Duct Tape Craft: Flower Pens

Spring is in the air and with that comes bright colorful flowers flowers. We all like to receive flowers and would love for them to live forever so that we can enjoy their beauty. Alas, they cannot. However, if you have a pen and some duct tape you are in luck; I can show you how to turn your plain pen into a usable, unique pen that will brighten anyone's day. Let's get started.

Materials:

- Xacto Knife or scissors that are clear of gunk, for a clean cut (a swipe with goo gone does the trick for me)

- Your favorite duct tape color or pattern or both

- Ruler 

- Cutting Mat

- Pen of choice

Once everything is collected, pull out a piece of tape a little longer than the pen. Cut a small corner and cover the flat, skinny end of the pen.

If your pen has a cap, and want to continue it's use, keep it on to measure this next step. If not, you can remove it and measure out the whole length of the pen. Just keep in mind that the cap may not fit back on the pen if you cover the whole pen. I've done it both ways so I do not have a particular preference but, I do like to have the cap on when I give these out as gifts. 

Lay your pen on your cutting mat parallel to your strip of tape. measure and cut where the tape meets the lid (or the line before the tip)

Next, measure and cut the strip 1 inch wide. 

I you are leaving the cap on, keep it on at first so that you can use it as a guide, if not, remove the cap.

 Wrap around the base of the pen. Length wise. 

Now that we have our stem, let get to the petals. This is the time consuming part of our craft. You can use the same color/pattern tape as the stem or another color/pattern for this part.

Pull another strip of tape and cut it into 1 inch squares. I usually do a few strips at a time. 

Now that we have a ton of these little guys, the process should move a little quicker once you get the hang of the fold. 

Turn over your square so that it's sticky side up. 

Turn down one corner until it meets the middle of the square.

Now, do the other corner so that you have a little house. 

One petal done! Turn it over and put it aside and continue until you've you done all your squares.

Once you've finished that little batch, we can start applying our petals to the 'stem'. take one petal and wrap it around the tip of your pen. Watch and make sure there is no "sticky" showing. 

Wrap all your petals around the tip, place the petal tops next to one another, and wrap around overlapping as you go. Your flower will begin to take shape. You can space the petals how ever close or far apart as you desire. There is no right or wrong way when it comes to art. Use your creativity. 

Make more petals as you need them. You can even add other colors/patterns and alternate them! 

Your flower is done when you feel it's done. 

Now you can enjoy your new spring pen or give one to a friend. I love to make these as a gift for teacher appreciation week. I just add a tag and BAM! instant daily gift. Teachers love these because no one can walk off with it, and it adds some fun to their desk. These are always a hit. 

These can also be used as party favors, gifts for girls, a slumber party activity, a "Happy Spring" gift for friends and co-workers and can be tailored to one's personality.  

Can you spot my Slytherin inspired pen?

Happy Crafting friends!

Jade