painters tape down to act as a guide. Cricut transfer tape is quite sticky – I typically use the same piece multiple times.

Being an outside portable, and having carpeting in my room I am pretty adamant about kids wiping their shoes upon entering.  I certainly don’t want the smell of wet carpeting on rainy days – not to mention the mud. In the spring, when the grass is cut, I always find that their shoes are covered in grass.

My students will tell you that upon entering, I am constantly saying “wipe your shoes!”. Quite often I stand at the door and greet them and tell them to wipe their shoes. I printed out a sign that I taped to my door that tells them to wipe their shoes.  So what better opportunity to do another classroom vinyl project.

For this, I created the message in Photoshop – I used the same script font as the “hello” as I thought it might be nice to match, as well as another font. As I wanted to make sure everyone saw this and did not miss it, I cut this out in bright orange. It’s also fairly big – basically the size of a 12 x 12 piece of vinyl, so you just can’t miss it.

Just like when I’ve made mugs and other vinyl items, I cleaned the surface first.  I used nail polish remover to clean the surface before applying the vinyl. My door turned out great. Even though they are colours I wouldn’t necessarily have picked (I’m more of a neutral person) – I must say that it is bright and cheery.

Cricut for the Classroom – The Ukuleles

My room has both a blackboard (which is actually green) and a whiteboard. I use the whiteboard to teach and use the blackboard more as a bulletin board.  I use it to put my ukulele chord charts up. So of course, there was an opportunity to label it. I’ve never used the blackboard for anything else so why not put vinyl on it?

For continuity, I used the same font as the “hello” on my door.

I have a rolling cart in which I keep a class set of ukuleles and used the opportunity to label that as well – I used the same font again so that it matches.

I love how it turned out. It’s quite a simple thing, but I think it adds a nice touch to my room.

Teacher Desk

Of course, you can use the Cricut for the classroom desk. I toyed with a few ideas – maybe cutting something out on paper, like a banner and then laminating, but in the end, I decided I would apply vinyl to it as well.  I wanted to find a simple and short saying that would apply to any learning situation.

My desk is a standard school issue with the dark brown wood grain look and so I need a lighter, brighter colour to make it stand out.  I decided on the light purple that was in my vinyl pack.  This one was a bit “piecey” as I used a couple of different fonts to get the message across, but I’m really pleased with how it turned out.

Wall Decals

Another great way to use the Cricut for the classroom is by making wall decals. I didn’t want to overdo it, but when I came across this picture of Schroeder playing the piano, I simply couldn’t resist. Up until now, everything I’ve made has been quite generic and simple. I wanted something cute in terms of a picture and when I saw this, I knew I just had to do it.  I made it as large as possible – as vinyl comes in 12″ widths, the maximum size on one side had to be 11.5 inches.  Lucky for me, I had an extra-long piece of vinyl (12 x 24) which was perfect for this.  As it is quite big, the lines are somewhat thick which made weeding pretty easy.

Wall decals should be made with removable vinyl as permanent vinyl can damage drywall and paint.

I’m thinking of a few more wall quotes but must admit I don’t have my entire classroom set up yet. So I need to see where everything goes and then where another quote can go up.

I even put words on my piano:

EDITED TO ADD:  I added another graphic to a cupboard in my classroom. This one is a great message.

EDITED TO ADD:  Our teacher-librarian asked me to put this outside the library learning commons.  I love how this turned out.

Cricut for the Classroom – Clipboards

Not only can you use your Cricut for the classroom, but you can use it to decorate things FOR the staff. Who doesn’t see the benefit of using a clipboard? They hold papers, it’s portable – it’s something I use on a regular basis, so why not personalize it?  I personally prefer the brown/wooden looking ones – you can find these easily in dollar stores.  I personalized it with my subject area, as well as my name.  Again, I used permanent vinyl and applied it on. I did a few – a couple for myself and one for a co-worker.

I’m sure I’ll be adding a few more things as time goes on. I’ll be sure to post those pics on my Instagram.

There are countless ways to use the Cricut to decorate a classroom – I’ve only touched on a few items. Have some other ideas? Be sure to comment below to share them.

Want to remember how to use your Cricut for the classroom? Be sure to save this to your favourite Pinterest board.