Duck tape v duct tape, which do you call it? Growing up I thought it was duck tape, then I learnt it was called duct tape really. THEN Duck Tape got in touch and I realised it was both! Duct tape is not just for repairs any more. Nowadays it comes in all sorts of colours and finishes and it’s perfect for crafting. When Duck Tape sent me some of their red and silver tape and vibrant pink mini tape I knew they’d be perfect for making some fun Valentine heart jewellery.

How to make jewellery from Duck Tape

To make Duct tape Jewellery you will need:

• Duck tape (obviously!)

• Jewellery finding, I used earring wires, oval jump rings, small round jump rings and chain

• Jewellery pliers

• Strong glue - I used Bostik Power repair

• Old scissors - don’t use your best scissors for this!

• Heart template

• Small hole punch or something pointy - I used the smallest hole punch end of my Fiskars Eyelet Setters

First print some templates for your jewellery. You can print the heart templates I’ve made here or go online and find your own. Cut out your shapes ready to start making the jewellery.

How to make geometric heart earrings from duct tape

Prepare the duct tape

Take a length of the red Duck Tape and fold it in half, smooth out and bubbles as you fold. You can cut a length and then fold or fold from the roll and then cut as I did in the photo. It doesn’t matter which.

Now take another piece the same length and stick it over the first this piece, folding in half again, so you have a piece of tape that is 4 layers thick, smooth and non sticky on both sides. This is a nice thickness, your earrings will be light and flexible but not floppity.

Cut the earring shapes

Using a heart template cut a heart from the 4 layers duct tape.

Fix a length of pink mini Duck Tape over the bottom at an angle and trim at the back.

Add the earring findings

Punch a hole in the top of the heart to one side. I used my little spring punch but you could just poke a hole with something sharp like a metal skewer.

Add an oval jump ring and then use a small round jump ring to join an earring wire. If you join the earring wire directly to the oval jump ring the earring will hang sideways and not front on.

I ended up giving these earrings an extra strip of the silver tape too, just to give them more of a block geometric look.

How to make a duct tape necklace with geometric heart

To make a matching necklace make a heart in the same way as the earrings and punch holes in the top, on each side of the heart. Add jump rings and then thread a chain through.

Now make loads more 4 layer pieces of Duck Tape and play with cutting out different sizes and shapes of heart to make all sorts of jewellery.

Issues you might have crafting with Duck Tape

The red tape was really easy to use and stuck to itself very smoothly, so was the vibrant pink mini tape.

The Silver Duck tape was much more difficult to handle. The adhesive seems much stronger so it is harder to pull the tape from the roll and the tape wasn’t as easy to double up without air bubbles. I found it easiest to create a piece of double red tape and then cover that with the silver, even then I got a few bubbles as you can see.

But it is ‘oh so shiny!’ So worth persevering with. I used the silver sparingly and found that worked better for me.

Try not to catch the tape with your finger nails too, if you gouge or scratch it you can’t smooth it out again!

More Duck Tape craft jewellery ideas

It’s fun to layer up hearts cut from the Duck Tape. Don’t try to cut shapes from the tape when it’s a single layer and therefore still sticky. You will get it all over your scissors and will end up in a hot mess! Just layer up the tape by folding it in half and then you can cut any shapes you like really easily. There is minimal stickiness on your scissors. Use a strong glue to fix the layers together. My favorite glue for this is Bostik’s Power repair.

To make this necklace I cut a rectangle of red Duck Tape (4 layers) about 7cm x 2cm and punched holes in the top corners for jump rings. I then layers 3 hearts, the largest in silver (4 layers) and then red (2 layers) and pink (2 layers). Allow the glue to dry overnight before messing about putting the jump rings in and attaching the chain.

This necklace was made in a similar way, I started with a rectangle of silver Duck Tape (4 layers) 6.5cm x 2cm and added a diagonal piece of pink, trimming the excess. Then I glued on a small red tape heart (2 layers) Again, give the glue plenty of time to dry before you try to add the jump rings and chain.

This necklace is so simple. It’s a rectangle of silver tape (4 layers) 4.5cm x 2cm with just 1 hole punched centrally at the top and a small heart cut from pink tape (2 layers) glued on. I only made a necklace but this design could make lovely earrings too.

These earrings were made in exactly the same way as the first pair, I just used a long thin heart shape and cut one red heart and one silver. Then added the diagonal strip of the other tape on the bottom as before.

That’s it, really easy to make heart jewellery for Valentine’s day and beyond. A great activity for kids in the summer. For younger children you could prepare the Duck Tape ‘fabric’ for them first, older children and young teens could do this themselves easily. You will get A LOT of jewellery from just a couple of rolls of tape so it would be a great craft for a kids camp or craft group.

Julie

I’ll be sharing this idea at these link ups

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