Last year when I attended Blog Podium I was lucky enough to win myself a very cool little machine: a Cricut Explore One. I had no idea what to do with it, and though I learned some great basics at the conference, I have to say, I was a bit overwhelmed by it! Thankfully, after opening it up and now having used it for several projects, I can say that it's not overwhelming at all! In fact, this little guy is something I just turn on and use on a whim some days! I even keep it right by my desk so it's always ready to go.Now, my office space may not be pretty (it's in between our kitchen and laundry room right now), but it's functional.But back to the Cricut. I do occasionally move the shelf out a bit when I need to open it up, but I find that it doesn't need a tom of space anyway. I could even move it up a shelf and then I'd never have to move the bookcase. Yep. Just thought about that right now. Yikes.The machine itself has places to store tools like scissors and other handy things meant to help you peel off vinyl and other materials. I could keep it in the handy cup holder, but babies! So instead, I keep them in the compartments inside the door.They stay out of tiny hands and are still very easy to get to when I need them.I have some ideas for future projects to make with this lovely little machine, and I'll be sharing them in the next 3 weeks. Until then, you can see how I used the Cricut to make some olive leaves out of paper for both our Christmas tree as well as the stair garland.Have you used a Cricut before? If so, send me your tips!! Thinking of getting one? Let me know what questions you have that I can answer for the next post! This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.