My teenage daughter is like most kids these days -- obsessed with Duck Tape! We were thrilled to see so many holiday colors and patterns available for crafting, so she went right to work to recreate the look of the duct tape holiday trees that are all over the internet. She picked her colors and we added a few "extras" like a wire stars to the tops of them. I think they turned out fabulous, and she loves making them (so I'll likely have about a dozen of them around my house by the time Christmas comes.)
To make these, you'll need nothing more than the following items we picked up at Walmart in their craft section (you can also order online -- list of supplies is at the end of this post):
- 2 rolls of Duck Brand Duct Tape in your choice of holiday colors
- 1 small craft foam cone per tree
- A craft knife/blade
- Ruler or grid
The directions for these can't be simpler. If you have a pointy-tipped cone, you can choose to cut it off to make a flat top, which create a more modern tree look and creates a better surface for wrapping. In any case, you'll need to cover your entire foam cone with the base color of Duck Tape you choose. Some tutorials show the tape going around the tree like a roll of toilet paper, but we found that wrapping the cone longways eliminates bunching of the tape and makes a smoother tree:
Now you can start cutting the pieces that will make up the first layer of "chevron". My daughter laid out lengths of tape, sticky side down, and cut the tape into squares about 1.5 to 1.75 inches wide, using her blade. Pick the width you want, but remember to use that width throughout the entire project.
Next, she folded each square to create the "point". Turning the tape over so that the sticky side is up, fold the two bottom corners in. You don't have to have them exactly even, just make sure the point ends up in the middle.
Take that sticky "point" and place it, sticky side down, onto your tree base, so that the point tip comes even with the bottom of the cone. Repeat by layering "points" all the way around the tree base. You may need to reposition to ensure even spacing and full coverage.
Continue making layers of "points", alternating colors of tape until you reach the top. You can experiment with how far apart to place the layers. Closer together will create a busier pattern. As you get toward the top of the tree, you'll see that your tape points will get closer together width-wise. Just keep placing them directly above the point below them, and you'll get the spacing perfectly!
Top the tree with the one extra piece of tape, cut and molded to mask the edges of the last layer.
If you want to make a star, you can do so with the green craft wire. Wrap the wire around a cookie cutter multiple times, then cut and twist the ends together. You an poke the star "stem" through the top of your tree! (Note that this simple star wire technique is perfect for lots of crafts.) You can also choose a thicker wire, or go with gold or silver!
Looking for the supplies I used in this tutorial? Find them here, via my referral links:
Duck Brand Duck Tape
Pre-Cut Styrofoam Cone
X-Acto Knife
Gridded Cutting Mat
Craft/Beading Wire
Star Cookie Cutter Set
Comments
Post a Comment