Duct Tape Lady Liberty Crown

This was a fun one, although, confession: I totally cheated. The crown is 100% duct tape, but, heh heh, I used a discount store version as a pattern. (I got this one at Target, but I think I saw one at Wal-Mart, too…) Oh, well, duct tape is way cooler and will for surely turn more heads! The pattern cost me a buck, and I think the one I made out of tape cost about that, plus about 15 minutes of work. So, you have plenty of time to make one for yourself before the big day next week!

First, layout 10 16″ strips of Aqua Duct-Tape. (if you are new to duct-tape, check out some of my other tutorials for more detailed instructions on these steps.) Make sure you use Duck Brand for this one…it’s made in the USA! (and it’s the right color.) Then, trace out your foam version onto the tape.

Next, move your pattern slightly up on your drawing and trace the bottom to give a nice curve to sketch your…um…whatever those things are. Spaces, I guess. Cut them out with your Xacto knife, peel up, and back with gray. Then, free hand just under that a nice 1/16 ” curved line and back with gray.

Now all that’s left is to back it with aqua. Cut out the crown, the inner circle, add your scraps to your duck-o ball…and you are done! Now, wasn’t that easy as apple pie? Happy Independence Day!

Woven Ties- Part 2

As promised, here is the second part of the *woven ties* post started last week. I will tell you how to make all of the patterns shown here, but first I need to show the technique for weaving a double biased square.First lay out your orange strip on the bias (45 degree angle). You will want to tear your strips at about 14″. Make sure you are covering a full 8″ width. The strips will sort of “stair step” their way up the mat. Cut the strips into half strips.Next, lay a half strip of green square to the orange at the point where the tie measures 8″ wide. There will be several inches of orange that will have to be trimmed off at the end.Now just weave all of the way up the tie as normal. (see *how to make a basic half-strip checkerboard* if you haven’t already!) If you use a 36″ mat, the tie will be a tad short for an adult tie unless you add about 12″ on the end. It worked great for me though as a boy’s tie. Now all you have to do is cut and fold the tie the same way as in the last post on*woven ties*.

Add scraps to your duck-o ball, put on your nicest dress shirt, and you are done!

And now, a few variations on the the theme:Three-color double biased square. Lay out strips in the same order both directions.

I had to show you this one even though it is wrinkled so you could see the pattern and maybe cry for me. A classic example of over-thinking things, but lets keep going.

Four-color, quarter-strip, double-square biased. This one takes some time!

Three-colored single biased diamond.

Woven Ties

**This is a part of our ‘All Things Checkers’ series–Make sure you watch the tutorial on how to make a Basic Half-Strip Checkerboard if you haven’t already!**

While I am sure there are easier ways to make a duct tape tie, I of course am going to show you the complicated and cool duck-o way. We are going to stick with the weaving not only because it goes along with our checkers theme, but also because it makes it a lot easier to fold them without a bunch of wrinkles. Plus, as an added bonus, they look like a work of art when finished. They also take a lot longer than a plain one, but trust me–they come out way nicer especially if you are unpracticed in the art of duct tape.

So, this post I am going to show the basics of making a tie as well as introduce a new weaving technique. Next time I’ll show a second technique as well as how to take those two techniques and make a variety of patterns.

The one we are going to do today I call “the biased diamond”. I am sure there is an official name for it but I just don’t know what it is.

So here we go. First lay out 36″ worth of 8″ long full strip. Cut them into half strips. Then in the center of your green strip lay a half strip of your contrasting color at a 45-degree angle.

Next, pull up two of your strips just like you would if you were making a regular checker board. The only difference here is the strips fold over at a 45 degree angle. Weave with 14″ pink half strips, moving up the length of the tie at the same angle.

After you have gone up as far as you can, lay down a half strip of pink at a 45 degree angle square with you first strip.

Okay, this part sounds trickier than it actually is. To make it easier you may want to mark your tie to 8″ wide all the way up. Now place the corner of your ruler on the outside corner of the tie. Pivot the top so that it angles in and hits the line at 2 and 1/2″. Draw a line all the way up following the same angle and repeat for the other side.

Cut out the front “square” at the tip of the tie. Pull up tie and lay sticky site up.

Pull a 4″ square and cut into two triangles. Line up the tip of the triangle with the tip of the notch and lay the triangle flat.

Now fold the pink strips over your green triangle and press firmly.

This is where the wrinkles happen, but just don’t panic–I wasn’t kidding when I said that the weave makes it easier. Plus, because it has so many layers of tape, it will hide a lot of the wrinkles that you may get anyway.

On your mark, get set, go! Hold the edge of your tie and fold to the middle. Don’t worry if it covers the entire green triangle. Press evenly up the tie until it is as flat as possible. Repeat with the other side overlapping just a tad. Phew!

Next lay your second triangle over your first. Fold down your pointy corners and trim with sharp scissors.

If you are doing yours clip-on style like I do, it’s all done but the tying. If not you are going to need to lengthen the tie. Now keep in mind that tying a duct tape tie aint’ as easy as silk by a long mile. You are going to want to keep your “tail” skinny skinny. If possible use a thin brand of tape like scotch brand to make it a little easier to tie later.

Lay out a 28″ or so full strip. And trim off your uglies. Lay your tie in the center then fold the tape over so that it is about a half and inch at the top.

Add your scraps to your duck-o ball and you are done!

**Yes I know my pictures are sideways. This post was done via satellite with an iphone and an adorable husband across the sea. Until I replace my broken down computer. This is going to be about as good as it gets. o.O**

Checkers Board

• **This is a part of our ‘All Things Checkers’ series–Make sure you watch the tutorial on how to make a Basic Half-Strip Checkerboard if you haven’t already!**

  

  Wow, it’s good to be back in full swing! I have missed making tutorials and missed pulling tape more than you can even imagine. Unless you’re as obsessed with tape as I am and have gone as long as I just did, however, and then maybe you *can* imagine such a thing after all.

  I decided to post a checker board this week because (besides the fact that I wanted to post some more checker related posts) I figured I might as well face it: My kids are completely bored. They weren’t able to bring all of their toys and junk with us on the move, so they’ve been pretty limited. This has totally grabbed their interest, though, and not just the checkers. I made a bunch of extra pieces to play games like Switcheroos, and they’ve been using *all* of the pieces to make up interesting games of their own.

  I love that this board is sturdy and magnetic so the pieces don’t slide off every which way. Remember, you can get the magnets at K&J Magnetics (the link is for the actual magnets I used for this project) or, go the expensive route and get them at the craft store. The washers I use I just got at Home Depot.

  Happy pulling, duck-os! And remember you can find us on facebook!