Easy Colored Duct Tape Plaid Christmas Ornaments

Colored duct tape is all you need to make an easy and beautiful plaid Christmas ornament craft…

Colored duct tape. Who knew it had the power to not only harness things like shipping boxes and broken car bumpers, but also the holiday spirit?!

Today, you’ll learn how to create a beautiful (and easy) DIY Christmas ornament craft (that can double as gift tags, too) in a jiffy using colored duct tape!

We’ve got LOTS of duct tape at our place (and tons of fun crafting ideas for duct tape, too). One, because it’s very handy to have around for all kinds of things.

As an example, my minivan’s rear bumper is currently being held in place thanks to some white duct tape. I’ll spare you the gory details, but let’s just say my car had a little run-in with Dave’s car in our driveway…whoops!

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MOST of the abundance of duct tape in our house is used not by myself or Dave though, but by our daughter. She loves with a capital “L” her duct tape…specifically the Duck Tape brand. She crafts her little heart our with those colorful rolls of tape.

If you haven’t shopped for duct tape lately, when you take a look at the craft store next time, you’re in for a serious eye-opener.

There are a gazillion specialty duct tape types out there now. Chalkboard tape, mirror tape, dry erase tape, cork tape…and the Duck Tape brand makes awesome patterns like whales and cacti.

There is even glow-in-the-dark tape. YES, I’m serious.

My daughter and I decided to put some of the colorful Duck Tape to good use for the holidays and make some simple ornaments.

And in case you missed it, I recently published a post on some similar Duck Tape DIY gift tags for you to try!

How to create colored duct tape plaid Christmas ornaments

1. Cut strips of scrapbook paper.

We’ll be mixing in strips of festive scrapbook paper with our colorful Duck Tape for the plaid ornaments. Start by cutting strips of a few pieces of scrapbook paper you like.

Once you’ve gathered a handful of paper strips, you can move on to the next step. If you end up needing more strips later on, just cut some at that point.

2. Select a piece of scrapbook paper for the back of your ornaments.

If you want to make your ornament plaid on BOTH sides, disregard this step.

If you want a contrasting back for your ornament, then pick a piece of scrapbook paper you like to serve as the back of your ornament. Lay the “good side” of your paper down facing the table or floor.

3. Place cardboard on top of scrapbook paper.

If you’re making BOTH sides of your ornament plaid, disregard this step as well.

We’re going to sandwich a THIN piece of cardboard between the scrapbook paper (ornament back), and our colored duct tape (front). The cardboard will give the ornament some stability and weight.

I emphasized thin cardboard because you want to add some stability without adding depth. You’ll have to seal the edges at the end with some white glue or Modge Podge, so the thinner the ornament is, the easier that step will be.

4. Start affixing strips of scrapbook paper and Duck Tape to your cardboard.

The good side of your scrapbook paper should be lying face down on your work surface. On top of that is your thin cardboard. Now, we’ll start securing strips of scrapbook paper and Duck Tape to the cardboard.

If you are doing plaid on both sides, you will simply repeat this procedure on BOTH sides of your cardboard to create a plaid front AND back.

As you do this, try and secure the length of your scrapbook paper strips with the Duck Tape. You won’t be able to do that for every “stripe” if you’re overlapping the sections closely. Don’t fret. We’ll take care of loose ends later.

These ornaments are only as large as a cookie-cutter. So thinner stripes will give you the most colorful look!

5. Continue layering stripes of Duck Tape and scrapbook paper.

Keep working your way toward the opposite side of your cardboard. You’ll want the piece of cardboard covered in layers/stripes of tape and paper strips.

6. Make it plaid.

Once your cardboard is completely covered with stripes of Duck Tape and scrapbook paper, you can stop there if you like the stripes. But if you want to go for plaid, turn your cardboard 90 degrees.

Many rolls of Duck Tape are the standard 2″ width. But know that they also carry rolls that are skinnier/narrower. The narrow rolls would be great for this particular pattern.

But if you don’t have the thinner duct tape, or they don’t have the color(s) you want in the thinner version, then it’s very easy to rip the Duck Tape length-wise as seen above to create thinner strips. That’s what I did.

Above is how the project should look once you’ve created your plaid pattern by placing skinny strips of duct tape all along the length of your covered cardboard at a 90-degree angle from where you started. You can see above that I’ve already cut one section of this away to make my first ornament.

If you are doing plaid on BOTH sides of your cardboard, now is the time to flip to the other side and repeat the taping and scrapbook strip adhesion process.

7. Outline cookie cutters.

Once your cardboard is completely covered with the plaid pattern, lay your cookie cutters out. You can arrange them so the plaid will be straight, or at a bias.

Below, you can see how this would look if you chose to go with the regular stripes, instead.

If you have a scrapbook paper backing, it’s easiest to flip to that side and trace the cookie cutters onto the paper. If you have plaid or stripes on both sides, then go ahead and trace on either side. A ballpoint pen may work best on the tape.

8. Cut out shapes.

It’s time to grab your scissors and cut out your traced shapes.

9. Glue down any unsecured edges.

You’ll need to glue down any ends of scrapbook paper that weren’t already secured with the Duck Tape. Make sure to use a clear-drying product.

10. Make a hole and string butcher twine or ribbon through the ornament.

Use the tip of your scissors, or a small screwdriver or punch to create a small hole in the top, center of your gift tag. This is where we’ll string the ornament.

Insert your butcher twine or ribbon through the hole, and hang your gorgeous ornaments on your tree with pride!

They are a festive, colorful addition to a Christmas tree, aren’t they?

Grab some cocoa, your fuzzy socks, turn on White Christmas, or Elf and get started!

I hope you LOVE how your colored duct tape ornaments turn out!

Easy projects like this are a good reason to add some colorful Duck Tape to the old Christmas list this year! Or if you have a crafty-Kathy or Kevin in the family, fun rolls of Duck Tape make a great stocking stuffer!

There are so many fun projects to be done with this useful supply! Merry Christmas!

Pin this colored duct tape plaid Christmas ornament craft project for later! And if you make one, leave a comment (or better yet, a photo) on the pin! That helps others know whether they want to try this project, too!