Craft Closet

08/20/2026

Something special for our maker community!

We’ve teamed up with Aliencell for a limited-time giveaway featuring their NEW X1 Lite, and one lucky maker will get to take one home!

The X1 Lite is designed to be easy to get started with, while offering a large engraving area with plenty of room for bigger projects and ideas. Whether you’re new to laser engraving or already an experienced maker, there’s plenty of room to explore and create.

🎁 Prize: 1× NEW Aliencell X1 Lite
📅 Giveaway Period: August 20 – September 20

Entering is easy! Join the giveaway through the link below and complete the entry actions to earn more chances to win. Want to boost your chances even further? Invite your maker friends and earn 3 extra entries for every friend who successfully joins!

👉 Enter here:
https://gleam.io/eUlwj/community-giveaway-win-an-aliencell-x1-lite-laser-cutter-and-engraver

Now for the fun part 👀 If you won the X1 Lite, what would be the first thing you’d make with it?

Drop your ideas in the comments. Good luck, makers! 🍀

Meet the NEW Aliencell X1 Lite! 🎉 We’ve teamed up with the Diode Laser Group to celebrate the launch of our newest laser, and one lucky maker will take home an Aliencell X1 Lite! Complete all the required steps below to enter. Want more chances to win? Invite your maker friends and earn 3 extra...

08/19/2026

My cute little grandkiddos are going back to school! We had a such fun weekend trying to fit in last minute summer activities together! Saturday we had a fun craft day making some special things to help back to school be a little less intimidating.
They helped me use my xTool M2 to make printed lunch bags and print and cute lunch notes to use the first week and we also used it to engrave names on their pencils! I love how the same machine that engraves can also print full color and cut it out!
Who else is making back-to-school a little more personal this year? Share what you did for back to school in the comments!
xTool is having a Back-to-School special sale that lasts a few more days so if you are thinking about getting one now is the time. https://xtool.pxf.io/c/7450295/1830359/21846

08/17/2026

This week's Craft Closet $10 Specialty Acrylic is Wyvern Scales Acrylic! It is both Diode and Co2 Laser compatible!! Sale is good until Sunday August 23! Don't miss out!

08/14/2026

Don't miss this 3-day sale! Finished Baltic Birch is 20% off now until Sunday, August 16, 2026!

08/11/2026

This weeks Craft Closets $10 Specialty Acrylic is GoldBrushed Bronze! Sale is good through Sunday, August 16!

08/07/2026

I own both the xTool M2 and the Glowforge Aura, so I decided to put them head-to-head. I picked these two because they're surprisingly similar: both are diode lasers, with my xTool M2 running 10 watts and my Glowforge Aura running 6 watts. I will also post a video of the actual test being done.
I used this fairy file for the test from community. Its designer is Magic Maker Lab. I made a 6-inch square around the fairy in Adobe Illustrator and saved the file as an SVG so that I could use the same exact file in both lasers.
I cleaned both machines to make sure the test was accurate.
I cut the projects at the same time and used the presets from each laser for basswood 1/8” material.
The xTool M2 took 18 minutes to engrave and cut, and it worked perfectly the first time. The Glowforge Aura took 1 hour 17 minutes to engrave and cut, but the cut passes cut in different spots and not the same spot so the cut didn’t work. I redid the project, but this time I cut first and engraved second to make sure the cut would actually work before wasting time on the engrave. It again took 1 hour 17 minutes to cut and engrave but worked perfectly the second time.

Laser Positives (in my opinion):
xTool M2:
Time it takes to do a project
Software is free to use
Accuracy in cuts
Accuracy in the dual cameras (auto focus, auto alignment and auto positioning)
Accessible set up cost
Plug and Play
Seamless print and cut if you purchase the extra print head.
Glowforge Aura:
Accuracy in the camera
Passthrough to fit longer materials (the software doesn’t support the passthrough so I just use it if my material is longer than 12 inches)
Small footprint
Plug and Play

Laser Negatives (in my opinion):
xTool M2:
There is no crumb tray so the bottom plate of the laser gets scratches and marked up with the laser cut. (This doesn’t affect the laser operation, just the appearance.)
Glowforge Aura:
About half the time I do a cut project each cut pass cuts in a slightly different spot, so I end up redoing the whole project.
Time it takes to do a project.
Software cost money to use tools and designs.

The MSRP for the xTool M2 is $599 and the MSRP for the Glowforge Aura is $1200. If you buy the print bundle for the xTool M2 (yes, it can print on some materials!)it is $749. This price is without any sales that may be going on.

In the pictures you can see the end results and I added a results chart too. At the end of the day, both lasers have their strengths, but for me, the xTool M2 came out ahead on speed and reliability. Has anyone else run into the multi-pass cut issue with the Glowforge Aura, or is it just me? I'd love to hear about your experience with either laser — drop a comment below and let me know which one you'd pick!

08/07/2026

This is the video I made showing the xTool M2 and the Glowforge Aura test. See my other post for all my thoughts on it.

08/06/2026

Craft Closets weekend sale! 20% off all cork and chipboard! Sale good until Sunday, August 9th!

08/06/2026

Dias 2 haciendo regalitos para regreso a clases utilizando mi xToolOfficial M2. 👩‍🏫

Realice grabado en la madera del borrador y apliqué un nombre en acrílico. 💖 Mi acrilico es de Craft Closet

Comenta link 🔗 si te gustaría adquirir los productos de este proyecto.