How to Make a Father's Day Tie Shaker Card

Pull out everything before you start: pattern papers in your color scheme (green stripes for the shirt look great with brown), an OHP sheet (overhead projector acetate) for the shaker window, foam tape, white craft glue, scissors, a pencil, and a ruler. You'll also need silver beads or sequins for the shaker fill - about a teaspoon is plenty for one tie.

Brown cardstock is the key piece - it gives the tie its silhouette. If you don't have brown, navy or dark gray works too. The acetate sheet is what most crafters forget - check the office-supplies aisle for OHP sheets or use a clear plastic sleeve.

Cut a panel of pattern paper to 14.8 cm by 12.3 cm. The video uses a green diagonal stripe with a cream micro-print as a second layer. The cream panel sits on top of the stripe, slightly smaller, so a thin stripe of green borders the cream.

If you're using A4 cardstock for the actual card base, this panel will get glued to the front of a folded card later. Keep the cuts square - a craft knife and ruler give you cleaner edges than scissors at this size.

On a small piece of plain paper or scrap card, draw a tie shape about 3 cm wide by 10 cm long. The shape is a small downward triangle on top (the knot), then a longer trapezoid that widens slightly before tapering to a point.

Don't overthink the proportions. A skinnier tie reads as modern; a wider tie reads as classic. Cut the template out cleanly - this is what you'll trace twice onto brown cardstock to make the shaker.

Trace the template onto brown cardstock twice. Cut both tie shapes out. On one of them, use a craft knife to hollow out the center - leave a 3 to 4 mm border all the way around. That hollowed piece is the shaker window frame; the solid piece is the back.

Cutting the inner window is the fiddly part. Score the border lightly with the knife first, then cut on the score line. A sharp blade matters - a dull one will tear the cardstock at the knot's narrow point.

Cut a piece of acetate slightly larger than the hollowed tie window. Run a thin bead of glue around the back edge of the tie frame and press the acetate down over the cut area. The clear sheet covers the opening - this is the window that lets you see the beads inside the shaker.

Press around the entire border to seal. Wait 30 seconds for the glue to grab before flipping the piece over to check the front looks clean.

Cut thin strips of foam tape and lay them along the back edge of the tie frame, right on top of where the acetate seals to the cardstock. Build the strips into a continuous wall around the entire inner window. The foam tape thickness is what creates the depth that lets the beads shake around.

The wall has to be continuous - any gap and the beads will escape. Take an extra minute to butt the foam tape ends together cleanly at corners.

With the foam tape walls in place, sprinkle silver beads or sequins into the well. Use about a teaspoon - half-full is the sweet spot. Too few and the shaker looks empty; too many and the beads can't move freely.

Mix in some flat sequins with the round beads if you have them. The mix of shapes catches light differently when the card moves, which is the whole point of a shaker.

Peel the backing off the foam tape walls. Carefully position the second (solid) brown tie shape over the foam tape and press down firmly around the entire perimeter. The two tie shapes sandwich the foam walls and beads in between.

Test the seal by gently tilting the shaker side to side. The beads should slide around inside but nothing should leak. If beads escape, lift, add an extra strip of foam tape over the gap, and re-seal.

Cut two small triangles from green pattern paper for the shirt collar - they sit at the top of the cream panel, points down, like collar flaps framing the knot of the tie. Glue them in place.

Run glue (or foam tape, for extra dimension) on the back of the shaker tie and press it onto the cream panel below the collar. Center it so the tie hangs straight down from the collar's V. This is the moment the card stops looking like paper and starts looking like a shirt.

Stamp or stick a BEST DAD ever! sentiment in the top-left corner of the panel. Add a tiny blue heart sticker as a chest pocket detail, just below the collar on the right side - use foam tape underneath so it pops off the surface for a 3D effect. A small pearl embellishment between the collar points reads as a tie clip.

Glue the finished panel onto a folded card base. The card is done - shake it gently to hear the beads move.