The Crop-A-Dile

The crop-a-dile is usually used by scrapbookers, and I'd read reviews about it. I've been holding off buying one because I'd read a review that had said it doesn't work well with fabric even though the package says it works with paper, leather, plastic, metal, chipboard, acrylic, fabric, and wood.


Pros:
• Will cut through chip board, CDs, clipboards, layers of cardstock, plastics, and tin like butter. I have tried it on a coffee can (works great), plastic yogurt cup, cardboard, and fabric. It worked wonderfully on all.
• Reaches 1" into dimensional items (like buckets and tins). An advantage for items that cannot be laid flat on a surface which is necessary for the tool setter & hammer system.
• It is one tool (excluding packaging) instead of a cutting mat, hole punch, too setter and hammer.
• Takes very little pressure or strength to set eyelets and snaps. Might be a plus for those with carpel tunnel syndrome.
• It's quiet. No banging, pounding, snapping or twisting.

Cons:
• It won't reach any farther than 1" reach so your eyelets etc can't be more than 1" from an edge. If you want to be able to set eyelets anywhere else, this probably wouldn't be the right tool.
• It's a little big and chunky, and the handle are a bit far apart which might not be great for small hands.
• This wasn't a big deal for me since I eyeball everything. You have to look down a hole to see your hole markings if you make them. So you'd need good lighting and good close-up eyesight.
• Again, this wasn't a biggie for me once I figured it out. You have to watch the pressure applied to the handles so you do not mar the eyelet or squish it flat, which I imagine is easy to do on cardstock (if you're a scrapbooker).
• It only sets 1/8" and 3/16" size eyelets. I only use 3/16 so not a big deal to me.
• It's pretty expensive unless it's on sale, or you can use 40%-50% off coupons that some stores offer.

I found the crop-a-dile on sale at Hobby Lobby, so I figured what-the-heck, I'll try it. I didn't realize it punched holes until I got it home and started playing around with it. So not only is it supposed to set 2 sizes of eyelets and snaps, it can punch the holes for them... and advertisements proclaim it can set any metal embellishment. Since I don't know anything about metal embellishments, I'll just stick with talking about how I'd use this cute tool.

If you buy the green tool, the case comes with it. If you buy the pink one, the case comes separately. I didn't have a choice, HL only had pink ones and being the gadget freak I am, I *had* to have the case. With the case comes 400 eyelets in various colors: dull silver, pewter, silver, black metal, gold, antique brass, antique copper, and copper. That's a LOT of eyelets.


My first test consisted of using the hole punch through a double thickness of aida. While the crop-a-dile did the job, it wasn't a smooth cut for the hole and I ended up trimming excess threads.

Second, I tried a triple thickness of aida with two thin pieces of cardboard. The hole punch cut a smooth hole. I'm thinking that even if I don't use cardboard in my finished project, I may use it for stability when punching through fabric.

Setting the eyelets was simple. Just put the eyelet in the hole and line it up on the crop-a-dile. Squeeze the handles together lightly and viola... done. Out of the five I did, I only messed up one of the eyelets and I think that's because I didn't have it lined up correctly on the tool.

Front
Back

The colored eyelets didn't come with the case, I had them in my stash. My skepticism is gone. The tool works great, and I can use it to embellish other crafts as well.

Here's a good video on how to use the tool:


Other videos can be seen HERE and HERE.