Shakers Five Ways

Shakers have been popular for years now, but there are so many ways to make one that I thought I’d put together a little list of some of them.  Some are easy, but more expensive, and others are cheap, but take more work.  There is pretty much a method for everyone out there.  

1.  Pre-made forms:  Queen and Co. has created pre-cut adhesive foam shapes called Pop Ups. They come with matching plastic covers and make creating a shaker box pretty easy if you don’t mind spending the money on them.  I made this flower tag using a circle Pop Up, a flower die cut, and some sequins and crystals.       

2.  Foam Tape:  This is a pretty classic way to make a shaker, and it works best with straight-edged shapes like squares and rectangles.  I like to cut my foam tape in half lengthwise to save money, and I usually stack it two layers thick to make sure there is enough room for my fillers to move around between the clear cover and base.  You also want to make sure there are no gaps between pieces of tape where your filler can fall out.  I used a piece of plastic from stamp packaging for the shaker cover on this birthday card.

3.  Stacked paper:  This is the method I’ve used the most.  It’s a bit time consuming, but it’s cheap and you can use it with a variety of shapes.  Using a Silhouette Cameo or other die cutting machine can speed up the process, but you can also hand cut your pieces.  For this ATC I designed a rectangle inside a rectangle in my Silhouette’s design software, then cut a bunch of them out of cardstock along with one cut using just the outer rectangle for the base of my ATC.  I also cut a piece of plastic using just the outer rectangle for the cover.  Once cut, you simply glue together the layers until you have a stack tall enough to cover whatever filler you’re putting inside the shaker, then glue the stacked ring to the background.  Fill the created space with sequins or other tiny bits, cover with the piece of plastic cut to the outer rectangle size, and then cover the plastic with a final ring piece to give it a more finished look.  

My favorite shaker I’ve ever made was done this way.  I cut out the diver’s helmet from Graphic 45’s Voyage Beneath the Sea collection and measured the inner and outer edges of the helmet's window.  I cut rings on my Silhouette to match, and also cut the ring from the G45 image.  After stacking everything and filling with clear crystals, I put the cut G45 ring on top.  I used this for a pocket letter, but someday I want to make another one for myself.

4.  Upcycled packaging: Instead of throwing away molded plastic packaging, use it as a pre-made shaker.  I cut out three rectangles from a package, traced around it on my paper, cut the holes for it to stick through, glued it to the cover paper, filled each rectangle with crystals, then glued the whole card front to the card base.  I’ll admit it took me awhile to get those three holes right (it would be much easier with just a single circle, square, etc.), but it was worth it in the end.

5.  Fuse Tool or Sewing Machine:  Using a Fuse Tool is a great way to make shakers.  I love swapping pocket letters using the 9-pocket storage sheets that people keep baseball cards in.  One of my favorite things to do is turn the center pocket into a shaker by Fusing the top of the pocket closed after filling it.  It also works great for making shakers for cards that are taking a journey through the postal system because they're flatter than traditional shakers, which saves on postage.  Just fuse together two sheets of plastic on three sides, leaving a quarter inch or more of border around the edges.  Fill it up, Fuse it closed, and then glue it between two sheets of cardstock.  If you don't have a Fuse, you can also sew shakers using a machine or by hand.

Recently I did a swap where we made teeny tiny little pocket letters.  You cut out one of the pockets from a 9-pocket sheet protector, then use a Fuse tool or sewing machine to create 9 tiny pockets filled with itty bitty treasures like charms, wood veneers, stickers, flowers, or microbeads.  It's kind of a twist on the usual shaker.

I hope I've given you one or two new ideas for making and using shakers in your projects.  I know this is a fad that's shine is wearing off a little, but they're so fun for both the maker and recipient that I don't think they'll ever completely fade away.  If you have a method to add to this list, please let us know in the comments!  I love to learn how people tweak techniques to make them work for different situations.

Don't Throw Away Those Pilly PJs Yet!

Hi everyone!  I'm back!  Sorry for the long absence.  Some family matters took precedence over many other things in my life, like this blog, but I am ready to roll and get back into it.

In a wishful effort to bring on Spring, I have started to clean out my kids' closets and sort the clothes they've outgrown.  Some go into a bag for donation, some are put away on the off chance we decide to add one more to our family, and then there are those that are too worn, ripped, or stained to donate.  These are the clothes that I think of as creative possibilities.  Before they go into the trash, I see what I can salvage off them.  Sometimes it's just a button or snap, sometimes a pocket, sometimes a big square of the fabric.  But my favorites are the kids' t-shirts or PJs that have a design on the front.  Some of these shirts are even embroidered.

For this LO I took one of my daughter's old PJ tops and cut the front embroidered design out.  Then I cut off the ruffle that was at the hem of the shirt and handsewed it around what was now my title.

Add some glittered cardstock, lots of flowers, butterflies, and bling, and I had a super girly LO for my super girly girl!  

So next time you're getting ready to throw out an old shirt or a ripped pair of jeans, take a look to see what you can salvage.  The back pockets of jeans make great journaling or memoriabilia pockets; zippers, ruffles, and other trims can be wound into unique flowers or used as borders; and even just using a swatch of fabric in your background can add some great texture to a LO.  You'll have a unique embellishment that also has some sentimental value.

Have you ever used old clothing on a scrapbook or art project?  I'd love to hear about it!

The Party Doesn't Stop Here

Wow, as the end of the school year approaches, things sure do get crazy busy!  I've been running all over the place getting kids to track practices, dance class, getting ready for recitals and school programs, volunteering for all kinds of classroom activities, and going to end-of-the-year teas, luncheons, and parties.  Whew!  Unfortunately, the blog is being a little neglected right now.  Sorry about that!

Here is another idea for upcycling some things you might have around the house to make easy and meaningful scrapbook pages:

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I've had a lot of fun doing birthday parties for my kids, and a lot of that fun is in decorating for them.  But once the party's over, should the decorations just be relegated to the trash can?  Of course not!  Having two boys just 19 months apart means I've been able to use some of the decorations for both of them, but I also decided to use some for a scrapbook layout.  This LO is almost entirely made of upcycled party decorations!

The background stripes are made from the streamers that hung from the ceiling, the square Pokemon pictures were cut from the plastic table cloth, the "flags" are cupcake picks, the round Pokemon decoration on the right page is cut from one of the paper plates, and the spokes coming from it to the pictures are ribbons from the balloons and pinata.  The only scrapbook supplies I used were 3 pieces of 12x12 cardstock (I glued two together on the right to create a pocket for his birthday cards and a copy of the invitation), the letter stickers, and the "friends" punch and paper scraps I used to make the journal tag in the upper right corner.