How to Make the Shaker
It takes a little finagling and you have to be REALLY CAREFUL with your die cutting machine but it can be done!
1. First, the easy part. Cover two pieces mat board or chipboard with design paper of your choice on both sides and run through your die-cutting machine. I usually use Sizzix's mat board because it is the perfect length at 13". However, for this project I only had 12 x 12 chipboard so I used that. If you look at the panel on the left in the photo below, see the blue strip at the top? That is where the chipboard is not quite long enough. It's not a big deal, because I'm going to use that as my top flap and we'll be gluing one of the scalloped flaps to that anyway. You can position the chipboard on the die such that just a little off each end is missing. Those end flaps fold inside the box anyway and you'll still have enough of a flap to glue the box together. (I hope this makes sense, if not be sure to ask questions in the comments section.)
In the photo below the blue is the inside of the box and the patterned paper is the outside.
2. Now cut a piece of chipboard roughly the size of one of the box sides, 3 3/4" x 3 3/4". Take the oval die from the Trinket Box and Frame set and die cut out an oval. You will need the Movers & Shapers Shuttle to die-cut this part. It should look something like this.
3. Now the challenging part. You need to cut out an oval from the box however the box is longer than shuttle and therefore, doesn't fit inside the shuttle. There are several things you can do.
- You could cut one panel off the box assembly panel so that it would fit in the shuttle. After die-cutting the oval you could then re-attach the panel with strong tape on the inside and cover with design paper. I really think this would work just fine.
- Or you could build you own sandwich and die-cut it. Please note: I AM NOT SUGGESTING YOU DO THIS, BECAUSE IF YOU DO IT WRONG, YOU COULD BREAK YOUR DIE-CUTTING MACHINE. However, this is what I did. I experimented with scrap chipboard, the oval die, and several plates until I got a sandwich that die-cut the oval perfectly Only then did I place the oval die over the center of the box assembly panel and die-cut an oval into the box assembly piece. (Only do this to one of the two box pieces.)
4. Take the oval die-cut from step 2 and trim as necessary so that it fits inside the box and perfectly lines up with the oval die-cut on the box panel and then adhere inside the box. Cut a piece of design paper to fit over the back of this assembly inside the box and glue, making sure that you have a good seal all around the oval cut-out, otherwise your shaker material will spill out. Note that this design paper will show through the shaker window. Alternatively, if you want to be able to see inside the box through the shaker, you could cover the oval cut-out with clear plastic. Allow this to dry.
5. Now we need to die-cut an oval ring. I ran a small piece of paper through my machine using the shuttle and it die cut the oval out. But, I wanted an oval ring so I carefully taped the diecut piece onto the die and ran it through the machine again with shims so that what is normally scored, actually cut through. I had to use my scissors here and there, but I got a nice oval ring.
6. Trace along the outer edge of the ring in step 5 onto a clear sheet of plastic and cut out the clear oval. Then glue the paper oval ring onto the oval plastic. Set that aside to dry.
7. Assemble the box in the usual fashion making sure that the oval is the front panel.
8. Now lay the box such that the oval cut out is face up and carefully add some shaker material. You don't need a lot, just enough to shake and look pretty, Then place a thin line of glue around the edge of the oval cut-out and top with the plastic oval from step 6. Let this dry before moving it as moving it cause the shaker pieces to shift and adhere themselves to any sticky inside the oval window.
Here is the completed shaker. From the top down the layers are:
- Oval ring cut from design paper
- Oval clear plastic
- Oval cut-out in the box
- Shaker material
- Piece from step 2 glued inside the box
- Design paper glued inside the box over the cut-out
9. To finish up the box, I added panels of design paper to each side and cut the small flap off the lid so that I could adhere the larger scalloped piece to the lid as a closure flap. Then I glued the smaller scalloped piece on for decoration and used a BasicGrey magnet to hold the flap down. I had to add some flowers and ribbon to "gussy" it up. Now I am imagining this full of easter candy, yummy!
Dies and Materials Used
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