I'm never quite sure how well I manage to hide things here on the internet. You might not know, for instance, that I have a terrible weakness for tiny sweets which taste like soap, or that I used to be pretty good at juggling. Probably less of a secret is the fact I'm quite obsessive.
Which may explain the following.
Last week, I made some fancy strips of deco-tape and posted about them here. Lots of people seemed quite keen on the idea which (a) made me very happy (thank you, like-minded readers), and (b) was all the invitation I needed to go tape-crazy. Admittedly, a single comment would have done it. I like making tape.
You might also remember I had some leftover tissue paper hanging around and in a happy collision of ideas . . . say hello to DIY washi tape.
Made following exactly the same method as for the original envelope tape, you just need to be a little more careful working with tissue, which is obviously thinner and more prone to tearing than regular paper. On the plus side, however, it also means your finished tape is semi-transparent (like real washi-tape), so you can create slightly different effects when applying it to projects.
As well as a pack of regular, gift-wrap tissue (the stripes, which are by Caroline Gardner), I also used some leftover Decopatch sheets - an orange and white print, plus a wholly delicious woodgrain. And then I found another kind which seemed like a good idea.
Because if woodgrain tissue-tape is good, vintage sewing pattern tape is kind of awesome.
I'd love to tell you this whole thing stopped there, but the sewing patterns led me to a fresh box of papery goodness, and - like I mentioned back at the start - things got out of hand.
First of all, there were vintage books in the box, along with some Chinese text.
And then, origami papers.
Some old maps.
And a couple of IKEA tape measures (don't tell me you never swipe a few extras while you're there).
I suspect it will be quite a while before I run out of tape . . .
. . . or the urge to make things with it.
But if and when I do find something else which is begging to be tape-i-fied, I promise you'll be the first to know.
x
