Ask Holly: Halloween Duct Tape Accessories

Halloween accessories—the part you did not budget for when shelling out all of that cash for costumes. No, now your kids are plotting and planning at school on how to make their costumes better and cost you more. They are wondering what kind of necklaces, hats, head-gear, gloves, jewelry, weapons, wands, shoes, 24″ replicas of the Empire State Building and feather boas their costumes will need. The good news is with a few rolls of duct tape you and your kids and you can make all kinds of groovy costume accessories. Save yourself some cash and keep them busy.

With all the different kinds of Duct tape available these days you can make something for just about any costume. In the picture below I made cuffs for a candy corn, robot or space person, devil or race car driver, witch and vampire or ladybug theme. I will be making gold cuffs for my goddesses this year and maybe a brown and white cuff for my bald eagle.

This project is great for kids in second grade and up and wonderful for class Halloween parties. To cut down on the amount of tape, if doing this project with a large group, give each child long strips of the colors they like on the edge of their desk. This way no one child is using the tape everyone else wants. Ask the art teacher to borrow extra scissors.
Here is what you will need:

The Basic Triangle: Tear or cut a 2″ piece of tape. With the cut or torn side pointing toward you, fold the one corner down and then the other to make a point. I tell kids it should look like a sail. For the bracelet you will need to make 15 of these and for a the flower you will need about 25-40.

For the Bracelet: Tip to make the bracelet even, make sure to do your folding on the cut or torn side of the tape. This will ensure that all of the pieces are exactly the same width. Start taping them together one over the top of the next right on your work surface. Space them about 1/2″ apart. Stop when you reach the width of your wrist. Peel your bracelet up and flip it over sticky side up. Take a coordinating color of duct tape and with the sticky side down  place over the back of the bracelet so it is no longer sticky leaving a 1/2″ of tape showing at the end to fasten. Cut off any uneven edges and wrap around the wrist.

For red dots or “drops of blood” I used red nail polish.

For the Flower:
Take a piece of folded tape and wrap around the eraser side of the pencil. Keep doing this, varying the points at the top. Try your best to keep the points at the same level. As the flower gets bigger, don’t wrap the petals around as tightly trying to pull them out a bit. When your flower is done you can wrap a strip of tape around the bottom to cover the ends and add a leaf to the pencil middle.

When making the bracelet you could also make it longer into a necktie. I’m sure Dad would love wearing a Halloween duct tape tie into the office.

Crafting or costume questions? Just Ask Holly in comments or email her at holly@baristanet.com

Materials available at A.C. Moore and Michael’s , Staples and Home Depot