my craft channel episode {watch it online}

Last month I filmed an episode of My Craft Studio with Kristine McKay on mycraftchannel.com. Going into it I was completely terrified, but I was surprised how comfortable Kristine and the staff made me feel from the second I walked into the studio. I was still nervous, but at least you don't have to watch my lower lip quiver with fear! l But try not to be distracted by my swinging hair (my layers got a little out of control!). Check out my segment, then take a few minutes to watch some of their other awesome craft-themed shows and explore their craft store! They do featured buys every few days with awesome deals from companies you love like Pink Paislee, Heidi Swapp, and more. You can sign up for a free membership to get emails about their deals. Totally worth it! And stay tuned--we're planning a giveaway with them soon!

duck tape bag tutorial {girls camp craft}

I was recently asked to be the craft counselor at our church's girls camp this summer (best assignment ever!). So of course I immediately started a YW Girls Camp Pinterest board (follow me here). We wanted to do a pre-camp craft to get the girls excited, so I decided to make these duct tape purses using Duck brand tape (inspired by this post by All Things Thrifty) to hold their secret sister gifts each day. The best part is that if they get dirty you can just wipe them down, plus they're waterproof! Perfect for roughing it.

"Duck" Duct Tape Bag Tutorial

Supplies:

Duct tape (Duck brand has tons of colors and cute prints)
White garbage sack for lining (any plastic sack would work--recycle those Target bags!)
Ruler
Pen
Scissors
Optional: button for flower center, hot glue to attach it

1. Decide what size you want your finished purse to be. Double the height and add a few inches for the bottom (if you want a flat bottom like mine), and add a few inches to the width for the sides (again, if you want a boxy bag like mine). I cut mine 8" wide and 18" long, so the finished size is about 7.5" tall by 6" wide.  Use a ruler and pen to mark the bag, then cut your plastic bag to these dimensions. This will be the lining of your bag.

 

2. Cover one side of the bag with tape, keeping in mind that the bag will be folded in half, so each short end will be the top of the bag. You can do horizontal, vertical, or diagonal stripes.

 

3. Trim the tape flush with the plastic bag and fold in half, lining sides together.

 

4. Cut a piece of tape a little longer than the side of your bag. Place half of the tape on the side and fold it around to the other side. Now one side of your bag is closed! Repeat on the other side and trim off excess tape on top and bottom.

5. Now you will create the flat bottom of your bag. This part is a little tricky, so use the pictures. Turn your bag so you're looking at the side seam you just created. The bag is currently flat, and if you open it, the bottom corner becomes a point like this.

Push the first point in with your finger.

 

Then flatten the corner and pinch it closed so it looks like this. 

 

Repeat with opposite corner. Now you need to secure your corners so they don't come untucked! There are two ways to do this. I chose to put a piece of the same tape I used on the side seams along the outside bottom of the bag

Or you can put a piece of tape along the inside bottom of the bag to secure the corners.

6. The next step is to tape along the raw edge at the top of the bag. I used the same color as my side and bottom seams. This part can also be a little tricky--just expect to have some folds and bubbles in the tape. But you really don't notice them once the purse is done, so don't fret. Carefully fold the tape over the edge all the way around the top. You may want to use shorter pieces of tape instead of one long one.

7. Next come handles. Cut two pieces of tape about 18" long. Fold them in half lengthwise with edges even.

Lay them on the inside edge of the top, overlapping slightly, and tape down. (You can see I started with a wide piece of tape and then decided to cut it down for aesthetic purposes a moment later.) Repeat with second handle on the opposite side.



That's it! If you want to add a decorative flower, here are a couple of ideas.

Pleated Duck Tape Flower

Start by cutting a circle out of a square piece of tape (it doesn't have to look pretty as you can see, just cut off the corners).


Next, cut two pieces of tape about 24" long each. Fold them in half lengthwise, but leave a 1/4" border of stickiness like this.


With the 1/4" sticky side up, press one short edge of one tape strip down on the outer edge of the tape circle. Make a fold or pleat and press down. Continue making pleats, slightly turning around the outside of the circle until you reach the beginning.  

Moving in toward the center of the circle, continue making pleats around. When your first strip ends, add the next strip and continue around until you reach the center.

Duct Tape Fringe Flower

You can also make a cute a fringe flower. Start with the same circle of tape and long strip as the pleated flower.

Make fringe by cutting slits from the folded edge 1/4" apart about half way through the sticky strip (don't cut all the way through!)

Start on the outside edge and press down as you move around the circle. If you run out of strip, make another and keep adding until you reach the center.

When you get to the center, roll the last couple of inches and press the roll down in the center. 

 

Trim off any excess fringe. Attach flowers with hot glue or even just another piece of duct tape! 

I made simple duct tape tags so the girls would be able to find their secret sister's bag at camp. Cut a piece of tape about 2" long and fold in half. Trim off two corners to make a tag shape. Write names with a permanent marker (like Sharpie).

For our craft night I will get a few more solid colors and a few more printed tapes to give them plenty of variety. Check out Michael's or JoAnn to get a roll with your 40% off coupon. You can also find Duck tape at Walmart, Target, Home Depot, Costco--it's everywhere!

  

 This post generously brought to you by:

washi tape sale is on {pick your plum}

Oh no, did you see that Pick Your Plum has washi tape 70% off again today? Of course it's all new stuff from the last sale, so I'm going to have to stock up again. My collection is getting out of hand!

If you don't have any yet, check out this post to see how perfect it is for quick and easy gift tags, or here for how to use it on cards and scrapbook pages. And if you're already addicted, you have to check out the awesome ideas that Tausha from Sassy Style Redesign has (she owns over 100 rolls of this stuff, so you know she's using it like crazy!). The Pick Your Plum sale is today only, so check it out!

mother-daughter date at our favorite store {world market}

Mother's Day is right around the corner (it will sneak up on ya, watch out!) and I am so blessed to have the best mom in the world. Sorry, I know you thought your mom was the best, but really mine is. She is one of my best friends and because we love so many of the same things, we always have so much fun together. I have such great memories of growing up with her as a mom and all the fun traditions and things we shared. She also gives great advice, is always so willing to help me out and is always serving others.

I am lucky that my mom doesn't live too far away from me so we get to see each other often. One of our favorite things to do together is shop at our favorite store, World Market. My mom is the one who introduced me to this store and every time she comes to visit me we spend an evening (sans kids) poking along every aisle and checking out every item. I got to spend all of last week with my mom so we decided to get some fun items from World Market to spruce up our wardrobe!

World Market always has such a great selection of the most unique items. I love the international influence and they have great prices. It's why we love it so much! We found some fabulous fashion finds in the accessories and jewelry departments.

It seems like every time I shop there I find so many scarves I love. We each picked out a scarf and a bracelet. Accessories are great items to use in your wardrobe because they can go with so many different outfits and add such a great pop of color and pattern.

We had fun trying our new items out on each other and thinking about all the different ways we could pair these accessories in our wardrobes. My mom and I have similar tastes so it was a lot of fun and she gave me some great opinions.

So, since I know you love your mom as much as I love mine, nominate her for the My Amazing Mom Sweepstakes! You can nominate your mom for the chance to win a $5000 World Market gift card!! You can also enter to win the fan sweepstakes for a chance to win one of ten $500 World Market gift cards.

Be sure to follow World Market on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest for the latest updates!

This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and World Market, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #MyAmazingMom. http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO