A REVIEW: Homemade - A Virtual Event with Cricut (Hosted by Jennifer Tryon)

So we are MOM crafters. It’s a whole different breed of crafting. We can turn around projects, costumes and custom t-shirts in record time. That is our passion. If our kids WANT it, we will make it. Simple as that. Want a monkey shirt? GREAT! come make it with me. A drive through fire station – sure why not! The day I got my Cricut Maker our crafting world got a whole lot bigger. After about 6 months of me having the Maker Mandy’s obsession started when she bought the Joy (read about what she thinks of it here!). So when the FIRST Canadian Cricut conference, Homemade hosted by Jennifer Tryon came up we really went back and forth about going. Like OBVIOUSLY we wanted to attend but it was a big splurge and not only that but then we need to relinquish mom duty to the husbands for the weekend. However, from the MOMENT it started we knew it was worth it. Below I have detailed a FULL review of everything you need to know about the event. So this way when you are thinking about “is it worth it?” or “what will I actually learn?” for the next one (YES Jen – you HAVE to host this annually!!) it will make your decision a little bit easier.

I do have to say how nice it was to shift gears and focus on crafting technique, really learning how to properly use my machine and get inspired for new projects.

We ended up loving the Homemade with Cricut conference so much that we ended up going again and loved it! We detailed our experience at the Homemade with Cricut conference 2022 for you to see how it went!

Looking to buy a Cricut machine from Canada? Check out this post.

This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience, from which we may earn a small commission.

The Rundown

Hosted by: It was a HOMEMADE event by Jennifer Tryon! She is absolutely amazing and really knows how to host a virtual event successfully
This event is a Cricut CANADA event! Which is amazing, not often do we get to attend events that are Canadian based. However it is open to everyone and there were lots of people from France, New Zealand and I think I even heard Australia!
Language: All sessions were hosted in both English and French. I found the transition between the two languages easy.

What does it look like? It runs on and off for 3 days!
- Day #1 Friday: Evening start, opening, one class and Q&A. It was the perfect way to start the conference
- Day #2: Runs the majority of the day but thankfully they don’t start too early! 4 classes each with a Q&A session following
- Day #3: a mix between included classes, add-on classes and the closing ceremony
Cost: $250 plus $30 shipping for the base conference. This includes access to all of the sessions AND best of all. ALL OF THE MATERIALS. Literally everything except the machine came in the most GLORIOUS goodie box I have ever seen!! You can also buy additional add-on classes and cost is dependent on the add-on

Review of the classes:

Apron Class:

Highlights: This class was a great introduction to the weekend! It got our creative juices flowing on a fun project we could wear all weekend. It taught techniques on properly layering HTV and how to turn an image into an SVG in design space, tips on weeding, etc.

Earrings:

Highlights: Using the deep point blade (which came INCLUDED in the box!!). Using the wood veneer (which was a new material for me!) and proper ways to make sure you have proper cuts.

Foil Class

Highlights: This class was not a craft-along like the rest of the weekend but more an intensive in-depth dive into all things foiling including how to use the foiling transfer kit and the foil material. While I don’t think that was intended, I thought Jen & team handled it quite well. They turned the Q&A into an interactive live demo and then we could go back and complete the detailed session afterwards.

Family Throw Pillow

Highlights: This one was one of the standout classes for me. For a few reasons. the first being, I had a love/hate relationship with infusible ink. I was quite familiar with it and had used it quite a lot but I didn’t LOVE it. It was through this class that I was actually able to understand the proper TIME to use it. It was more of what projects lend itself well to infusible vs. when will it be better to use something else. Also, the absolutely incredible power of the Infusible Ink pens

Succulent Pots

Highlights: Honestly – the whole class! This was the most FUN class. It was cute, it wasn’t overly complex (which was perfect at that point since we were on information overload!) and it just really showed a great example of how to easily customize anything to add a bit of personality. Also Holly was absolutely amazing, hilarious and informative at the same time!

Kids Class

Highlights: This class was absolutely ADORABLE. It was taught by Jen’s kids and I brought in my son (who I am always either crafting with or crafting for!). It was so adorable and I loved how my son was so into it too. We used a kids infusible ink shirt and he got to draw his own picture using the infusible ink pens. Then Jen came in and did a more detailed live session afterwards to go over some techniques and tips.

Things that made the weekend EASIER

I found it helpful to set up a second screen so you can multi task. I cannot even explain how essential this is. Then you can be using design space on one screen and using the other to watch the session
Organize your materials per class before it starts (I used an over the door organizer from the closet and it worked perfectly! Also, if you don’t have one – they are MAGIC – highly suggest this one!)
I do suggest using a laptop or desktop if you have that option. Mainly because the ipad app is a bit of a different experience and I did see some comments about that being a bit harder to follow along
You get the BIGGEST and BESTEST box of craft supplies ever! Literally like the ultimate mystery box ever!!!

Reflections from after the session

Was it worth it: ABSOLUTELY
Will we do it again: ABSOLUTELY
The facebook group. I know a lot of events have private groups that are kind of used by a few people. This events facebook group was THE place to be! Everyone was sharing their photos of projects, encouraging each other and sharing additional tips and tricks. They will allow us access to the group for a year to access the video but I know that the amazing creative chatter will continue!