Shaker Card Tutorials for Birthday Shaker Card and Holiday Cards!

Learn how to easily make a shaker card two different ways using a Cricut. Step by step tutorial on making holiday and birthday shaker cards!

I recently received some fun glitter in a subscription box and I was brainstorming ways to use it and a shaker card popped in my head! I haven’t made shaker cards before so this was a perfect excuse to get back to paper crafting.

I tried a few different ways and learned along the way so I wanted to share with you how to make a shaker window card with a Cricut the easy way! We will be making a birthday shaker card and a Halloween card.

There are quite a few DIY shaker card tutorials out there using plastic bags and plastic from toy boxes, but using a Cricut really opens up the possibilities to further customize a fun handmade shaker card.

So What are Shaker Cards?

A shaker card is a fun card that has a clear window to fill up with glitter or other sparkly fillers that move around when a person shakes the card. The fillers will settle to the bottom of the card when the card is held up right, but as soon as you tilt the card or shake it the sparkly bits move around inside the window.

Why Make a Shaker Card?

Because, why not??!! They are just a fun card to make and an even more fun card to receive! They are pretty easy to make with a Cricut and you probably have most of the supplies you need to make someone smile when they shake the card.

You’ll love seeing the smile on someone’s face when they open the card!

If you don’t have a Cricut, there are shaker card kits you can find including Jillibean Soup shaker card kits on Etsy or Amazon. But you are limited to the kits you can find!

What to Put in Shaker Cards

There are so many fun shaker card fillers. I went through my craft stash and found a ton of little sparkly trinkets that would be perfect to put in the window of a shaker card.

Shaker card filler ideas:

• chunky glitter
• sequins
• small beads
• small buttons
• rhinestones, jewels, and gems
• glitter confetti
• glitter in different shapes like stars, hearts, flowers
• confetti
• paper cut with hole puncher
• Sprinkletz
• slime sprinkles or fake sprinkles
• fake snow flakes

If you are interested in learning more about glitter, you can read about the types of glitter here.

Ok, so now you know what a shaker card is and what to fill them with, let’s make a couple using two different methods!

Birthday Shaker Card Supplies

For my birthday shaker card, I used my Cricut Maker 3 and Smart sticker cardstock. But you can use any Cricut such as the Cricut Explore Air 2 or the Cricut Joy to make shaker cards.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links from Shareasale, Cricut, Awin, CreativeFabrica, and Amazon.com. I receive a small commission at no cost to you when you make a purchase using my links (purple text). As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

• cardstock
• acetate sheets
• foam sheets– I got mine from the Dollar Tree
• double sided tape
• a mix of your favorite chunky glitter, sequins, or other fillers
• Cricut Maker 3
• Smart Materials Sticker Cardstock
• Cricut Scoring Wheel – optional

Designing Birthday Window Card in Cricut Design Space

There are a ton of great cards to use if you have Cricut Access or sometimes there are free designs. The best ones to use are ones that have some kind of opening where you will see fillers behind it. You’ll have to do a little visualizing!

I typed in birthday card in the Images search bar and found one that would work well once I get rid of some of the layers. This is image #M4CF49.

This is what it looks like once it’s on the canvas. I ungrouped the image and deleted off the envelope since I won’t be using it.

Then I took apart the card itself. So for a shaker card, you need a top layer that we will attach the acetate to, a layer that will add some depth (I’m using foam), and then the bottom layer which is what will be seen through the window.

I am going to cut the acetate sheet with my Cricut, but you can definitely just use some scissors and cut a square to fit behind the opening.

And there are always multiple ways to create things in design space! I’m going to show you what I did, but you can do whichever way works for you!

Since I don’t want the layer with all the flowers, I changed it to the rectangle for the acetate sheet. While it was selected, I clicked on the Contour button on the lower left side and then clicked on Hide All Countours.

Now we are left with just a rectangle. I dragged the corners to make it just a little smaller so you won’t be able to see the acetate on the sides. (You could have also just added a rectangle shape and sized it!)

As for the card background, I just want it solid. The filler will sit on top of this part. Again I wanted to use the contour tool to make it a rectangle. But since it had a scoring line attached, it wouldn’t let me!

When this happens, you simply need to hit the Detach at the bottom and then click on the rectangle and then on the contour.

I clicked on the inside shape that I wanted to hide and then Xed out of the screen.

Now we are left with a card rectangle, but we need to add the scoring line back to it. Select both the rectangle and the scoring line (by dragging your cursor over both) and click Attach.

Ok, so now we have the three pieces we need to make our shaker card!

Putting Together DIY Shaker Cards

Follow all of the prompts from CDS and cut the layers out, making sure to change the material for each layer.

I am using my Cricut Maker 3 and the sticker cardstock to cut out some gluing! But you can use regular cardstock for the top layer too!

With Smart materials, you don’t need a mat so I just inserted the sticker cardstock on it’s own!

Next, I cut my acetate sheet, but again you can easily cut it with scissors!

My card layer required me to swap out my fine point blade housing for my scoring wheel #1 (CDS stops and tells me to do all of this!)

Once we have everything cut out, we are going to assemble… the fun part!

Again I’m using sticker cardstock, so I pulled the top layer off the backing and picked out the extra pieces (or you can weed them before!)

Now we need to attach the acetate sheet to our top layer. Since my paper is sticky, I just laid it right on top. But if you are using regular cardstock then you’ll need to glue it on with double-sided tape.

I had to transfer the top of the i after, directly onto the acetate.

So for this shaker card tutorial, I am using a foam sheet to add a little depth for the shaker fillers to move around. You need something that goes all the way around the card so none of the filler falls out!

I had 4×6 foam sheets from the Dollar Tree. You can also use your Cricut to cut these, but I just cut them with my ruler and exacto knife to cut out a window.

Then I added double sided tape to the foam frame and stuck it on the acetate making sure to not have any of the yellow foam showing through the opening. You need a really good seal on both sides of the foam, so make sure to get the double sides tape all the way around without any gaps!

Now add the double sided adhesive to back side of the foam layer. This is going to stick on our card!

Now you are going to add the fillers you have on top of the scored card base. Try to put the glitter in the middle. I have all of this on the video on this page, so make sure to watch if you need to see these steps in action!

Then you are going to flip the top layer of the card over and line it up with the edge of the card. Press down all the edges well!

That’s it, your birthday shaker card is ready! You can see the filler pieces spread out when the card is flat…

And then settles down to the bottom when it’s up right!

Perfect to add into a birthday wine gift basket for a friend!

Shaker Card Using Foam Tape

So for this Halloween shaker card, I’m going show you how to use double sided foam tape. I got mine from the Dollar Tree. This is the same method I used for my snowglobe Christmas shaker card.

The foam tape is a little thicker so you can see the edges of it, if you turn it on it’s side! The edge of the top layer of my card was a little too thin so I had to cut my foam tape in half!

This was the Halloween card I found in Cricut Design Space. Can you picture all the glittery things behind that top layer?? Again, I made a rectangle to be cut out of acetate.

I used these fun Halloween glitters I received in a subscription box from Glitter Luv. Get 25% off your own box by using my affiliate code CRAFTING25 at Glitter Luv.

So first, I glued on the yellow glitter cardstock to the back of the black front piece and then I glued on the acetate piece. In this photo, I’m using a glue stick, but it didn’t hold! I had to use a liquid glue!

Now to add the depth to this handmade shaker card, we are going to be using skinny double sided sticky foam. When using the tape, you want to make sure to have all the edges meet so none of the filler can get out.

With this type of card since there is a good amount of cardstock at the bottom, and we don’t want the filler to sit behind it, add the tape on the top part of cardstock section. Remove the backing from one side of the foam tape and place it around the edges.

Totally optional, but since I knew some of the white would show on this black card, I used a Sharpie and colored the edges black!

Now put whichever fillers you want in the center of the base cardstock (on the side that will be the front).

Remove the paper backing of the foam tape, line it up and press it down.

Being the perfectionist, I colored all the white edges in with Sharpie!

If for some reason, the recipient was going to turn the card on it’s side, you can tell the difference between the black colored in foam vs the side not colored.

And our second shaker card DIY is done! I am going to be sticking this Happy Halloween card into our boo bucket for our neighbors!

Then learn to make Cricut address labels to add to your holiday cards!

I am working on some Christmas shaker cards for a YouTube video so stay tuned for those! I hope you will add shaker cards to your list of fun Cricut cardstock projects!

Save this shaker card tutorial for later, by Pinning it Now!

Thanks for stopping by and have a creative day!