These Halloween Shakers look wonderful and make a satisfying sound. And they entertain whoever sees them. But the kits are expensive. You can make your own shaker cards for under a dollar with materials you can buy at Walmart.
I wasn’t going to put these up for a couple weeks but I was watching HSN Craft Day this morning and someone was selling Halloween shaker kits for $24.95. I thought I can make them for pennies! So I decided to post them today.
You will first want to read my general hints and instructions. It will tell you what materials you can use cheap. They can be found at this link:
What you will need:
- Acetate
- Adhesive 2 mm craft foam
- Shaker parts for the inside (I use sequins or beads mostly)
- Cardstock
- Glue
- Xyron Create a sticker machine
- Download file
Cutting the Foam and Other Parts
In the download files for the Halloween shakers, the blue parts are cut from foam, cut the black part from acetate and cut the pink parts from cardstock. The design space files may have text labels that say this. Do not cut the text labels out. I suggest that you cut one set of shapes at a time and cut out all the parts before you try to assemble the shaker.
The foam should be cut from a color close to the cardstock color you use. Other than that choose the colors you like. These , of course, look best in Halloween colors.
When cutting the foam on the Air I have found you need a little more pressure than the standard foam setting and may have to cut them twice. The maker cuts them fine.
Assembling the Halloween Shakers
Before you start assembling, run the pieces of foam through the Xyron Sticker Machine putting glue on the foam side without the paper. If you have to remove the foam from the paper to get it off (this happens a lot) use a piece of wax paper or left over paper from another sticker to cover the sticky side. Leave the center piece inside the outline until after it is run through the Xyron. This makes cleaner glue edges.
I have found it easier to build up from the solid back, so first put down your solid back on the work surface. Then remove the paper from one of the pieces of foam and stick it to the acetate. Make sure all the edges are sealed. The foam will move slightly if you need it to. Then put the other piece of foam on top exactly over the first piece building it up.
Adding Shaker Parts
Next put your shaker parts (sequins, beads or whatever ) in the center carefully avoiding the glue on the edge. You can add a little or a lot. Your choice, but if you add too much it won’t shake well.
Lastly, put the acetate over the foam to seal the bead area. Be sure the chamber is sealed all the way around.
You can now put the piece of cardstock with the holes cut in it over the acetate. Liquid glue works best. I prefer Art Glitter Glue because of the fine tip and it holds wonderfully and permanently while letting you move the parts around for about 30 seconds before it dries.
The Halloween shakers are now ready to attach to your card or whatever you are making. Enjoy!
I used the extra pieces from the centers (with glue on both sides) to make cards and put on some foil that adheres to sticky that I got from Queen and Co. to at a little extra bling. You can get it here. I also added some to the ghost shaker above. Just put some tape glue on the the cardstock.
Love these Halloween shakers!
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