Washi tape is a must have craft item in my opinion. Even if you don’t indulge in papercraft, scrapbooking or card making, it’s a useful and pretty way to wrap packages or decorate a letter. Some of you may know already that I’m a massive stationery geek and not afraid to admit it.
So what is Washi Tape? Washi tape originates from Japan and is usually handmade from natural fibres such as bark, bamboo, rice, hemp and wheat. Usually it is made from the bark of the mulberry shrub. Wa means Japanese and shi means paper.
There are several types of washi and masking tape, with many craft stores stocking coloured and patterned tapes made from different materials.
I promised you a DIY here didn’t I? Here are some ways you can make your own tapes – not strictly ‘washi’, but hopefully fun.
For the first washi style tape I gathered together my favourite papers. The one on the right is Cath Kidston wrapping 🙂
For all three of these DIYs, you will need double-sided tape and a craft knife.
- Cut a strip of tissue paper – this will give a translucent effect like washi paper, but you can also use craft papers as shown above.
- Cut a strip of sticky tape at your desired length and place onto the tissue paper.
- Use the craft knife and a ruler to score down the side of the sticky tape on both sides.
- I then cut little chevrons at the end of the tape, but you can cut straight, diagonal or with pinking shears, it’s up to you!
- Then peel the backing of the double-sided tape and apply to whatever you wish to embelish. Simple as that!
DIY tape number two uses lace trim. Of course this is not strictly washi tape, but it produces a really pretty result.
- Use the same principle as the tissue paper DIY above, applying lace tape (or fabric) to the sticky tape.
- As my lace has a scalloped edge, I used fabric scissors rather than a craft knife to trim the edges.
- Peel the backing off the tape and you are done. I love this one as it gives a textured look.
- Find the item you wish to apply your tape to first
- Cut the tape into the desire size, peel one side off the sticky tape and place on your item. In my case, this was a gift tag
- Then peel the other backing off the tape and you will be left with the clear tape on your item
- Sprinkle your glitter on – liberally
- Tap the excess glitter off
Here are my simple DIY tapes finished! I stamped lettering on the tissue paper one, which worked really well. You could even do this with fabric if you used versacraft ink or similar.
I used my finished DIY tapes and washi collection to decorate some items including one of my notebooks (also covered in the Cath Kidston wrapping) and clothes pegs.
Some of you may have seen this one before in my previous posts, but I also used a floral tape to decorate my kitchen chalkboard. What do you think?
I’d love to hear your ideas of how to use washi tapes!
Claire x