Did you know the bottom piece of your Cricut Maker opens up and is a drawer?  I will be making a foam piece to fit inside this drawer so my Cricut tools can be stored nicely in there and not move around when I open and close it.   

When making this piece I used foam sheets from Dollar Tree that were 4×6 inches and about 1.2 mm thick.  It is recommended to use foam sheets that are at least 4×8.5 inches (a little bigger is better) and 2mm thick.  The Dollar Tree foam sheets did work, but it was a bit more work.  If you choose to use the Dollar Tree or other smaller foam sheets like I did, then I recommend placing them on your cutting mat so that the first foam sheet ends just shy of the 4 inch mark.  This seemed to be the best placement for the transition to the new foam sheet.  My first cut was on my green foam sheet, which I just laid both foam sheets long ways.  There was one section that was just barely hanging on.  If you buy bigger foam sheets you will not need to worry about this.   

This design can be found for free in Design space.  There are a few paid versions as well, so just make sure you keep looking till you find a free one.  The free ones are in the community section, then type tool organizer in the search bar. You can also click this link: https://design.cricut.com/landing/project-detail/5fbb9a0ecb46d210ccf4bcb6

When you cut out your foam sheets it is best to use your rotary blade, this should have come with the Cricut Maker.   You should then select flannel as your material setting.  My pink mat, which is what you should use your rotary blade on is very sticky.   So, I thought it would be a good idea to use a less sticky mat.  I decided to use my green mat.  That was a bad idea.  The rotary blade started to cut/dig into my mat.  This foam can tear and get stretched easily, that is why I decided to use the less sticky mat.  So, just be very careful when removing your foam sheets from your mat.   

Once all of your pieces are cut out, it is time to assemble them.  I noticed when I clicked make it, the pieces are not in the same order.  So, pay close attention to the colors to figure out what order to place your pieces in.  The first layer is gray, then blue, green, red, orange, yellow, and the last most top layer is the white. I also placed a pretty piece of cardstock over my foam sheets once they were assembled, just to make it look nicer.  If you also plan on doing this, then cut your cardstock with the white layer design.  pay attention to how you assemble your foam sheets, because if you flipped them like I did, then you will need to mirror your cardstock before you cut it.  I started gluing the bottom layer first and worked my way up to the top.  The side that was cut on will have small lines from the rotary blade.  These lines will not show once everything is assembled, but I put this side down.  When assembling it is also important to make sure the right side has the small indication, so it will fit nicely in you drawer.   

I just applied a generous amount of Elmer’s glue to each layer and made sure everything lined out nicely before moving on to the next layer. I also used a paper towel to wipe off any extra glue that seeped through.  After two or three layers I would wait for the glue to dry a bit before adding the next layer.  When the glue was still wet sometimes the layer below would move when I moved the top layer.  So, just take your time with it.  I added random small items on my desk on top of my foam layers to help hold them in place as they dried.  Once the foam layers are glued together you can add the cardstock if you choose.  This just makes it look nicer. Do, not forget to mirror this depending on how you assembled your layers.  I used Elmer’s glue to attach my cardstock to my foam sheets.  I then let this all dry before putting it in place or adding any of my tools to it.   

It works very well, and I am very happy with it.  It did not take too much time to make and the cost was minimal.  I did not use this storage before because I did not like hearing my tools shift around as I opened and closed my machine.  Now, I can utilize this great extra storage space, and my tools do not get knocked around.  I was going to have my boyfriend make me a piece to fit inside here with his new 3D printer, but I like the cushion of the foam much better.  If you have any issues when making this yourself, please do not hesitate to ask, I would love to help if I can.  

If you are interested in purchasing more Cricut tools to fill out your new Cricut tool organizer, then click here to Cricut.com.