Zooey Deschanel embraces her crafty side with Cricut
July 21, 2020 | Contributor: Zooey Deschanel
The bright side of quarantine is that I’m able to reconnect with my crafty side. I have always loved crafting, but haven’t had a lot of time to fit in those crafternoons the last few years. Should I say the word, “craft” one more time? Probably! Heck, I’ll say it 3 more times. Craft, craft, craft! There you go!
Luckily I have been fortunate enough to have met the crafting partner of my DREAMS—Cricut, which cuts everything from vinyl to paper to wood to cloth with the precision and talent of a supernatural crafty goddess. I can just sit and drink tea while my sweet Cricut does all the work and makes me feel talented.
What started as a few projects has become a crafting obsession and now my kids want me to personalize everything. (To be honest I probably can as long as I have my Cricut Joy with me.)
See me-in action-creating!
One of my first DIY Cricut home projects
I wanted the beauty of a houseplant but without the upkeep so I decided to make a plant that never needs to be watered! I love coming up with puns this was a fun little project and it looks so cute on my shelf. I was able to pass on most of the heavy lifting to the Cricut Joy so it ended up being a really easy and fun project that came together really fast!

Other Cricut projects I love
There’s some much I can make with my Cricut—check out some of my favorites below. What recommendations do you have for my next project? Tell me in the comments!
My project tutorial
If you need written instructions on how I created these adorable paper house plants and pots, here they are!
First, we’re going to personalize our pots.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Cricut Joy or other Cricut machine (or scissors to hand cut the design)
- (3) Clay pots
- Spray paint, both matte and glossy (white, mint, and pink peony)
- Permanent Smart Vinyl (black)
- Transfer tape
- Moss
- Cardstock (various green colors)
- Hot glue and hot glue gun
- Glue stick
- Foam paint brushes (or a sponge)
- Acrylic paint (magenta and green)
Step 1: Spray paint your pots
I used a mix of matte and glossy spray paint in three different colors—mint, pink peony, and cream. Start with a matte coat first. Then, spray your pots with the glossy paint. Let the pots dry for 24 hours.
Step 2: Cut your vinyl puns
Cut your vinyl phrase using my project in Design Space.
Or use these SVG files if you do not have a machine. Don’t forget to resize them to your project!

Step 3: Transfer your puns onto your pots
Once your vinyl is cut, pull off the excess vinyl (it’s called weeding) and transfer the vinyl with Transfer Tape onto your pots. And you punny pots are done!
If you’re like me and would like a visual aid before taking the plunge, here’s a video showing the transfer tape application process: How to Use Cricut Transfer Tape.
Second, make your paper plants.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Cricut Joy
- Cricut Joy Mat
- Cardstock (various green colors)
- Hot glue and craft glue pen
- Foam paint brushes (or a sponge)
- Acrylic paint (magenta and green)
Step 1: Cut your paper plants
Cut your paper plants by using my Design Space project.
Or, feel free to use these SVG files if you don’t have a machine:
To make my paper succulents and cactus look more realistic, I used cardstock in various shades of green.
Step 2: Paint your succulent and cactus pieces
Brush the edges of your succulent leaves with a foam paint brush (or sponge) and acrylic paint to give your plants more dimension.
Step 3: Assemble your succulents and cactus for each pot
- Succulents: Take two pieces of the cut cardstock and fold the curved edges, one under the other. Continue repeating this process until you have 8 layers. Then, hot glue the pieces to each other until your succulent is full.
- Cactus: Fold the prickly cactus piece in half followed by the round smaller cactus piece. Glue the round smaller cactus piece to the prickly cactus piece. Repeat six times to create each piece of the cactus. Then glue the sides of each cactus piece together to create the dimensional 3D cactus.
Step 4: Fill your pots and hot glue your plants
Fill your pots with moss. Hot glue your succulents and cactus on top of the moss, and voila! Your pots are punned. But, the best part?
They’re going to live forever! Don’t forget to leave me recommendations below on what Cricut project I should make next.
Learn more about Cricut Joy.

Looking for more DIY home inspiration?
Return to the Cricut Guide to DIY Home Projects.
Thanks to Zooey for a great project. I’m going to collect all the items needed to make this today! Hope to see her again with another project.
I absolutely loved your tutorial! You made it look like so easy and so much fun. You explained each step right up to the finished product. I can’t wait for more off your tutorials! 😘😍
You made a fun video to watch enjoyed watching it
Yay! I’m so excited for Zooey to be joining the Cricut family. I know she has so much fun to bring to the (crafting) table!
These are so cute and I love Zooey Dechanel! Where can I get the cut files for this project?
Hi Carol, the SVG files are located in the blog above for both the punny phrases and the paper succulent and cactus. There are also community Design Space links there too.
I see the links for the svg files but how do I download them to my computer or upload them to Cricut Design Space? I have the Cricut Maker and would love to be able to use this project.
Hi Kathy, if you have a Cricut Maker, I recommend using the Design Space project link rather than the SVG files. The project includes the design files so you won’t have to upload separate SVGs. This link is also located above, but here’s it is for your convenience as well: https://design.cricut.com/landing/project-detail/5f060fb9facc6513006115b1. Hope that helps!
I love these! This is my type of houseplant! Haha I can’t wait to see what you create next!
Welcome Zooey. Loved your presentation. Looking forward to your next projects.
I’ve been looking for an easy welcome back gift for my teachers. This is perfect to give! They don’t have to worry about watering and it’s a nice desk decoration. Thank you for the great tutorial.
Great tutorial! I have been wanting to get a cricut but was apprehensive due to lack of space and not finding an easy to follow, fun tutorial. This is great that they made a space conscious cricut. Keep making tutorials! You are so fun to watch and very easy to follow, unlike other tutorials that are just dry. For your next tutorial, could you do a T-shirt transfer vinyl design with the cricut joy then use the heat transfer machine? *which is another machine I’m interested on buying. Thank you
I’m trying to win a Cricut Joy! 😊
I love to make cards etc. and, this craft looks fun too.
I think I’ve just died and gone to heaven… my two favourites Zooey & Cricut!
THANK YOU!!!
Super j adore ce tuto moi même je débute dans le scrapbooking avec une petite machine de découpe merci et rien avoir avec le tutos mais je vs adore également dans la série New girl !!!! Bonne continuation !!!
looks great
My maiden name is Plante, funny thing is I do not have a green thumb. I even killed a catus once. These will work perfectly for me. Thanks Zooey!
I’d like to see you create the flower wreath
Loved the cacti project, so cute.
Nice to see you on Cricut
They’re all fantastic, Zooey, but I fell in love with the mugs–they look so luxe! Hope you’ll be able to contribute more frequently when your schedule allows–it’s fun to see you in this kind of “role”, too!