Spooky packing tape transfers

Here's a quick and easy Halloween project: votive candle holders with packing tape transferred images. You'll need clear packing tape and access to a laser printer to make these.

First, select the image you'd like to apply to your candle holder. (Check here for scary vintage clip art, like this spider, bat, crow, skull, aardvark, or search the database for other illustrations.)

With a laser printer, print your images out 2" high (or to fit within the size of the clear packing tape you have.) An inkjet printer won't work for this project, so don't even think about it!

Laminate the front of your image with packing tape. Use your thumbnail to burnish your image onto the tape, making sure the parts with toner are stuck down well. Then trim the picture down to size. You can either cut carefully around your image now, or just cut out a square and trim it later. Doing it now is probably easier.

Soak the image in a bowl of warm water for ten minutes. Then rub the wet paper fibers off the back until you're left with just clear packing tape and toner.

The tape will still be slightly sticky, so you can directly apply it to a candle holder, or for a more permanent solution, adhere it with Mod Podge, acrylic gel medium, or other glue.

Tutorial: make a DIY art installation

If you're tired of the accessories and artwork in your home, why not transform them into a sculptural art installation? This simple project will refresh the look of any room. Flat planes and geometric shapes echo your room's architecture, while carefully selected found objects add visual interest.

Materials needed:
An apartment full of stuff
Empty boxes
Packing tape

Instructions:
Place your belongings in boxes and seal each with tape. Stack the boxes in piles, varying the height of each column to create visual rhythm. Add a few focal points to draw the eye. Here, I've added a green suitcase to break up the field of beige. I pulled in a few additional elements— plastic tubs and artwork— to complete the composition.

This is a simple, low-cost project any home owner can execute, and the result is a dramatic transformation. Fabulous!

Things to make

First, download yourself an orange April computer desktop calendar from Smashing Magazine. Click here and scroll down a bit.

Second, take a look at these crafty projects you could make:
Boxy zippered pouch at Three Bears
Origami Japanese maple leaf at Yasumoto
Decorative switch plates at Pink Chalk Studio
Pleated tote bag from Artsy-Craftsy Babe
Terrarium from Inhabitat
Image transfers using clear packing tape at Wishing on Clovers
Lace earrings at Minding Prismera
Re-covered lampshade at Howcast
Lamps made from bottles at Hallmark Magazine

More printable wine glass tags

Wine glass labeling may have gotten a tiny bit out of control over here. It seemed like a fun idea in theory, but who would use these? Possibly just Brandy and Monica.

If you're inviting possessive types to your dinner party, help yourself to these wood grain wine glass labels. Print out the front side of the tags at 100%, then run the sheet through your printer a second time to add the pattern to the back. Trim them out and have guests add their names. For reusable tags, laminate both sides of the sheet with strips of packing tape and provide a dry-erase pen. Download the front here and the back here.

I upgraded my iPad case

Before: A super stylish iPad sleeve made from bubble wrap, packing tape, and one of the stickers that came in the box, created the night before I took our new iPad on a road trip. Yeah, it's pretty sweet, all right.

After: I wanted a more... shall we say respectable?... option for the long term, so I bought this brown herringbone number. The best part is the orange lining. I like it.

Wine glass flags: printable template

Awhile back a friend asked if I had any wine glass charms to help guests avoid mixing up their glasses at her party. (This sort of thing, for example.) I did not. But it occurs to me that it would be A) easy to make your own and B) nice to customize the colors to match your dishes, the current holiday, or your party theme. Plus it might be nice to have a tag you can write on, since after a few glasses of wine, can anyone really remember if they had the blue charm or the green one? (Then again, after a few glasses of wine, maybe you don't care whose glass you drink out of, either.)

If you'd like to make your own wine glass flags, I've made a printable template. Print the PDF at 100% onto solid or patterned paper, cut out the tags, and wrap them around glass stems using the slits to secure them.

Each guest could grab a tag and write their name on it. Or you could open the PDF in Adobe Illustrator, if you have it, and type names or messages yourself. Or open it in Adobe Reader and use the Typewriter tool. If you want water-resistant tags that might survive a few parties, laminate your sheet of paper with strips of packing tape on the front and back sides and provide a dry-erase pen for guests' names.

Download the template file right here.

I'll post an alternate design tomorrow.

Using polycrylic coating on origami

I've been wondering what kind of protective coating to use on origami, paper jewelry, or other paper projects—something that would make the finished model sturdier, more water-resistant, and maybe a little bit shiny.

I've tried applying a couple coats of Krylon Satin Finish spray, but it didn't seem to have much effect. (Good if you just want to preserve the finish and texture of your paper and protect it a bit from dust, though.) I've also tried clear nail polish, but it didn't create the coating I was looking for.

This was my latest experiment: Minwax Polycrylic, purchased at Home Depot. I got the semi-gloss after standing in the aisle paralyzed, trying to decide whether I wanted a glossy or satin finish. So I aimed for the middle.

I tested the stuff on these origami sakura blossoms I folded from 2" squares of plain computer paper. Get a tutorial for the flowers here! After glueing the petals together, I also glued the loose flaps down to make them extra secure.

Then I painted them with lots of coats of polycrylic, letting the layers dry for an hour or two between coats. I think I applied six. The first coat will cause the folds to relax a little, so be attentive and make sure you reshape the flower a bit if needed before the coating dries. It was helpful to stick them on skewers to dry.

The polycrylic built up a nice, shiny coating and dried crystal clear with no brush strokes at all. The flowers are slightly flexible, but really tough, as if they were laminated with clear plastic or packing tape. Mission accomplished!

I hot-glued magnets to the back and stuck them on my file cabinet.

For other coating and glaze ideas, see the helpful tips from readers in the comments on this post!

Origami paper stars for garlands or gifts

Making paper Christmas decorations is one of my favorite things this time of year. I found instructions here for making an 8-pointed origami star and tried it out. Lovely!

You can make garlands with them. (The back sides aren't as pretty, so hang the garland against a wall or put two stars back to back.) Or hang individual ones on a Christmas tree.

Or make paper stars to use instead of traditional bows on gifts. If you skip the last step in the tutorial, the back side is flat and easy to tape to a package. These will lay flat for packing presents in a box, and then you can fluff them up again when you put the gifts under the tree.