I like to use recycled materials wherever possible in my crafts. The other day, we took delivery of a box that had packing tape on it. Perfect! Packing tape makes great coasters for protecting your surfaces from cup rings.
I’m not talking about the sticky tape but the heavy duty woven plastic tape that gets wrapped around boxes and palettes. Hopefully the pictures below will clarify the type of tape I mean.
Getting started
To make these coasters you need a good amount of packing tape. I forgot to measure how much I used for these coasters but I did a quick calculation and the 2 white coasters took about 6 metres and the 6 brown ones which I made about a year ago when we got some new furniture took about 8 metres.
In addition to the packing tape you will need glue, I used a hot glue gun, a pair of scissors, a craft knife and a ruler. I also recommend a cutting mat or thick piece of cardboard to protect your surface.
Coasting to Coasters
Easy as 1, 2, 3...6...12
1. Decide on the size of the coaster. This will depend on how much tape you have and its width. For the white coasters I used 15 cm lengths and for the brown ones I used 10 cm lengths.
2. Cut the packing tape to the required lengths and flatten out if needed. Avoid pieces that can’t be flattened or are damaged.
3. Take 6 pieces and start to weave them together. Don’t add any glue yet. This is just to get a stable starting point and to identify what sort of spacing and final appearance you want
4. Keep adding strip in one direction until you are happy with the size. Note that you will have more strips going one way than you do the other.
5. Don’t try to add all the strips before gluing. It will end up falling apart.
Materials and Equipment
- Woven packing tape
- Glue (glue gun is best)
- Scissors
- Craft knife
- Ruler
- Cutting board
Tips
- Don't add all the strips before gluing. It will end up losing shape and fall apart while you try to glue.
- Wait for glue to dry between additions
-
Ensure strips are lined up correctly before and during gluing
- To clean, wash with warm soapy water
6. Start by gluing two strips to form an outer corner. Make sure the strips are at right angles to each other. Let the glue dry before gluing the next strip so it doesn’t slide out of place.
7. Continue gluing along one edge strip. Keep the spaces between the strips even and check the angles as you are gluing. You’ll notice I didn’t do a great job of this with the white ones.
8. When you are almost to the end stop and start weaving the strips that go in the other direction. Don’t glue them yet.
9. Move the cross ways pieces around until the piece looks right. You will notice the cross pieces are not as close together. Adjust the spacing as you want.
10. Glue the ends of each strip in place and let dry. The middle parts don’t require any glue.
11. Trim the edges if needed to remove any overlap and clean up any glue that has oozed out.
12. If the coasters get dirty, wash gently with warm soapy water.
If you don’t have packing tape on hand you could try this with strips cut from a plastic bottle or coloured cardboard. If you do, let me know how it turns out.
Have fun, stay safe and keep creating.
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