I'm lazy & I know it...

Well I'm not lazy. I've made stuff I just haven't put up instructions or photos. I plan to start on a new duct tape purse for one of the kiddos so I'll get the photos taken & instructions made up & uploaded asap. :)


That & eventually the raised garden bed stuff & the chicken coop stuff.

Test....

Zombie Goodies

I am the biggest zombie geek I know. I also happen to be "white trash" & I craft. Can you see where this is going?

Duct Tape Sushi

The near to Holy Grail of white trashdom has arrived! Duct Tape Sushi! (I'll put duct tape bento up later.) I know everyone is dying to know how to make it so, without further ado, let's get to it!

Step 1:

Supplies

Duct Tape in black, green, red, yellow & white (at the minimum! ~ I own EVERY (& I mean EVERY) color & pattern of duct made by Duck & 3M so I use lots more colors & patterns)

Plastic shopping bags

Scissors

Diagram of sushi you'd like to reproduce

Permanent markers for detail work, if desired

Craft knife & cutting mat/board

Step 2
Time to make your "rice" rolls. Now I'm making both Maki & Nigiri. Maki is the rolled stuff, with the seaweed wrapped around it. Nigiri is the rice ball/oval that has a piece of meat or egg or etc on the top with a minimal tying of seaweed, or no tie at all.

Cut your shopping bag into 3 to 5 large pieces & roll, roll, roll! If you're going to do the Nigiri, you want longer oval shapes. If you're doing Maki you want a shorter, rounder cylinder shape.

Tape it down with just a small scrap piece of tape. Doesn't matter what color, doesn't matter how "pretty" it looks as this is the very center of your sushi, you'll NEVER see it.

My Nigiri are at the top right, my Maki at the bottom left.
Step 3
Make your base shapes into rice balls!

Take a strip of white roughly 3 times as long as your sushi base. To make it easier, go for a 3-4" long strip.


Place your baggie shape far enough onto the tape that you'll get a total wrap with a little extra. Basically you want to cover the entire baggie shape in duct tape.



Now roll it up! Make sure to keep the edges level, you want as straight & true a roll as possible. You want a nice, tight, bubbleless wrap if possible, too.


If you're doing the Nigiri type, make your pieces of tape about 5-6" long.

Step 4
Next, wrap it again! You'll do this 2 more times, for a total of 3-4 layers of white tape. It makes sure the shape holds & it gives you a chance to get as close to real life a "rice" shape as possible.



Step 5
Now its time to wrap the black "seaweed" around the rice (IF YOU'RE MAKING MAKI ONLY!)


Its okay if the black doesn't go all the way around. You can make more than one wrapping (I suggest 2-3 actually). You may need to cut, or tear, the duct tape to the proper width for your Maki.


When finished yours should look something like this:




Step 6
Time to make the "filling" & toppings!

If you're doing Maki, this is pretty easy! If you're doing Nigiri, its gonna be more time consuming but looks way cooler! (I know that is not proper English, that there's White Trash English!)

To make Maki of any kind, take a small piece of your chosen color (depending on your "filling") & cut it with the scissors, or on the cutting mat with your craft knife, into a triangle or square. You need 2 of each "filling", one for each end.




To make Ebi Nigiri (prawn sushi) you'll need to make a rough prawn shape with some plastic shopping bag, much as you did with the actual rice shapes in the 2nd step. Give it a roughly round "head" area & make sure you have 2 "fins" at the other end. Tape it loosely as you did before, with just a scrap piece of tape.


I'm using the red & yellow tie dye (sold as "Cosmic Tie Dye") as it most closely matches an actual shrimp (I'm not having that shrimp vs prawn argument, they're the same thing to me).


Once you have your basic shape, now you want to wrap it with your shrimpy/prawny tape. Lay your prawn onto the stick side making sure to hang your "fins" off the edge. Fold the second half of the strip over the top & wrap gently to ensure it covers the entire body.


You'll need to make two small strips & wrap them around the "fins" to ensure they're the same color but stand out from the body, just like a real prawn.


Now take a small strip, about 1 1/2 - 2" long by about 1/4" wide, & wrap it around the shrimp & rice making sure to hide the ends at the bottom. Your Ebi Nigiri should look something like this:



To make Tamago Nigiri (Egg or "sweet omelet") start with a strip of yellow duct tape, about 10-12 inches. Fold it in half, back upon itself.


Roll the yellow tape up, making several layers as you go. Tape the underside closed with a small piece of yellow.


Now take your black, tearing off a strip about 3 inches long. Tear it the long axis so you end up with a thin, long strip. Wrap it around the Tamago Nigiri so that there's a yellow layer on top of one of your longer white "rice" cylinders. It should look something like this when you're done.


To make Kani Nigiri (crab stick) you'll need a piece of tape about 8" long. Fold it back & tape it to itself.



Fold your piece of tape in on the edges, making a roughly rectangular shape where you can NOT see the ends of the tape. Tape it loosely with a small scrap piece & you have a crab stick! Take another small, long strip about 2" by 1/4" & wrap the crab stick to the rice & you've got Kani Nigiri!


By now you should have a basic understanding of what to do to make sushi out of duct tape. I made many more types so if you want those instructions just leave me a comment. I'd love to see what you make though.

Feliz Navidad!

Aka - How to make a duct tape cactus wreath.

I know quite well that no one will have a use for this craft, but I'm from Texas & I deeply miss it especially at the holidays. As such, I decided to make something that reminded me of home (South Texas), something that's uniquely Texan & that I wouldn't see at the local Evil Empire for $3 made in China! Thus I hit upon the idea of a Nopale wreath - or more correctly for me: a nopalitos wreath.

Nopale is the Spanish word for a Prickly Pear cactus leaf, usually indicating its in an edible form. I wouldn't advise you chop it up for the fruit & put it in your salsa or soup, but I think it came out looking pretty good for no pattern & no plan outside of "Can I really make one of those?" & "Ooooh, sounds like White Trash Craft time!!".

The answer to that question, and I'm learning EVERY question in life, is DUCT TAPE!! :D

Step 1:

Supplies
Duct tape in (AT LEAST) green, white & red

Plastic shopping bags

Pen/Pencil/Marker to draw out a Nopale leaf

*OPTIONAL* Stiff paper or card for making a Nopale leaf pattern, I free handed most of them, only using my pattern 2 times.

SHARP Scissors

Nopales have yellow flowers & their pears have been seen in reds, oranges and yellows as well as a light pink color so run with it!



Step 2:

Make a duct tape fabric sheet. Complete instructions can be found here. You're going to want a sheet at least 12 inches long, and a minimum of 8 inches high to have plenty of leaf area to work with.



Step 3:

Time to put on your shopping bags! You can wad them up, ball them up, fluff them a bit with air, whatever you want to do with them. Make sure that you leave about 1/4" of tape on the outside of each edge to give you enough edge to tape your next sheet down to. Duct tape bonds best with itself!



Step 4:

Lay another fabric duct tape sheet on top of your bags. Make sure to cover the sticky edges to the best of your ability

If it isn't all covered that's okay, but the glue of the tape will make cutting much harder if the scissors are constantly exposed to 1 sticky side.



Step 5:

Now its time to draw your Nopales! If you're making a pattern, trace it on & cut it out for use. If you're free handing it, go with the gusto!

I tried to place 2 leaves per cutting area to make as many leaves with as little waste as I could. If you don't think you can get 2, that's okay. You may just need to repeat some of the steps.



Step 6:

Now get to cutting! Cut 1, then make the next drawing or fill the whole sheet with leaves & cut out all at once. Totally up to you.



Step 7:

Taking a small strip of green, wrap the cut edge. Overlap the pieces to ensure full coverage. When you're done you'll have 1 nopalito leaf.

Step 8:

Now you've got several (I got 9) leaves of different sizes. That's exactly what you need! If you have more that's fine. If you have less, you may need to repeat the previous steps to get enough to make a wreath shape.

This is a rough mock-up of what the wreath will look like when done. If you don't like the shape now, CHANGE IT. Tinker with it, move the pieces around. Get it to where you like it then take a few small pieces of green (an inch or so square is plenty) and tack them together.

Once you've got the wreath shape you like, you're going to tape it together. I flipped mine over (after tacking with a few small pieces of green) & taped it together well. You won't see the back so it isn't as important to keep it perfectly clean & pretty but don't go overboard.

Step 9:

Time to make your pears! They're simple. Take a piece of red (or other color of your choice) about 4 inches long. Take a small piece of waste pear sheet (or plastic bag, or even duct tape) & roll it into a ball. It doesn't have to be perfectly round, you're going for a natural effect and nothing in nature is perfect.

As you can see I use as much of the duct tape as possible, even the "trash" pieces from previous steps & projects.

Fold your pear color over the waste piece (or whatever core material you've chosen to use).


Fold & wrap your pear a little at a time, until you end up with roughly a diamond or pear or even tear drop shape. Feel free to add extra layers of tape if you want to make sure its totally smooth looking.


Now add your fringe (if you want to). Take a strip of white about 2 inches long & tear it in half down the center length so you have 2 long, narrow strips. Now fold one of the strips over, leave about 1/8" of glue along the bottom.


Next you want to make it into fringy petals. Cut from the folded edge, down to the glue line. You don't want to cut all the way to the bottom, only to where the glue is to ensure that you have something to bond the fringe to the pear with.



Size it down to your pear's head & tape so that the small strip of glue is below the top of your pear, providing a 3D look but hiding the back of the tape strip. Repeat for as many pears as you want to make. Cactus have anywhere from 1 to 5 (sometimes more) pears per bunch per leaf. I went with 1, 2, & 3 pear bunches.

Step 10: (*OPTIONAL*)

Now you want to use your permanent markers to draw in your prickles. Just make 2-3 quick flicks per area to mimic the needles. You can go back in with a darker color (or lighter) and draw in a few circles to make your cactus look more authentic.




I've taped all my pieces together, but you could also use a hot glue gun or contact cement to bond the leaves & pears.

TADA! You've got a finished, embellished Prickly Pear Cactus wreath! Good job!


Not that I expect many people to have a use for this craft, but I had fun making it & I hope you have fun if you give it a try. It makes a great decoration for your door or your wall or just wherever you want to stick it.