My darling friends, can you believe it? At long, long last, after eleven months of patience and anticipation, October has returned to the world again.
To say that I’m doing backflips of joy would be the understatement of the century. 🎃
No other month fills my heart, spirit, mind, and days alike with as much happiness, meaning, and witchy goodness as October.
I have several exciting seasonally-themed posts coming down the pipeline this month to help us all celebrate October together.
We are going to have a festive blast here, so please be sure to follow Witchcrafted Life using your favourite feed reader or signup on the righthand sidebar here to receive new posts delivered right to your email inbox. 💌
To kick off the most hair-raisingly spooky of months, I’ve got a super fun triple window ghost-themed shaker card to share with you that I recently made.
Why a ghost card you may ask? Aside from the longstanding connection between ghosts and Halloween, I went with some cuter-than-cute ghosties because it’s downright scary how much I adore October! 🥰
Chicly Spooky Multi-Window Halloween Ghost Shaker Card
Oodles of you feel the same way and (whether you’ve used this hashtag yet or not – and you totally should use it! 😃) are proud members of team #MakeHalloween365.
It is wonderful that we are able to connect and share in our passion for All Hallows’ Eve, including by posting seasonal craft projects that are not only hair-raisingly fantastic, but which provide a wealth of inspiration to fellow creatives around the globe.
Ghosts are a popular and beloved symbol of both Halloween and Samhain, as well as October in general.
As someone who believes in ghosts, has had multiple spectral sightings/encounters throughout my life, and who works with those on the other side of the veil as an important year-round element of my spiritual practice, I feel a very close connection to the spirit world.
On the paper crafting front, I find that on top of my perpetual favourites, I am drawn to certain colour combinations as each season returns.
This autumn, I am totally feeling a colour scheme comprised of dark, inky blues, jet black, grey, and gold.
Silver and copper, too, are also setting my fall colour adoring heart aflutter.
That isn’t to say that every Halloween project I make this month will star these colours and these colours alone, simply that I can already tell this selection will be in heavy rotation on my craft desk for the next few weeks.
Sooo looking forward to that! 😊
I leaned into this autumnal colour palette big time for my elegant meets adorable “Boo” shaker window card project highlighted here.
I used a basic triple window die for the central panel, turning each of the three windows into its own shaker box (all three windows house the same shaker mix, which I created myself).
This sheet of charming ghost print paper from Carta Bella’s Haunted House line has been beckoning me to use it since the moment it landed in my stash, so with fall finally here, I knew the time had come to cut into it.
The colours of this Halloween patterned paper were my guide for the rest of the card, which includes a mix of cream, grey, dark blue, and metallic gold cardstock.
No other patterned papers were used on this project, so as to let the adorable ghosties take centerstage.
To up the visual interest of this design, I die cut a fun border strip featuring a Halloween hill scene (complete with tombstones, bare-branched trees, and a haunted house) and stamped my sentiment onto a narrow banner strip, which I paired and layered with two additional banner die cuts.
Then, I added a lovely double-layered dark blue seam binding bow, placed gold letter stickers atop each of the three shaker windows to spell out the word “boo”, and a fussy cut a trio of precious little ghosties from the same patterned paper used behind the shaker panel.
I adore how this card came out and am all the more smitten with it because its relative flatness means that it should come in under 2 centimetres when placed in an envelope.
This in turn means that I will be able to pop it in the post and mail it off as letter (not $$$ parcel) mail to a Halloween adoring friend or relative.
If you are keen to try your hand at making a similar looking multi-window Halloween shaker card (or adapting this general design to another holiday, event, etc), read on for a list of supplies and step-by-step instructions on how to do just that.
Products used to make this fun ghost themed Halloween shaker card
-Cream (or ivory), dark or navy blue, and medium grey cardstock
-Gold metallic cardstock
-Ghost print paper – Haunted House Multi-Journaling Cards from Carta Bella (here we are using the backside, not the journaling card side, of this paper)
-Clear acetate sheet
-Rectangular shaped triple window/opening die
-Spooky Halloween hill scene die
-Skinny stitched edge banner die
-Decorative edge scissors – Heartbeat Paper Edgers Scissors from Fiskars
-Golden brown coloured ink pad – Toffee Crunch Dew Drop Ink from Memento
-Dark blue ink pad – Cobalt Letter It Stamping Ink from Ranger
-“Have a Haunted Halloween” sentiment stamp – Graveyard Gate stamp set from Stampin’ Up!
-Metallic gold chipboard (or other type of) letter stickers
-Large-sized gold and orange glitter – Halloween Jumbo Glitter from Creatology (sold at Michael’s)
-Assorted shades of medium and dark blue sequins – Rhythms n’ Blues Cup Sequins from Craft Medley (sold at various dollar stores, including Dollarama here in Canada)
-Medium, dark, or navy blue coloured seam binding or ribbon (I used “Texas Teal” coloured seam binding from Hug Snug on this Halloween card)
-(Optional) Glue gun and glue sticks (used to adhere the seam binding bow)
-Dimensional foam, pop dots, or similar to elevate some of your layers
-Adhesive, such as a tape runner, of your choice (I often use my Scotch Tape Glider)
How to Make a “Boo” triple window Halloween shaker card
Begin by making a card base from cream cardstock. If you do not have cream cardstock, white, ivory, or pale grey would each work really nicely here as well.
Next, cut a piece of medium grey cardstock that’s a little bit smaller than your card base. Adhere that piece to the card base.
Cut a piece of dark blue cardstock slightly smaller than the grey piece and use decorative edge scissors (or a suitable border punch) on all four sides.
Ink all sides of the blue cardstock with Ranger Cobalt ink, then adhere that piece of cardstock to your first two layers.
Cut a piece of gold metallic cardstock (you could swap in grey, silver, or mustard yellow cardstock, if you didn’t have – or don’t want to use – gold cardstock) and adhere it to the other layers.
Cut a piece of Carta Bella ghost print paper, ink all of the edges with Memento Toffee Crunch ink, and adhere it to the gold metallic cardstock.
Next, create your shaker panel by die cutting a triple window panel from dark blue cardstock (if you don’t have a triple window die, you could use one or more small square-shaped dies on a panel of cardstock to create the same sort of multi-window look). Ink the edges of this cardstock panel with Ranger Cobalt ink.
Adhere a piece of clear acetate to the back of the blue cardstock panel to create the transparent “glass” for your shaker windows.
Place the blue cardstock on an open frame-shaped piece of the same cream cardstock that you used for your card base. Ink the edges of this cream piece with Toffee Crunch Ink.
(This layer is simply to add a border to the blue cardstock, it does not come into play in terms of the shaker windows themselves.)
For the shaker windows, line the perimeter of each of the three windows with suitable dimensional foam tape, squares, etc, as this is what stops the shaker mix from going anywhere when the card is complete.
Create a shaker mix in shades of blue, orange, and gold and place a roughly equal amount of it into each of the three windows.
Carefully bring the card base layers up to the shaker window panel, ensuring the backing has been removed from all of your foam adhesive first. Sandwich the two card parts together and make sure that no shaker mix is able to escape.
Top each of the three shaker windows with a gold chipboard letter sticker (or make die cut letters from gold metallic cardstock instead and adhere them in the same manner as you would the letter stickers) to spell out the word “boo”.
Die cut a Halloween hill panel from medium grey cardstock, backing the window portions of the haunted house with gold or dark yellow cardstock so that the house looks like it is lit from within.
Adhere this hill piece immediately below the shaker windows on that panel of the card.
Die cut three ghost figures from the Carta Bella paper and adhere one ghost just off to the side of each of the shaker windows.
Next, die cut three matching sized banner strips. One from medium grey cardstock, the other two from gold metallic cardstock.
Using dark blue or navy blue ink (or black, if you don’t have a suitable blue ink to hand), stamp “Have a Haunted Halloween” on the medium grey coloured cardstock banner (I used the same Cobalt ink from Ranger that appears elsewhere in this project).
Layer and adhere the three banners towards the upper right side of the card, as shown.
Create a double layer bow from blue seam binding or another trim/ribbon of your choosing and adhere it to the upper left-hand corner of the card.
And just like that, faster than you can say “boo”, your elegant meets adorable multi-window Halloween shaker card is complete.
Trust me when I say that this card is scarily fun to create and that it is bound to bring a welcome hit of spooky season cheer to anyone you bestow it upon. 👻
31 days of unbridled Halloween awesomeness
That’s what October is to me and many others across the globe, too – and for good measure.
The enchantment, thrills, mystery, happiness, fun, and creativity inherent to the year’s 10th month are unlike any other.
Halloween and Samhain are integral parts of not only October, but the whole year for me (a point which, again, I am far from alone in).
However, I am the first to acknowledge that not everyone observes or is OTT obsessed with these spookily wonderful events.
October is greatly influenced by Halloween in many parts of the world. Yet there is more to this month as well and each element – be they autumnal north of the equator or filled with springtime goodness for those in the Southern Hemisphere – deserves to be celebrated as well.
Crunchy leaves, vast fields and produce stands full of beautiful pumpkins, cozy attire, pumpkin spice everything, various holidays (including Canadian Thanksgiving), walks taken on crisp autumn days and nights, a stunning colour palette that is in a league all its own, and so much more combine to make October an unforgettable, easy to love month.
As touched on above, I will be bringing you a slew of seasonal content this month.
This selection will house additional fall/Halloween craft project shares and various other posts as well – including one pertaining to taphophilia that I am especially excited about. 😃
Whether October is a 744-hour long, non-stop celebration of Halloween (that being the number of hours in this month), you prefer to keep Halloween contained to the 31st, or you do not personally engage with either All Hallows’ Eve or the Pagan sabbat of Samhain, I hope that you will be able to enjoy and find inspiration in the posts that I share here this month. 🧡
Personally, my inspiration cup runneth over right now care of the creative, festive, sweet, spooky, beautiful, and spiritually focused content that many of you are posting this season as well.
I extend the most spirited (pun intended, sentiment fully meant) of thanks out to everyone whose October content informs, entertains, inspires, or influences me in any way.
You are awesomely creative individuals and it is an honour to learn from and be inspired by each of you.
In whatever ways you embrace and live your best October, sweet souls, may it be a fa-boo-lously safe, happy, and memorably enjoyable month for all of us! 👻💙👻
WOW!! This is such a cool design Autumn! I love the triple shaker window design and the colors are so pretty and unexpected thinking of Halloween. The ghost papers really get me! Looking forward to more of what’s to come this month from you!! Thanks for the inspiration!
You are downright awesome, Vicki. Thank you so much for your splendidly sweet words about this festive spooky season make and for sharing in my exuberance about October.
May the 10th month of the year bring a bevy of happiness, enjoyment, and frighteningly great times your way!
🖤 Autumn
What a very special Halloween card, I love the blue grey and gold together and how amazing to have 3 shaker elements. Someone will love receiving this. enjoy your favourite month xx
Thank you deeply, Hilary. Your kindness fills my heart with happiness and is a sincerely powerful motivator to me both as a crafter and as a blogger.
May this October be amongst the most enjoyable you’ve ever experienced. 🎃
Big hugs & the cheeriest of spooky season wishes!
🖤 Autumn
This is stunning Autumn, like your nontraditional colors and a triple shaker, wow! This card will make someones day!
You’re immensely kind, dear Donna. Thank you so much! 💙👻😘
I had a blast putting this sweetly spooky card together and look forward to taking a cue from its design to make triple window shakers for other events as well. I could easily see, for example, this design working great with snowmen, in place of the ghosts, for the winter holiday season (or rabbits for an Easter greeting).
🖤 Autumn
A brilliant Halloween shaker card, the blue,grey and gold are a great colour combo,love these colours more than the traditional Halloween colours. The triple shaker element,ghosts and the ghost backing papers make this a keepsake card
What an incredibly kind, supportive comment, dear Meg. Thank you from the bottom of my very touched heart. 💙
I’m delighted that this elegant fall time colour palette resonates with you as well. I have scarcely deviated from it when crafting (for this fall) as of late and could see it potentially spilling over into some of my winter holiday season makes, too. 😃
🖤 Autumn
I absolutely adore this shaker card! Those ghosts and graveyard dies are amazing and I love the dusky blue and gold combo you used. Just perfect!!!
You’ve got me blushing more than the harvest moon. Thank you so much for your wonderfully kind words about this fun ghost-filled Halloween card, dear Celeste.
I hope your October is going wonderfully and that you have a cozy, beautiful, and very happy last leg of the month.
🖤 Autumn
A fabulous Halloween card Autumn, the super shaker elements are such fun and I like the non traditional colours you have chosen, the little silhouette scene and cute fussy cut ghosts are perfect – a super creation.
Pauline – Crafting with Cotnob
x
Thank you mightily, my sweet friend. I sincerely appreciate and am bolstered by your touching feedback on this festive fall time project. 💙👻😘
May you have a hauntingly fa-boo-lous Halloween season!
🖤 Autumn
That’s an absolute stunner of a card, Autumn! The ghosts are adorable, and I’m loving the shaker boxes! How clever! xxx
Thank you big time, my very dear friend. 💙👻😘
Ghosts are a perpetual favourite of mine, but I have fallen all the more in love with them this year. As such, there was no way they were sitting on the sidelines as I created some of my Halloween 2021 paper crafting projects. 🥰
Happiest ten days to go until All Hallows’ Eve returns!
🖤 Autumn
Such a lovely ghost card! Happy October. I know you like it. I hope you’ll enjoy in many fun projects. I have some art projects planned myself.
You’re spot on, dear Ivana. I massively adore and find endless inspiration in both October and the whole of autumn. 🥰
I look forward to seeing your latest art projects. You’re an incredible painter/artist and your work never fails to both delight and inspire me.
🖤 Autumn
What a fun shaker card Autumn! I love all of the windows and the gorgeous non-traditional Halloween colors, that spooky hill die is so cute too!
Tammy x
Thank you sooo very much, sweet Tammy. I’m tickled pink (or would that be white, like a cute little ghostie?) to know that you enjoyed seeing this fun spooky season project.
I’ve got another coming down the pipeline for the end of the month featuring many of these same colours. Humbly, I adore that project as well and am super excited to share it here with everyone. 😃
Tons of hugs & joyful Halloween countdown wishes!
🖤 Autumn
Such a fun combination of colours! The grey help balance the gold – it reminds me of those vivid crisp days in early autumn when the sky is so blue it hurts, and the tips of the trees are tinged with gold…but the grey clouds loom.
I so enjoy your talented creations, Autumn! Thank you for sharing this.
It is my deepest of pleasures, dear Shelia. Thank you with the utmost of appreciation for your beautiful support. It means more than words alone could ever do justice to. 🙏
I adore the autumnal scene that this card stirred in your mind. I see that here as well and am hoping all the more now that we get at least a few more days of gorgeous blue fall skies before Old Man Winter sets up camp for the next several months.
Many hugs & the happiest of Halloween season wishes,
🖤 Autumn
Very creative card so full of crafty wonders love the whole concept and design. xxx
You are wonderfully kind and supportive, sweet Annie. Thank you so much!
I was (am) thrilled with how this card came together and can easily see myself adapting its general triple window design to work for other holidays and special events as well. Say, for example, swapping the ghosties for snowmen during the winter or Easter bunnies come the spring’s return.
Big hugs & the happiest of Halloween season wishes,
🖤 Autumn
Really lovely card. Love the shaker elements and the colour combination. Have a great week.
You’re all kinds of lovely, dear Anesha. Thank you very much!
I am utterly smitten with this dark, mysterious, elegant colour palette and can hardly wait to feature another Halloween related project that stars it here come the end of this month.
Big hugs & tons of joyful spooky season wishes!
🖤 Autumn
Super beautiful, as always. The sequins are so darling. I love the blue take on Halloween, I’m always on orange. Have a lovely day, dear. ♥
Thank you so much, dearest Sanne. I am completely smitten with this inky, alluringly mysterious colour palette at the moment and can hardly wait to cap off October with another paper crafting project post that stars blue, black, grey, and white as well. 👻
Oodles of hugs & the merriest of All Hallows’ Eve season wishes coming your way!
🖤 Autumn
Ha you always make me smile with how you turn a phrase! I share in your Anne love of Octobers!
What a meaningful, heart-touching comment, sweet Kmarie. Thank you deeply.
I am accurately aware of the fact that my writing style, with its notes of yesteryear style, isn’t everyone’s (ultra-quick social media caption filled) cup of tea, so appreciate it all the more that you remarked on how I turn a phrase.
You made my day, my week, and then some! 🙏💙😘
Warmest fall time hugs coming your way as our Canadian days grow ever chillier,
🖤 Autumn
Love all your details on this amazing shaker design! Thanks for all of the bloggie love!
Thank you sweetly, lovely Amy. 💙
Aww, the pleasure is all mine! Your blog (which I follow via Bloglovin’) is an inspiring delight and I’m very happy that the internet led our paths to cross.
Many wishes for a cozy, gorgeous October coming your way,
🖤 Autumn
I love the elegance this piece has! And I wasn’t familiar with the shaker design until now! Thank you!
xoxo
-Janey
It is my heartfelt pleasure, dear Janey. Thank you very much in turn for your lovely comment. 😘
Shaker cards are oodles of fun and can be made in an endless array of designs.
A few months into this blog’s life, I penned The Ultimate List of Things to Put in Shaker Cards (https://witchcraftedlife.com/the-ultimate-list-of-things-to-put-in-shaker-cards/), if you wish to give making shakers a go yourself and would like some more fun ideas as to how to whip up these charming cards (shakers can also be used on tags, scrapbook pages, and other types of paper crafting projects, too).
🖤 Autumn
Such fun and beautiful color scheme, as always, my dear friend! I’ve never made a shaker card, but every time you post one or about one, I would say I get one step close to actually making one. 🙂
Aww, I adore that! What a great comment, dearest Inky. Thank you so much! 💙
I am touched and delighted to know that my shaker projects are inching you ever closer to giving this fun type of paper crafting creation a go yourself as well.
I am certain that any shakers cards (or tags, etc) that you make will be over-the-moon awesome!
🖤 Autumn
This has put a giant smile on my face this morning, i love a shaker card and that blue tone is magical. I hope you enjoy this last week of October….the weeks seem to be going past fast these days 🙂 Hugs Emmax
Aww, thank you big time, dear Emma. Your own immensely lovely words brought a mile-wide smile my way and have more than made my entire Saturday.
Sharker cards really are the best, aren’t they? I’m a massive fan and love weaving this super fun technique in various projects throughout the year.
In the case of this particular multi-window design, I think it would work splendidly for other big holidays as well. Say, snowmen (or Christmas stockings) come December – and what about Easter eggs or bunnies in the spring, for example. And, come to think of it, cupcakes or other sweet treats would be oodles of fun for birthdays, anniversaries, and other special celebrations.
I really appreciate each and every one of your recent blog comments, my lovely friend, and hope that this October is being as kind to you as you always are to me and my blog. 💗
Oodles of hugs,
🖤 Autumn
What a fa-BOO-lous shaker card! Love how you’ve included my favourite colour blue in this unique and elegant colour palette!. Amazing dimension and texture in this great design, too.
Sweet Trina, you’re making me blush like the harvest moon. Thank you very much for your wonderfully kind words about this festive card, my lovely friend.
I adored learning that blue is your favourite colour. It’s such a versatile hue that can be as serene as it can revitalizing, just depending on the shade and context.
I hope that you had a fantastic Halloween season and that your November is off to a cozy, enjoyable start.
Many heartfelt thanks again,
🖤 Autumn
This is a perfect Halloween card and I like the unexpected blue theme that you selected to work with. Of course, the Casper-like friendly ghosts stole my heart.
I’m looking forward to catching up on your other posts this month, as I love all things October, Fall, and Halloween.
Beautiful Autumn days and Spooky nights to you!
Debi
My very dear friend, thank you mightily. Not only for your sweeter-than-candy corn compliments here, but for sharing your time with my blog. It means a tremendous amount to me.
While we’re waking up to thoroughly frosty mornings at this point, the snow is still staying at bay here. As a result, we’re getting to enjoy fall’s unparalleled colour palette a bit longer and I’m savouring every (chilly) moment of it.
I hope that the season is going strong still on your end as well and that you have a truly beautiful, safe, cozy, and blessed November.
Big hugs,
🖤 Autumn