Tutorial: Upcycled Gift Wrap Containers with Duck Tape

Every year there are one or two gifts that defy wrapping. The stuffed animal. The wooden spoon. The fragile gift (this year it's a hedgehog made of pine cones). While I like gift bags a lot for their simplicity, they aren't the most sturdy wrapping. So when I was given two rolls of holiday printed Duck Tape, I took advantage and created some gift containers that would keep my gifts safe, while looking fabulous at the same time. My holiday Duck Tape has motifs of snowmen and penguins (you can also get candy canes and ribbons), which means all you have to do it cut and tape to get in the Christmas spirit.

Kate Uhry

Supplies:

- Empty food containers with lids (I used rice and oatmeal boxes)
- 1-2 rolls of Duck Tape, holiday edition
- Scissors
- Holiday cards
- Miscellaneous gift tags, ribbon or other decorations

Time to Complete: 1 hour

Level of Difficulty: Easy

Basic Instructions: Take the empty container. Cover it in duck tape. Add decorations. Done.

For more complicated, step by step instructions on what I did, see below.

Cover an Oatmeal Container

I started off by taping the front half of a greeting card to the oatmeal container. I chose the card because it had silver, blue and bronze accents, the colors of the tape and the ribbon I had on hand. As I was placing Duck Tape on the container, sometimes it wasn't even, or creased a little. It was easy just to unstick it, smooth it out, and place it down again.

Decorate the Lid

I took the second half of the greeting card, cut the holiday greeting out and taped it to the lid. I found that for this, it was better to use scissors rather than rip the Duck tape. If you pull it taut, it cuts pretty easily.

Cover Ragged Edges

Once the container and lid were covered, it was time to hide all those ragged edges. 

Add Ribbon

I used this wired bronze colored fuzzy ribbon that I had kept from last year. It happens to look a little bit like pine needles.  I taped it down both sides of the card, hiding the uneven edges.

Cover a Rice Container

Next up was the second container, an empty plastic rice jar. For this one, I used the penguin Duck Tape, since I happened to have a greeting card with penguins on it.

Attach Ribbon

I stuck silver ribbon on the edges of a piece of Duck Tape, then applied it to the jar.

Cover Uneven Edges

Duck Tape is super flexible and won't tear if it gets pressed into indentations. So it was perfect for the part of the jar that wasn't smooth.

Decorate the Lid

I added the greeting card to the lid and taped it down. I also added another piece of card to the inside of the lid. Why not?

Fill Containers with Gifts

A few additions of ribbon and gift cards were all that was needed to complete these two gift boxes. Filled with gifts, they are sturdy enough for shipping. They won't melt if they get wet (thanks to Duck Tape they are now waterproof) and will keep my pine cone hedgehog from breaking.

I hope this inspires you to eat lots of oatmeal and break out the Duck Tape next time the holidays roll around!

(You can also get more holiday ideas from @TheDuckBrand on Twitter. If you're a DT fan you'll want to follow and Duck the Halls.)          

This post brought to you by Duck Brand provided by ShurTech Brands, LLC. All opinions are 100% mine.