Use What You Have | Happy Birthday Shaker Card Using a Plastic Container

A cost-effective way to make beautiful shaker cards is to use clear plastic containers leftover from restaurants or deli-take-out. They are sturdy, yet lightweight enough to cut with my scissors and paper trimmer.

I started with an A2-sized card base made from white cardstock (#110 weight). I cut a panel from patterned paper measuring 4″ x 5-1/4″ to serve as the back of my shaker card. I also cut used Super Tacky Tape from Creek Bank Creations to back a piece of yellow cardstock before I die cut a “happy birthday” sentiment using a die I had in my stash.

I was so glad I backed the cardstock first because I knew I wanted to adhere my die cut sentiment to the front of the clear plastic, and the Super Tacky Tape makes it incredibly EASY! I adhered my sentiment once I trimmed my plastic to 4″ x 5-1/4″. I also backed a piece of coordinating-colored fun foam with the Super Tacky Tape, as well. That way, I made the foam sticky on BOTH sides before I started my project.

I should make mention that I did use Un-Du Adhesive Remover while I was working with this Super Tacky Tape. That tape is safe for scrapbooking and cardmaking, but that tape is no joke. The Un-Du just kept me from gunking up my scissors and messing up my one piece of clear plastic. And, Un-Du is safe for papercrafting projects (including vintage photo scrapbooking).

I cut skinny strips from the foam and adhered them to the plastic. I did have to double-up on the foam strips, though, because the beads I wanted to use for my shaker needed a little more wiggle room. After I filled the little foam frame with a few beads, I carefully removed the adhesive backing and CAREFULLY placed the patterned paper panel on the foam frame. HINT: keep the clear plastic face-down on the table as you work and then place the patterned paper panel on top of the foam strips, face down.

Before I mounted my shaker to the card base, I trimmed up the edges of the panel. I also cut a piece of blue cardstock to place on the card base itself BEFORE I adhered down my shaker. This wasn’t NECESSARY, but I felt it needed a little dark outline around the shaker.

After I mounted the shaker, I found a cut-apart from the scraps of the same patterned paper pack, and fussy cut it out. Using ZOTS Adhesive Dots, I adhered the cut-apart to the plastic as well.

Then, I finished everything off with a few dots of Nuvo Crystal Drops.
It was so easy to do and it looked great!

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