Valentines Day Shaker Card

With Valentines Day nearing and the frantic search for a thoughtful gift for loved ones beginning, think about making your special someone a card. Add your own personal touch to this simple "shaker card" as well as reasons why you love your special somebody!

If you do not have a Valentine this February 14th you can still feel special. Simply make the card a week before Valentines Day and stick it in an envelope. Instead of buying flowers for anybody else on this "day of love," buy them for yourself and insert this card in the bouquet. Ask the floral service to deliver the gift to your own address on February 14th. Hopefully you have forgotten about this present by the time you wake up and are thoroughly delighted to see someone thought about you.

Good luck and have fun!

Step 1: Gather Materials and Tools

Materials:

White Card stock

2 contrasting colors of "Valentines Day" colored card stock (I used dark red and pink)

Transparency Paper

Tools:

Scissors

Stick Glue

X-Acto Knife

Pencil

Pen/Marker *optional*

Step 2: Make the Base

Fold the white card stock horizontally, then unfold and fold vertically. This will create two card bases, one of which will be used in this project and the other can be used for future cards.

Step 3: Heart Cutout

For this step I used two index cards, however any piece of paper can be used. Fold the paper(s) in half and draw two half hearts using the folded line as one edge.

Within one of the hearts draw a slightly smaller one. The inner heart should be about a centimeter from the outer one. Cut out this newly drawn inner heart as well as the larger one drawn on the other fold line.

You should end up with two perfect hearts, one smaller than the other.

Step 4: Cutting the Base Card

Place the larger heart outline in the center of the card base and trace it. Place the smaller heart inside the outline of the larger one. Trace this outline as well, creating a heart with a border.

Step 5: Make the "Heart Borders"

Trace both the outer and inner hearts onto a piece of card stock. I used red, sticking with the Valentine's Day theme.

Using an X-Acto knife cut out the inner heart. Then use scissors to cut out the outer heart. You should be left with the border of a heart.

Repeat this step so that you have two heart borders, as shown in the picture above.

Step 6: Cut the Heart From the Card Base

Place a heart border in the middle of the card base. It should closely overlap the already drawn outline, however if it does not, no worry is necessary. Trace the inner hear of the border with a pencil and cut it out using a X-Acto knife.

Open the card, placing the second heart border on top of the heart-shaped hole. If any white is visible from the card base, mark it using a pencil and trim in with a X-Acto knife. This extra step ensures the card will look crisp when presented.

Step 7: Cutting the Clear Barrier

Trace the outer line of a heart border onto a piece of transparency paper. Cut out the transparent heart and place it with the heart used as an outline.

Repeat this step with the other border so that each one has a matching transparent heart.

The clear hearts will be used to contain the contents of the shaker card.

Step 8: Adhere the Clear Barrier

Using a glue stick, apply glue to the heart border. To have a cleaner end product apply glue to the rougher side (ie. rips, pencil marker, blemishes, etc.).

Press the transparent heart over the sticky border and apply pressure. You want to create a strong seal so your work does not come undone in the future.

Repeat this step with both heart borders and their matching clear hearts. When this is done, trim the edges so that the clear film does not go over the border and place both finished hearts under a heavy object (such as a book) until they completely dry. If needed, apply more glue.

Tip: Keep your hands are free of glue when handling the transparent film. Even when wiped off, the glue may leave unwanted marks on your finished product.

Step 9: Create the Shaker Pocket

Glue one of the finished hearts to the front of the card. The glue should only touch regions that have overlapping border and transparent hearts. When glued it should fit nearly perfectly over the hole.

Opening the card, place glue on all but the bottom portion of the second finished heart. As with the first heart, glue should only touch regions with overlapping border and transparent hearts. Place this second heart on the inner side of the heart-hole. Make sure the heart is open as the bottom, as shown in the picture. This is where the contents of the shaker card will be placed.

Step 10: Add the Confetti and Finish It Off!

The simplest way to create confetti is cutting up a small piece of paper. For this I used pink paper to contrast the dark red used for the heart border. The amount of confetti used depends on you, however be careful not to completely fill up the shaker pocket. Pour the confetti into the shaker pocket through the open hole on the inner bottom of the heart.

Glue the opening close and press it down until it is securely adhered.

To top it off, add a lovely word or two in the bottom on the card. Another possibility would be to add the word inside the card so that it is visible when looking at the front of card.

Note: To add another element to this card, laser cut small hearts to use as confetti. Files I used as well as pictures will be inserted in the near future.