You can make these Back to School Shakers for your cards and scrapbook pages. I have included 3 bonus card design. See them at the bottom of this post. And you can do it for pennies! Inspired by the Leprechaun shaker I made for St. Patrick’s Day, I made several of them print then cut fancy back to school shakers.
Shakers make such a satisfying sound. And they entertain whoever sees them. But the kits are expensive. I saw some on HSN for almost $29. You can make your own shaker cards for under a dollar with materials you can buy at Walmart.
You will first want to read my general hints and instructions at this page.
What you will need:
- Acetate
- 2 mm craft foam
- Shaker parts for the inside (I use sequins or beads mostly)
- Cardstock
- Xyron Create a sticker machine or liquid glue
- Printer
- Download File (the cards are there too)
Cutting the Foam and Other Parts
In the download files, the blue parts are cut from foam, the black part from acetate and the rest of the parts are cut from cardstock or print then cut images. You should use white cardstock to print them on.
Cut one design at a time (pencil, apple, microscope, schoolhouse) and cut out all the parts before you try to assemble the shaker.
I suggest that you cut the foam from a color close to the cardstock color you use or print. When cutting the foam on the maker, I have found you need a little more pressure than the craft foam setting. The Air cuts twice and does fine.
Assembling the Back to School Shakers
Before you start assembling, run the pieces of foam through the Xyron Sticker Machine putting glue on the foam side without the paper. Leave the center piece inside the outline until after it is run through the Xyron. This makes cleaner glue edges. If you don’t have adhesive foam you will have to run the foam through the Xyron twice, flipping it over for the second pass.
I have found it easier to build from the bottom up, 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 base. The foam will flex slightly if you need it to. Then put the other piece of foam exactly on top over the first piece, building it up. Don’t put the acetate on yet.
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. Believe it or not, the most common mistake is to forget the acetate when assembling your shaker. This gets messyand you end up picking up the shaker parts from the floor.
You can now put the cardstock outline over the acetate. Glue it with liquid glue.
The Back to School Shakers are now ready to attach to your card or whatever you are making. Enjoy!
Assembling the Back to School Bonus Card Design
These bonus card designs are super easy to assemble and can be cut from any paper. If you don’t use two sided paper, you need the rectangle under the frame on the cover. Otherwise hide it when cutting because you really don’t need it. (The schoolhouse card is like that.) Use a pen that shows up on your paper. On the first card below, the writing doesn’t really show up in the picture, but you can see it on the actual card.
Glue the cover overlay on the front of the card if you need it then attach the “frame” piece, centering it the best you can. Then attach the shaker of your choice. The apple works best for the teacher card, but they all will work for all the cards. Lastly fold the card on the score line and the bonus card design is done. They fit in an A7 envelope,
