Little Birdie Secrets

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!

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I have been hard at work on my Michaels re-love challenge and am excited to show you the finished product!

Remember how I told you I have had this old window sitting in my garage for over a year? I am so excited that it has finally been put to good use!

I decided to take this window and make a big multipurpose message board out of it!

I really liked the rustic look of the old window and how it was distressed, but for this particular project I decided to freshen it up by spray painting it. I taped around the window panes and then covered them with paper so they would not get painted. I sprayed primer first, then white satin spray paint.

Then I painted one of the window panes with chalkboard paint. Michaels carries a chalkboard spray paint that makes it super quick and easy!

I made over another pane into a corkboard. You can buy cork in different sizes at Michaels or you can buy a large roll of it and cut it to fit whatever size you need. Since the window pane was so large, that was the option I went for. I measured it and cut it with an x-acto knife (well actually my husband Kevin did it for me!) I did two layers of it onto the pane so the cork would be thick enough to tack items onto it. I adhered the cork onto the window with my trusty E6000 glue. I am sure you could also use a hot glue gun or different adhesive tapes.

The cork section is great for pinning anything I need! Pictures, grocery lists, coupons, etc.

I made the last pane into a faux whiteboard. I just stuck a piece of white posterboard to the back of the pane and so it has a white background and I can write with dry erase markers right on the glass!

I use this whiteboard section for remembering things that are going on during the week, or messages that I want to write to my family as reminders or love notes.

This project was such a fun project and I will get a lot of use of it in my home now. There are always so many things to keep track of in our family and with this message board I can stay on top of it all!

If you are looking for more ideas on how to re-purpose old windows, check out our altered window frame tutorial and our altered window message board.