How to Shake Things Up

Shakers are not just fun, they are functional too! There really isn’t a more creative way to custom build something to hold your memorabilia. From simple squares and borders to elaborate and intricate shapes, shakers can be whatever you make them.

First let’s start with the basics. You need cardstock, plastic (regular office supply store page protectors work great!), filler and some foam tape. When teaching an introductory shaker class, I like to start with a basic shape like a square or a rectangle, so that you can understand the shaker as a technique before jumping into the more elaborate ones.

With the cardstock, you will be cutting out two identical shapes. For our purposes, we’ll say squares. One square should be left completely intact, while the second one should be turned into a frame. You want to leave some room on your frame for decoration, so be generous. On the back of the frame square, adhere your plastic using any type of adhesive you’d like. Now, line the inside rim of the frame with double sided foam tape. (or fun foam run through your Xyron). Be sure that you have no gaps between your pieces of foam tape, or your filler can leak. Pour your filler into this “walled” area, and after taking the adhesive off the back of the foam tape, press the solid cardstock piece to it. Now your shaker is complete!

Some other tips: There are other ways to do shakers, and different shakers may require different types of techniques depending on your filler and the shape of your shaker. You may also remove the tape off of most (but not all) of your shaker, seal it with the solid cardstock, and then pour your filler in, remove the last bit of adhesive from the foam tape, and completely seal it. Additionally, if you wanted to make a shaker and put a photo behind it, you can easily accomplish this by using plastic a second time rather than the solid cardstock, and then make a small “pocket” at the bottom of the shaker to hold your photo. (It is not recommended that you put the photo on the inside of the shaker – some filler may scratch the emulsion on the photo).

From the very basic shaker filled with beads, to the most elaborate shaker filled with keepsakes, shakers are a great way to showcase your memorabilia!
If you don’t want to showcase specific memorabilia like baby hair, tickets, shells, etc, you can use many different types of filler, be creative! Beads, punchies, buttons, confetti, sand, shaved ice are just a few items that you can try.

Remember that with shakers you are only limited by your own imagination!

View a gallery of layouts using shakers here in the Scrapjazz Gallery.

Jennifer Wargo is the author of Sensational Shakers, and idea book dedicated to unique and fun shaker box ideas!

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