Confetti Flinger Card tutorial part 2

Now, where did we start? Oh, yes, at part 1 of the confetti flinging card tutorial. Here's the second and final part.

I've used the small tag punch from Stampin' Up, with some lightweight tracing paper. Lighter than this would be good too. As you'll see, you could use a simple square in place of the punch, but I enjoyed the shape

this made.

Punch out a nifty little tag from the tracing paper. Oops, the close up photo reveals that the punch didn't do a great job on this paper. Try punching a bit of regular paper at the same time - that should solve it. Crease it like so.

Now, you'll want some

shirring elastic. Some what? That's elastic that is very light, almost as light as

thread. It gets used to make those strapless sundresses with the stretchy bodices that

we all wore in the 70s. Well, maybe not you.

This stuff came from an op shop, but I guess they still make it... Hat elastic is out there, but it would be too thick.

Now cut a length of shirring elastic, about yay big. I'm showing you with my hands. Let's say 20cm, or eight inches. Or the length of the alphabet bit on y

our computer keyboard. Be a little

generous, you'll be trimming it off later.

Tie a knot in it to make one big loop. Loop it over your fingers three times to make a little triple loop. Loop it over the four notches you made.

Now, squish the box down, and let go. Does it spring up to the upright position? If yes, you are in luck. If it's a bit lazy, pull on the knot in the elastic, and move the knot. Well, untie it and tie it again tighter. Repeat until you have a box that springs happily to attention. Trim off any excess elastic, and wiggle it into the least visible spot.

Attach the little tracing paper tag to the box, like so. I've used double sided tape here. The unfolded end is towards you.

Make or get or recycle some confetti, and place it on the little tray.

Now, go and put on a dress. You may skip that step if you are a guy, or work in an industry where dresses are inappropriate. A cloth over your lap would work fine.

Arm the card. You may want to develop some kind of arming protocol. You know "All crew, arm card and crosscheck - OVER". To arm the card, squish it into the upright position, and close the card over the whole mechanism.

Now test the card. Pretend you are someone else who doesn't know this is a confetti flinger, and open the card with a happy smile. If you get confetti all over your lap

, things are going well. You may want to tighten the elastic a bit now that you see what you are up against.

Final step - decorate the front of the card. Make it HEAVY. Lots of layers, or some heavy layers. This will encourage the recipient to open it the right way. Don't forget it needs to be a horizontal design.

And after taking these photos, I tried out an alternative to the "notch". Here's a photo - I think it's an improvement. The elastic is threaded through, so it's a bit more work, but the result is prettier.

So there you go. I hope you like it! If you want to buy any of the Stampin' Up goodies mentioned, try my friend Chris. Or your local Stampin' Up person.