Day 22- 2 Cricut Flowers Clip 344 Days Left

I decided to make Duct Tape Sheets to pass through the Cricut.  I used Cricut Cartridge Pagoda and Flower 8 from the set. I decided to try using a glue gun to put the flowers on the clip. I have used super glue before but some of my creations have fallen off the clip since glued. My true test will be to send this completed Flower Clip on one of the girls to school tomorrow.

Day 21- Butterfly Cuff 345 Days Left

I saw a cuff bracelet made out of Duct Tape on Etsy.com. I often look for Duct Tape inspirartion on Etsy. The Duct Tape butterfly piece is 10 inches long with the back having 2 pieces of purple Duct Tape stuck lengthwise and folded back towards the from to make purple edges. The blue strip of Duct tape in the middle is 6 ½ inches long with another blue piece on the inside that is 8 inches long. The inner blue piece over laps slightly to be able to have a Velcro closure.

I layer the short blue piece on top of the long blue piece with about an inch left out at each side of the longer blue piece. Then I measured 6 holes to punch out that I would sew ribbon through.

I then took the large butterfly and purple piece and punched 6 holes in it of equal distance to cause the cuff to gather. After the Velcro was added for a closure.

Day 20- Peace Sign Hair Flower 346 Days Left

I wanted to make a flower hairclip to match a Duct Tape Hair band I made awhile back. This flower was made of 5 pieces of Duct Tape folded back in on it's self, much like you would make a simple bracelet. The middles were then glued down and then glued across the piece on the bottom, rotating the pieces in to fill in the holes. This would make a nice set for a girl’s birthday present.

Day 19- Zebra Hair Bow 347 Days Left

I found a fuzzy pink hair bow among Samantha and Sabrina's hair collection. I thought I would try to copy this one with Duct Tape. If I make it again it would be on a bigger clip.  The Duct Tape had to be cut very narrow to make this bow.

Day 18-Eyeglasses Case 348 Days Left

This was a fairly simple project. Basically it was a Duct Tape sheet folded in half and Taped shut at the bottom and the side.  Samantha has glasses, so she picked Skull Duct tape for the case.  This would be another nice,  simple project for kids.

Day 17-Barbie Couch 349 Days Left

Barbie told Sabrina she wanted to have friends over, so she needed a couch for her friends to sit on.

Day 16- Barbie Chair 350 Days Left

I had made a couch similar to this a long time ago. It was fake fur covering empty cigarette boxes.  I thought I would try to cover empty cigarette boxes with Duct Tape and see if I could make a similar couch.  I had to first find people who use cigarettes and have them collect the boxes for me.  When I asked people to keep the boxes, I was asked “what for”  I said “to make a Barbie chair”  to which I got a lot more questions and myself making promises to send a photo when the chair is done.

I first filled the empty boxes with about half a newspaper page to make the boxes less likely to collapse under Barbie’s weight (ha ha, how silly). 

 I completely covered the boxes with Duct Tape. For the back portion of the chair I put two boxes together side by side and covered them up as to not have a seam in the middle.  I have the seat part approximately halfway out from the box underneath to serve as a base.

I felt like I was playing 3D Tetris putting the chair together.  Sabrina is really fond of the chair and is using it already.

Day 15- Butterfly Clip 351 Days Left

I had seen a clip like this done with ribbon. I thought I would try it with Duct Tape. The Duct Tape is not easy to cut small pieces, so instead of cutting out a tiny body I finished the Butterfly off by gluing buttons instead.

Day 14- Bookmark 352 Days Left

I don't like to waste supplies and at the end of a roll of duct tape is the tape that can not be used because it is stuck to the cardboard. I wanted to find something to do with the end tape.

I saw the idea of making a bookmark out of Duct Tape awhile ago, but never had any reason to try it. Since all you do is stick one tape to the other I thought this would be perfect for the end of the roll. I cut the edges at the end at an angle and punched a hole in the top to put some ribbon through. The bookmarks could be as simple or as elaborate as you want, adding eyelets or other embellishments. I also think this is a nice Duct Tape craft to show off the print of the tape. The bookmark idea is great for kids; kids always like to make things. Good to add to a birthday present or make for a teacher gift since it is quite simple. This also would be a good craft to teach to a group of kids, such as a church group, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts etc.

Day 13- Braided Bracelet 353 Days Left

I thought I would try to braid Duct Tape today. There are a lot of crafts made with braided ribbon, yarn etc. So I tried Duct Tape. I cut a piece and folded it lengthwise into a 3 fold. To the middle and then over to the other side.

I decided for my first attempt at braiding Duct Tape that I would make a simple bracelet. This also would ne a great craft for kids although I would recommend it for kids 10 and older since Duct Tape getting stuck to it's self when folding could be frustration for smaller kids.

Day 12- Heart Hair Band 354 Days Left

My girls have a lot of hair bands but they get tired of them fast.  I was going through their hair band collection and thought maybe I could make something old new again. I thought of the hearts I cut out yesterday with the Cricut machine. I decided just to cut out some hearts again and glue them to the hair band.  This time I was more careful with the glue.

Day 11- Heart Hair Ties 355 Days Left

I wanted to try and put something Duct Tape onto some hair ties. I have already tried the Duct Tape ribbon flowers, so today I decided to cut out hearts. I used the Cricut machine, the heart from the George and Basic Shapes cartridge.  I layered 4 hearts, the biggest being 2 inches and the smallest being 1 inch. 

Since I have to make Duct Tape sheets to pass through the machine I have to later glue the hearts together. I was experimenting with glue and by accident I glued my cell phone to the counter. Oops, I read on the internet you can get the glue off with acetone. I got the phone off the counter with a little piece missing on the protective case.

Day 10- Flower Clip 356 Days Left

The girls were given a flower clip made out of ribbon. I had been trying to make some ribbon Duct Tape.

 I copied the ribbon clip given to the girls, however I used a big hair clip to secure the flower to, and the same hair clip as I used on Day 8.

Day 9- Slap Bracelet 357 Days Left

I bought foam slap bracelets in the summer and haven’t thought of anything to do with them yet. I thought I would try to cover one with Peace Sign Duct Tape. I slapped the bracelet on my wrist to test it and it didn’t bend as well as I thought it would.

 I covered it with Duct Tape anyways.  After I tested it with the Duct Tape on the foam, the bracelet wouldn’t “slap” at all. I turned into a bangle style bracelet instead. Fail! Oh well, made something a bit different than planned. I am sure Sabrina will love it still.

Day 8-Duct Tape Flower Clip 358 Days Left

Today the girls had to go to the dentist so I decided I would make something small again and take the clipboard along. I have seen many different bows and flowers done with ribbon and decided I would turn the Duct Tape into ribbons! I bought this style of hair clip quite awhile ago with the intention of attaching a Duct Tape rose to it. I have not yet figured a good way to attach the rose to the clip, but I did see a flower made from ribbon attached to a similar clip.

I saw this ribbon creation and this is what inspired my Duct Tape creation today.

I slipped the tape through the raised portion when the clip was open and then taped the other piece on top to start the base of this flower.

This is the flower before attaching a button to the center

And here is the finished flower with a button through the center.  Glued the button, it was not easy trying to hand sew Duct Tape.

Day 7- Duct Tape Flower Pen 359 Days Left

Today while waiting for the girls I made a Duct Tape flower pen. it was not easy to take a photo of this project, I wanted to show it was a pena nd have my hand in the photo. This is the best shot that I had taken. I had made Duct Tape flowers before but never put them on a pen. Here is a YouTube video on How to Make Duct Tape flowers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoJI0KfJXB8&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Day 6- Skull Bow 360 Days Left

I was not able to get to the computer yesterday. It was a fairly busy day, so I decided I would make the Skull Duct Tape bow Samantha had been wanting. I did stop by a craft show yesterday and saw one small card table of Duct Tape wallets. One of the tape rolls was Hello Kitty. I plan to order that style soon. It was very cute.

Day 5- Wyoming State Flag 361 Days Left

I went to a High School Football Game today and I enjoy how enthusiastic and fanatic the kids are about their teams.  Duck Brand Duct Tape has state college printed Duct Tape, but it does not have Wyoming.  That makes me a little sad; even though I did not go to college in Wyoming I do live in the state and would have like to have Wyoming College Duct Tape.  I decided I would try to craft something Wyoming so I picked the state flag.

I used a Cricut machine to draw the out line of the tape, and then cut the rest by hand.  I used Cricut cartridge “50 States”. I had to make Duct Tape fabric to adhere to the Cricut mat. I then glued the pieces I cut out together to from the flag.  I am not quite sure what I will do with the flag yet, but I feel that I may later add it to another Duct Tape piece.

Day 4-Polk-A-Dot Wallet 362 Days Left

I had a lot of appointments today so I thought I would make a Duct Tape item I have made many times before. In a bag I packed Duct Tape, scissors and a clip board.

  A year ago, our family traveled from Wyoming to Virginia. We had 2 hotel stays on the way there. It was only a few months before that I saw that first Duct Tape Wallet. I had already made a few but I thought I would make some on the road. I brought a clip board to work on and it turned out to be a Duct Tape craft tool I would not be without. So while waiting for the appointments, I made the wallet.

This is the site I followed instructions for making my first Duct Tape wallet

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Duct-Tape-Wallet

Day 3- Pirate Belt 363 Days Left

I thought I would be a pirate for Halloween this year; we bought costumes last year 3 days after Halloween all for 80% off.  I wanted to add more to the costume than what it comes with in the bag. I bought McCall’s Pattern 4952 that had pirates. The belt on the lady is what caught my attention.

I decided I would make this pirate belt out of Duct Tape. I had some red Duct Tape with dragons on it that I thought would work well. I used eyelets from scrapbooking for the holes instead of eyelets for fabric. The scrapbook eyelets seem to have worked well. I used a hammer & tool eyelet setter, I don’t have a silent setter & I like the noise when setting eyelets. I think the louder the hammer is, the more secure I feel the eyelet is. 

After making the belt, I had left over tape, so I made dragon bows.

Day 2- Hair Band 364 days Left

Yesterday after seeing the hair bow I made for Sabrina (my younger daughter); Samantha (my older daughter) wanted one as well. She wanted a hair bow out of the skull Duct Tape I bought at Wal-Mart. I did not want to make 2 hair bows in a row, so I chose instead to make a hair band.

The hair band form came from Michaels and I only ever saw 2 forms at the store. I asked the manager about the forms, he did some research and the hair band forms are a seasonal item. Too bad, I really like the forms and I haven’t been able to find any that are wide like the one’s I bought at Michaels. I hope the Skull Duct Tape is not a seasonal item too!

I covered the hair band width with individual pieces. At first I thought I could use one long piece but that didn’t work since the hair band tapes off and rounds out on both ends.

Something I picked up since working with Duct Tape is that it is easier to cut the tape with the scissors upside down. The scissors become less sticky that way. I don’t like to rip the tape, I like smooth edges

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Correct way to hold scissors

Easiest way to know the scissors are upsidedown is your thumb goes through the bigger loop

                                    

Journey of a Duct Tape Crafter 365 Days Left

I have not blogged before and I wanted to try it.  

There are 2 blogs I follow and I have been inspired by them.  The blogs are A New Dress a Day and Princess Hairstyles.  I am going to try my own blog with a theme. In New Dress A Day Marisa recycles and sews an older item of clothing and makes it into a modern wearable piece of clothing everyday for 365. I have chosen to do something similar. I am going to make something out of Duct Tape everyday for 365 days as well. I have a problem; I am a Duct Tape hoarder! I can’t resist buying a new roll of Duct Tape if there is a pattern I haven’t seen before or even if they are patterns I have bough ten before, I pick them up anyways. I love Duct Tape, but now I have a bunch and I must make something with them.

How I became interested in Duct Tape, I was behind 2 girls in line at Sally’s Beauty Supply. One girl pulled out her wallet, the other exclaimed “is that made out of Duct Tape?” I was curious so I peered over their shoulders and saw for the first time a Duct tape Wallet. Now I had seen bright colored Duct Tape at Michaels, Wal-Mart and Hobby Lobby and thought “what on earth would anyone do with that?” Now I knew. I immediately went to Michaels, picked up a roll of Duct Tape, looked on the internet and made my first Duct Tape Wallet. Since then I have bought many rolls of Duct Tape and crafted with them. I have seen many fascinating creations by others, if I was still young enough to go to prom, for sure I would have created a dress out of Duct Tape.

Everyday I would like to make an item. Some will be functional, decorative, and sometimes I may repeat an item I already made with a new Duct tape Pattern. As many of you know, I love road trips, so on days I am travelling (or on days for whatever reason I am unable to get to a computer)I will make an item, however I may not be able to update the blog for a couple of days, but I will as soon as possible. If I find the instructions on the internet I hope I become good enough at blogging to post links to where I found the items or tutorials.

I hope you will enjoy following my blog, and I hope it will make you smile. Here’s to 365 of crafting with Duct tape!

Day 1- Hair Bow 364days left

I had wanted to try to make the hair bow for awhile. I finally did today. I selected butterfly tape and blue tape for the middle.  Then I attached the bow with blue tape to a double prong pin curl clip. I found the tutorial for this bow on YouTube. I am going to be in a craft show in December with my lovely friend Stacey, and had been thinking of making quite a few of these bows to add to our craft table.

Here is the link to the YouTube tutorial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFOwtZSVqo0