duct tape girls camp crafts {ideas}

Ahh, girls camp. Spending time in the great outdoors, enjoying life unplugged, building relationships and learning new things about yourself, getting closer God and building a testimony of his gospel. What an amazing experience girls camp can be (especially when your camp offers flushing toilets and showers for the leaders)! It was almost like a little vacation for me, and I loved getting to know the girls and other leaders better since I am new to the neighborhood. 

Of course one of my favorite parts was the crafts. I was asked to be the craft counselor for our LDS ward's girls camp this year and it was an awesome opportunity. I had no shortage of ideas, but let's be honest, any church's budget can hamper a good crafting session. So my challenge was to create four different camping-friendly craft projects for our teenage girls on a very limited budget. Enter my magic bullet: duct tape. It's relatively inexpensive, it comes in lots of cute colors and prints, and it's water/dirt proof! Then I had to find a way to stretch our dollar by using it in multiple craft projects (so no duct tape goes to waste). And I did. Four craft projects to be exact. But these crafts aren't just for girls camp. Most teenage girls (and younger!) love getting crafty with duct tape, so any of these projects would be a fun summer craft at home, too.

 

Craft #1 - Duct Tape Purses

I showed you our secret sister "mailboxes" in the form of these duct tape bags that we made for a pre-camp craft activity (get the tutorial here). The girls LOVED making these bags. We tied rope between two trees and hung the purses with clothespins so the girls could leave their secret sister a small, inexpensive gift each day of camp. It was a huge hit. Here are some examples of the designs our girls came up with (I love how creative they are!).

   

  

Craft #2 - Personalized Duct Tape Water Bottles

The first day, after setting up camp, we had some down time. So we had each girl decorate a plastic water bottle (find these at WalMart or the dollar store for $1 each). This was a super quick craft that also served as a way to personalize our water bottles so we could keep track of them. The girls taped a piece of duct tape around the middle and then spelled her name out with alphabet stickers (purchased at Michael's for 50% off). Easy peasy. And cheap!

Craft #3 - Duct Tape Pens

I saw duct tape pencils over at Pioneer Woman and knew the girls would freak over them (get her tutorial here). We used pens instead (since I'm not sure how you sharpen the pencils once you have duct tape on them). The pens only cost $.10 each at the dollar store, so the girls were able to make more than one if they wanted to.

A couple of the girls had made them before and showed me a variation that was very cool. Instead of using four petals per round, use three, and line up each petal exactly behind the petal of the previous round. It gives you a very different look!

Craft #4 - Duct Tape Covered Notebooks

I found these notebooks in packs of 3 for $1 at the dollar store, so only $.33 a piece. We used the duct tape to cover the front and back of the notebook, then covered the spine with a coordinating color/print. Trim the edges with scissors for a clean look.

Some of the girls folded a piece of duct tape and made a strip to act as a bookmark, or to hold a pen. Ingenious. 

I have more girls camp craft ideas coming this week, including my favorite camp craft: stamped leather bracelets (squeal of delight goes here). 

And I'll share the rest of our camp menu from our amazing camp cook (if you missed the gourmet s'mores, check them out here!).