Seventh grader Blaike Long has been monogramming shirts and water bottles since the summer of 2014.  She started monogramming to save money on shirts and to be able to do it at home. Blaike monograms with her Cricut Explore Air machine.

“We got the monogram machine because I love monograms and [buying them] were too expensive,” Blaike said. “My mom got tired of paying a lot of money for a shirt, so we got the machine to be able to do it at home.”

The first sticker Blaike L. monogrammed was a sticker for her water bottle. The sticker was blue with her full name in block letters.

“I knew I was getting the monogram machine,” Blaike said. “I was really excited, but I didn’t know what to expect because I’ve never had a Cricut machine before. When my mom and I first got it we didn’t use it very much because there was a lot of steps to follow. The machine did come with one project to start you off, and that helped me figure it out.”

Blaike doesn’t monogram shirts often, but she does monograms stickers when she is bored or for an upcoming event. She has made about three shirts and over 50 stickers.

“It takes about five minutes to monogram a sticker, but it really depends on the size,” Blaike said. “The machine cuts faster than a normal machine. It takes longer for a shirt because you need a special vinyl to make the sticker stick to the shirt. Then, you have to weave it which makes it different from a normal sticker.”

It is possible to buy custom monogramed items online, but they can be more expensive because it’s more work.

“When getting a shirt monogrammed at a store, it takes longer,” Blaike said. “And they actually stitch it instead of having paper vinyl iron-ons.”

The entire procedure of monogramming a shirt takes up to one hour.

“It’s a pretty long process, you have to make it on the computer first, then you have to make it on the Cricut,” Blaike said. “Then you have to weave it which is like taking the excess vinyl off, and then you have to iron it on a certain way.”

You could make a couple of T-shirts on the Cricut for the same price as buying one shirt online.

“I don’t sell T-shirts because it’s a lot of work and time,” Blaike said. “My mom and I both do a lot so we don’t usually have time to make a shirt. Once you’ve made the monogram for the shirt you have to iron it on. I have a hot press that my mom and I use which makes the job a little easier.”

Her favorite sticker she has made is a blue monogram on her binder, it’s a circle with her initial in it. “My favorite thing about my monogram machine is that it cuts the design by itself so you don’t really have to do any work.” Blaike said.