DIY Washi Tape Tutorial

I’m going to begin with the disclaimer that this isn’t one of those blog posts where I say, “HEY! You’ve been getting cheated out of your money. You should DIY washi tape!” While DIY washi tape is fun, easy, and cheap to make, it does take more time and steps than simply buying some washi tape and using it to decorate your invitations, correspondence, notebooks, and whatever else. DIY washi tape is for those of you who have amazing paper or fabric that you’ve looked at and thought, “Huh. I’d love to have some washi tape that looks like that.” It’s for you all who need washi tape at this very moment and either don’t have access to it, don’t have the time to go get some, or are trapped in a zombie apocalypse and can’t leave the house.

I’ve read a few tutorials on DIY washi tape, and they all advise using double-sided tape to make DIY washi tape. That’s just one of those things that {surprisingly} I never having laying around. I wanted to come up with a DIY washi tape tutorial that utilizes regular tape and materials that you have in your home right now, no trip to the store required. Oh, and if you haven’t heard of washi tape and you have no idea what I’m talking about, check out this article on Buzzfeed to get yourself up to speed!

First and foremost, you’ll need tape. This is $1.00 tape that I purchased at Dollar Tree:

Next, grab your white glue and an old paintbrush …

And choose a piece of paper or fabric you’d like to transform into DIY washi tape. I have chosen a map of Colorado:

Take a piece of non-stick parchment paper and lay your tape, sticky side down, on the paper. You’ll notice that the tape sticks to the paper, but very easily peels off.

Flip the parchment paper over and use a ruler to mark where the edges of the tape are so you can cut the tape off the parchment paper a minute or two from now. It’s really easy to see where the tape is if you lay the parchment paper and tape over a dark surface or a dark piece of paper.

Flip the parchment paper over again so the side with the tape on it is face up. Squirt some glue on the tape in a zig-zag pattern.

Spread the glue on the tape using your paintbrush; and don’t sweat it if you paint on the parchment paper, too. The reason I am having you paint the glue on is so the paper doesn’t “bubble” due to irregular glue application.

Press your paper or fabric down on the glue-covered tape. Be sure the side you want showing is not the side that is glued to the tape! Use your fingers to smooth out the surface from the back.

If you’re impatient like me, you can now use your hairdryer for a few seconds to set the glue. Once your glue is dry, take your scissors and cut along your guidelines.

Here’s what you’ll end up with:

{And the front:}

When you’re ready to use your tape — either now or in a year — simply peel off the parchment paper. It will come off like a dream, and you’ll have washi! The photo below is of the back of the tape.

… Which you can then use to decorate whatever you want. Of course, my choice of items to decorate is envelopes.

This tutorial is super easy and makes for personalized DIY washi tape that will delight your friends and dismay your jealous enemies {you clever crafter, you}! One reader recently asked about uses for sheet music left to her by her father — this would be a great way to lovingly use that sort of thing. Vintage book pages would make wonderful washi tape. Really, any fabric or paper with an interesting pattern will make a formidable candidate for DIY washi.

Before you jump to DIYing, let’s talk a little bit about the weather.

I forayed onto Pearl Street {the cool downtown here in Boulder} to purchase some Medioevalis paper at Two Hands Paperie and Cocomels at the Bayleaf. {As a side note, I always send my wedding clients some Chocolove … but since the client I am sending materials to next week is vegan, I opted for Cocomels instead.} The weather is amazing; let me tell you, I am “over” snow. Because I am writing this, I am sure the weather gods will send a blizzard my way — but for now, I’m really getting excited for spending lazy days enjoying brunch, walks, mochi, and much more paper buying downtown. I hope you are enjoying a change in weather like we are here in Boulder! But — if you’re not, that’s fine: you’ve got some DIY washi tape-making to distract you!

Enjoy, and talk to you on Saturday!