Yachter, you could buy a board at Lowe's and have them cut it into "blocks" for her if that's what she wanted to make. However, I would imagine she would be more interested in creating banners for her room, signs on cardboard for her door at home like "no boys allowed" or like Jeanne suggested she could make cards for friends or scrapbooks for her pictures. There are tons of ideas out there, I've seen those $1 wooden frames from Michael's decorated with scrapbook paper and then some words. I just did three square glass bowls for Halloween, I'll have to get a picture taken of them to show you. Another fun thing is to personalize water bottles, book bags, and note books. These are not inexpensive however because you have to buy the cartridges for the letters and shapes and those usually run around $30 on sale. Once in awhile you can find some for less. Luvs

Thanks for the reply, sboxx. I've been doing some looking around on the internet and think the deal at Costco is the way I'm going to go. You mentioned a good price from Walmart on the Expression, but I have to think that's for the machine only. At Costco, I would also be getting 3 cartridges, which I'd have to purchase anyway because what good would the machine be without cartridges? Also, in looking around and reading reviews on several sites on many of the different Cricut products, I found out about a site that seems to have the best prices on cartridges. It's cricut-central.com.

Linda this is the package I got...it was the Todays Special and it was 399.00. I couldn't let it go this time! Release your creative side with the Cricut Expression and YourStory Craft Bundle. Make large die-cuts for classroom decor, scrapbook layouts, signs, banners and much more with the Cricut machine. Bind and laminate your albums, work reports or school projects with the YourStory machine. These 2 powerful systems give you the ultimate in versatility and make personalizing craft projects - large or small - fun and full of life. Cricut Expression Bundle Includes: Cricut Expression die-cutting machine - measures approx. 22"L x 9"W x 8"H Cutting mat - measures approx. 12"L x 12"W Cutting blade 2 full-content Cricut cartridges: "Walk in My Garden" and "Plantin SchoolBook" 3 Cricut solution cartridges "Indie Art", "Home Accents" and "Camp Out" 3 black Cricut color ink cartridges 2 brown Cricut color ink cartridges Yellow Cricut color ink cartridge Red Cricut color ink cartridge Green Cricut color ink cartridge Orange Cricut color ink cartridge Blue Cricut color ink cartridge Spatula tool Power adaptor Instructional DVD - "Getting to Know Your Cricut Machine" User's manual Registration information card Quick start guide YourStory Binding and Laminating Bundle Includes: YourStory binding and laminating machine - measures approx. 19-1/2"L x 7"W x 8-1/2"H Extra large cover - measures approx. 8-1/2"L x 11"W Large cover - measures approx. 8"L x 8 2 medium covers - measure approx. 7"L x 5"W each 4 small covers - measure approx. 6"L x 4-1/2"W each 6 laminating pouches - measure approx. 9"L x 11-1/2"W each 12 papers - measure approx. 8"L x 8"W each 3 sheets of stickers - measure approx. 8"L x 8"W each Cricut Machine Features: Exciting way to cut letters, shapes and phrases in impressive sizes - up to 12"L x 12"W Multi-cut function - easily cut a wide range of materials including vellum, cardstock, poster board and vinyl; cuts up to 4 times over original cut lines Flip function - easily create a flipped or mirrored image cut of the shape you choose Line-return function - create line breaks between each cut for accurate spacing Center-point function - cuts shapes and centers them on a designated point; use on photographs or patterned paper in the landscape mode Fit-to-length and fit-to-page functions - easily set the size of the length of a designated cut; maximizes the size of the shapes on each page Auto-Fill mode - fills page with as many of the characters selected on the display as will fit on the page Quantity mode - lets you choose the number of cuts you want of those selected on the display Paper-saver mode - automatically arranges selections to take up the least amount of space possible on your paper Shadow option - creates a proportionately larger shadow image of each shape you select Mix and match - use a variety of creative features in the same cut; take advantage of the entire library of existing Cricut cartridges Spatula - allows you to remove finely cut images from cutting mat Colorful markers - substitute for cutting blade to draw designs instead of cutting them LCD screen - shows exactly what you're typing Variety of sizes - cut portrait or landscape Easy to use - no computer necessary 4 languages: English, French, Spanish and German; includes metric options YourStory Machine Features: Large, 12"L x 12"W capacity for binding and laminating Great for unique gifts, memory books and a host of paper crafting projects Personalize books, albums and journals Clean binding system Laminate your own photos and important documents (insurance cards, certificates, licenses and reports) Make your albums, presentations and reports look their very best Additional Information: UL and ETL listed Made in China Comes with a manufacturer's 90-day limited warranty Note: The Cricut machine can cut up to a 12"L x 24"W image if used with the 12"L x 24"W cutting mat and with 12"L x 24"W paper (sold separately).

I think if she begins to like it she will want the larger one. If she wants to make something 24" tall she can with the large one and it can be 12" wide or 12" tall either way with the larger one. She can also cut multi times on the large one and put a quantity in. The large one has more functions and since she is doing a wedding she will probably need the larger one. Cartridges can be expensive and she probably got 2 good ones with the larger one. The best place ito buy cartridges right now is Ebay under scrapbooking then cricut cartridges,,,or on a site called customcrops.com. They have good prices. Micheals and Hobby Lobby charge 89.00 per one where these places you can get one as low as 20.00 - 35.00 and they have a really neat wedding one that just came out. Hope this helps you some.