How to Make a Snow Globe Shaker Christmas Card

Print Emilia's free template from her video description and cut it out. Trace it onto a folded piece of white cardstock, with part of the template against the fold so the card still opens. Cut around the line with sharp scissors. Her card is about 17 cm tall, but you can resize the template before you print. Small wobbles are fine. This card is meant to look handmade.

Lay the card front on a piece of darker patterned paper and trace around the bottom part, the stand of the snow globe. Emilia used a wood-grain sheet from her Christmas paper pad. Cut it out along the line. Then cut a circle of your winter scene paper to fill the round part of the globe. If it comes out a little small, do not worry. The snow will hide the bottom edge.

Pick up brown ink with a blending tool and rub it around the edges of the wood-grain base. Do the same lightly around the white card edge. It softens the white cut lines and makes the pieces look finished. Glue the inked base onto the bottom of the card and the winter scene into the round top.

Cut a frame from cardstock with two circle dies, one inside the other. A bigger gap between the two circles gives a wider frame. Then cut a circle of clear acetate a little larger than the opening. Glue the acetate to the back of the frame so it covers the hole. This is the glass of your snow globe.

Turn the frame over so the acetate faces down. Press thin strips of foam tape around the back of the frame, right over the acetate edge. Butt each strip tightly against the last one. Any gap is a place for sequins to escape. When the ring is closed, rub an anti-static tool or a dryer sheet over the inside of the acetate.

Leave the foam backing on for now. Sprinkle your filler into the middle of the winter scene. Emilia mixed white and silver sequins, tiny microbeads and a bag of artificial snow that looks like cut foil. Keep it in a small pile in the centre. Less is better here. Too much filler gets squashed and will not move.

Remove the foam backing. Line the frame up over the round scene and lower it straight down, so no filler gets caught under the foam. Press all the way around the ring to seal it. Pick the card up and give it a gentle shake. If the snow moves freely, you are done. If it sticks in a lump, you used too much.

Start decorating at the bottom, where the globe meets the stand. Emilia tucked a scrap of cheesecloth behind the greenery for a soft snowy layer, then added paper pine branches with hot glue. Fan them out to the left and right. There is not much space, so build a small cluster rather than a long row.

Glue a large paper poinsettia on the base, with smaller flowers and leaves around it. Add a small Merry Christmas tag below. Emilia made a second, smaller cluster on the top of the globe so the design feels balanced. Then she added a wooden deer, snowflakes and a few star anise shapes between the flowers.

Brush a little clear glue on the flowers and sprinkle microbeads or glitter for sparkle. Then dab white gesso around the frame and on the leaves with a small sponge. Go lightly. You want a dusting of snow, not a coat of paint. Let it dry flat, and your snow globe shaker card is ready to give.