Ear Saver Donations

You can help essential workers by cutting plastic ear savers with your Cricut. Ear savers prevent pain caused by wearing a mask all day.

Stories about ear savers are flooding my inbox.

They are overwhelmingly positive.

I’ve heard from a mother and daughter who want to supply them to every hospital in New Jersey, a woman who has given away over 1,500 and has the material for over 3,700 (and is running two machines at once while she is working from home and caring for her baby), and MANY people who have made them for friends, family, and the medical workers they see for regular care.

Requests for ear savers have been common; not everyone is able to make them or get them. Last week, a friend asked me to make some for her sister-in-law, who is an ER nurse. The hospital had given out some, but didn’t have enough for everyone. (I frantically searched my home for potential materials and was able to make about 40 for her.)

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Worry and uncertainty fill our thoughts and the news right now. I want to share a few bright, happy reports to counteract those.

Below are stories of positivity, kindness, gratefulness, and helping others. (All are shared with permission.)

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I used your ear saver with the heart that has the “beat line” through the middle for a very special project.  My husband had a heart transplant one month ago.  He has been home for almost two weeks now. 

When we went for his third heart cath and biopsy yesterday (monitoring for early signs of rejection) I took a BIG stack of the savers to be distributed amongst the heart care staff. 

They were sooooo appreciative!!! 

Two of the surgeons stopped by our cubicle to thank us for thinking of their comfort.😅 

Many praised me for being so creative, but I had to give you credit for providing the digital design for making the project and the crafting community for working together to fill a societal need.

THANK YOU for making it possible for me to share with those who have cared for my husband.  Your clean design and very helpful cutting instructions made it possible for me to “cut away” some stress (a much-needed relief) and offer a small token of appreciation.  I will be taking more next week.  😊

– Cathy

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Honestly, I was just scrolling through Facebook in the middle of the night and I saw on one of the Cricut groups that someone was making the ear savers. They had linked to your site to get the SVG.

I realized very quickly that it was a super simple way to help and loved that you were sharing the file for free. I was a little afraid to order the folders because it didn’t make sense in my head how it would play out, but I took a chance on the Target up&up brand folders because they were so cheap. My local Target had 12 red folders in stock, so I thought I would try them and just see what happened.

I sliced the folders into two 9×11 pieces and set aside the pocket scraps for later (I am going to use them to make kids sizes). I started by running the group of four you have together and used my 12 folders to make about 100 of them. As soon as I realized the material was working perfectly, I went online and ordered a ton more from Target.

I gave my first 76 to two of my nurse friends to bring to their hospitals and told them there would be more to come. I gave my brother-in-law 18 for his police department. I gave my mom a few to take to the hospital she works at too.

I realized that if I used only the one plain, thinner style I could get much more out of each folder and out of my blades. As much as I loved the idea of using the ones with the cute cut-outs in the middle, I decided I wanted to make as many as possible. So, I ditched all the others and was able to fit eight per sheet.

Using my 12×24 mat, I make 16 at a time. I am currently running two machines side by side, thanks to my sister-in-law loaning me her Explore One.

I start working on them at 6 AM, and cut until 8 AM when I start work; then I get back to them after work ends around 5 PM. If my day allows for a lunch break, I run them then. Also, I take all the ones that came out with issues to my desk to work on cleaning up during work calls. I am cutting defective ones down for kids’ sizes too. My thought process is that soon masks will be a new normal and even kids may need them.  

I posted on my Instagram and Facebook that I was making them and that they were free for essential workers… and people just started reaching out.

Friends in the healthcare field – from Care One (250 pcs) and Bayada (195 pcs) – to Home Depot (100 pcs). I give them to my mail carrier, UPS, and FedEx drivers as well. I have also sent 600+ to my own company factory workers.

My co-worker’s husband works for a company called Kerry Ingredients, for food products. I thought to send him five in the mail, and then he loved them and asked for 40 more for his team. Then, the whole site was asking for them so I gave him 200 more this past weekend. I sent them to some of my suppliers from work too because they are all working in factories as well. 

I have ordered a total of 232 folders so far – which gets me 3,712 ear savers.

I am just making them until the requests stop coming. I think some people still don’t even know they exist and I am just hoping to get as many out there as I can. My job graciously gave out a $700 bonus for us working during the pandemic so I have no problem using it all and more for this. (Note from Emily: Now that is truly giving! Thank you!)

Attached (the image below) is a sheet I send with them, and I share it online for people who have questions about what they are. I also still don’t know how long they will be washable for, so I do plan on having to send out replacements at some point! 

– Leanne

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Thank you for the file. I’m in England and have made nearly 2,000 and donated them to front-line staff. Many are made from recycled milk bottles. (using a Scan-N-Cut)

– Sue

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I have made 700 and hoping to get more made in the next few weeks. That’s before my 81 first birthday, LOL.

I used 200-micron acetate. I gave 100 each to two different Care Homes, 100 each to different sisters in a L/D Hospital, 100 to a social worker for the deaf, and have just posted another 100 to my daughter for her daughters-in-law, who are also nurses.

– Petrina

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Hi Emily! I just wanted to thank you so much for the medical mask ear saver SVG. My daughter and I are working diligently to make these ear savers for the front liners in our state (NJ). We started a go fund me to get more materials and we are reaching our goal in a matter of hours! Thanks so much for your contribution to helping fight this pandemic.

We tested the original size on masks that my cousin uses in the ER and found that we needed to size up to 8.5″ in width because the mask elastic does not stretch much without breaking off. I will be letting them know that they can cut down at either end if it is too wide. I find the hole in the center useful for interlocking two ear savers – it adds 2.5 in more in width.

A month later, we’ve made over 2,500 so far with about 700 more to go.

I have received feedback that the ear savers are super useful for so many! Thanks again for the design!! Without it, we could not have given some relief to essential workers here in New Jersey. Keep up the good and inspiring work!!

– Stacey

(Their GoFundMe campaign is not accepting donations now because they quickly received enough to purchase the materials needed, but you can read about their inspiring goal on their page.)

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I’ve made close to 800 of the ear savers and donated them locally.

– Courtney

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Awesome, thank you so much for the SVG!!

I’m a licensed chef and recently teamed up with a restaurant supplier and a not-for-profit to provide health care workers with healthy meals and I will add these to them.

Our website is www.crystalsforcovid.com and has more info about what we’re doing. 😊

– Mary

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I hope you’ve been inspired by these notes from people doing their best to make our new normal of mask-wearing more comfortable for those who need it most.

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✨ Looking for more information about how to make your own ear savers? 👂😷

👉 Step-by-step tutorial on making ear savers with a Cricut Explore Air, Cricut Maker, or Cricut Joy (with free SVGs)

👉 How to create custom pressure settings in Cricut’s Design Space

👉 Learn how to add your own logo or text to an ear saver in Design Space

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Ready to download the free SVG or printable? Head over to the 📂 Free Files Folder and enter the ✨ magic word. ✨ (If you don’t have the magic word, just fill in the form below first.)