Scrapbooking 201: Shaker Boxes

Shaker Boxes

These are fun little additions to any page or card. They take a bit of patience as you may get seed beads all over the place, and will be working with small bits of tape and such. But the end product is fun. I recommend starting with something simple like a square. You may also want to buy a pre-made “kit” for a shaker, to get the basic idea how one is put together.

What is a Shaker box?

A "shaker" box is something like a child's rattle. It is a decorated embellishment for a scrapbook which has a clear plastic top through which one can see loose items inside. When shaken, it makes a rattling sound. This is a wonderful way to add a special little zip to your scrapbook layouts - they can be cute or elegant!

I will quickly run through making a basic square shaker box. Once you master it, then you can try creating different shapes.

Supplies needed:

(2) 3in x 3in Cardstock
(1) 2 ¾ in x 2 ¾ in piece of acetate (use can use transparencies or even cut up a page protector)
Double sided stick tape/tape runner
Double sided FOAM tape
various rubberstamps
various inks

1. Rubberstamp as desired on one or both of the 3x3 in cardstock. Keeping in mind that one will be the frame and the other will be what you see thru the window (so the image should be smaller than 2in x 2in or at least centered based on those measurements). I always like to stamp on my back piece so that there would always be something in the window to look at even if the shaker stuff was all in one corner or at the bottom.
2. Cutting the window. Take one of the pieces of cardstock and cut a square 2in x 2in in the center.
3. Tape acetate to the top piece of cardstock for the window (on the underside, i.e. NOT the side with your rubberstamping) Take good care you can't see your tape through the window front. I always use a tape runner and put the tape on the cardstock side, then place the acetate onto the tape. Clean your acetate if you happen to get fingerprints on it.
4. Now flip the window so you have the backside of the window up. Place small strips of double sided FOAM tape all round the window opening, ensuring there are NO gaps in between the tape (beads will sneak out little holes, so you are building a sort of little well to hold them in right now). DO NOT and I repeat DO NOT remove the protection from the foam tape yet. Note: if you are using bigger filling – you can do two layers of foam tape to allow more gap to hold your beads and such.
5. Fill the little well with seed beads and/or confetti. You can also use tiny buttons, punchies or charms too.
6. Once your well is filled, very carefully remove the protection of the foam tape and the back side piece of cardstock, ensuring that if you have a rubberstamped image, that it is going to show through the window opening.

Now that you have mastered squares, you can do rectangles, hearts, circles...the ideas are endless! You can make pretty much any shape, just make sure you leave enough on the frame to cover the double sided foam tape you will use to add the space for the items inside the shaker.