Thursday, 19 July 2012

Washi Tape Holder Tutorial




   I have a box full of washi tapes. Admittedly it's a small box, but I keep it at the back of a deep drawer, since it's the only place I can find where it will be safe and "easily" accessible. I use it fairly frequently, mostly to wrap my packages and give them an extra bit of love, but I always have to move lots of things out of the way to get to them. Not to mention the fact that washi tape is just gorgeous, so having them stuffed in a box somewhat removes the possibility of a functional decoration.
   I love washi tape, I'm quite obsessed, and if I see one I like the look of, I get it. I have nothing in mind to use them for, which is why they end up only used on packages, but when I buy a design I really love, or a colour that catches my eye, I'd actually like to be able to see it. Call me crazy but that's part of what I look for with washi tape!

   I've seen sticks you can screw to walls or stand on your desk that you can ring them onto, but there's no room on my desk, and I don't much fancy risking poking my eye out any time I turn to my left and hit my head on a stick jutting out from the wall.
   Perhaps there are other solutions, but this one is mine ^^

   It's so easy and you can probably find everything you need in the next 5 minutes, and then it'll take about that again to put it together.
   Go outside and find a stick. If your garden is anything like mine it shouldn't be too hard (though most of the sticks I can across were bendy and weak, but I soon found a nice woody one), but if your garden is as barren as my neighbours' then you might want to keep your eyes open the next time you go wandering through a forest or woodland.
   This thing has a lot of room for length, too. It all depends on the size of the stick you settle on, or how long or short you cut it. I'm quite satisfied with this stick, but in these pictures I've only threaded about half of my tapes onto it.
   You'll also want some string - I used baker's twine because I love it and have plenty of it just lying around - and something to cut with. I used secateurs because I needed them to cut the stick free from the plant it was on (it was a relatively bare stick so I didn't go breaking off leaves or flowers).


   The steps are shown below, but I'll state it here anyway ^^

1. Get your stick the length you want it. Either pick up a good lengthed stick from the ground, or cut one from your garden. Don't go stealing from neighbours, people can get very fussy about their plants.

2. Decide which side of the stick will face up and which will face down. The easiest thing to do is, if there is a slight bend in the stick, have that bend point downwards. Using either a knife, scissors or secateurs (and please be careful) cut one notch 1 inch in from the end of the stick on what will be the underside of it once it's hung up. Don't cut all the way through the stick, and if you're using secateurs or you have a thin branch, you might be in danger of snipping the end off, so go careful. You just need a notch about the size of the thickness of the string you're using. Do this on both ends of the stick.

3. Cut your string to between 2 and 3 times the length of the stick - cut it longer if you want to hang it low from a high space. Tie both ends into loops. Don't tie them too small because they need to be able to come off of the stick easily.

4. Put the tapes you want to hang onto the stick, and then loop the string onto both ends of the stick, so that they rest in the notches. These notches stop the string from sliding off, but also enable you to easily change the tapes hung up. You can either cut your tape from the roll as it hangs, or remove on end of string, take the tape and put the string back and use the tape elsewhere.

Such a quick and easy tutorial, and it looks great hung up! You cound make several if you have enough sticks and string (and that much tape) and make a nice wall display out of it too. You could use this to hang ribbons instead, or even wrapping paper if you have a stick long and straight enough!

And you might have noticed a thief in the bottom picture. My sister and her son came in and while he tried to run off with the tape, he was more interested in the stick. He proceeded to walk on hands and knees for a while and paw at the ground like a dog would if he wanted something from beneath something too low to reach under. It was strange, but it runs in the family. Oddness, not dogness.


You could also paint the stick in some awesome way, or use a selection of different coloured baker's twine to hang a single stick! Just cut lots of pieces the same length, tie them together at the ends, loop the ends as if it was only one piece and hey presto! A thicker and more colourful rainbow hanger!





3 comments:

  1. Where do you find washi tape? I feel like it only exists on the internet as I've seen it all over blogs but never in "real life"!

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    Replies
    1. I've never seen it anywhere but online myself either. There are some great Etsy sellers and some specific washi tape websites you can get it from, but otherwise, I can't say for certain.
      Craft shops are the most likely places to stock it, but around here I've not seen any.

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  2. Ah that is so awesome, what a good idea!

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