Today I have a super fun craft for Christmas: Washi Tape-Filled Ornaments! You can make these beauties for your friends or yourself, they are simple and easy enough to knock out while enjoying your favorite Christmas movie (Muppet Christmas Carol, anyone?).
Supplies for Washi Tape-Filled Ornaments
Washi tapes (a variety in each desired color is best; here I’m making one ornament each of red, blue, and green)
Fill-able ornaments (these are budget-friendly plastic ones from Michael's)
Colored cardstock
Scissors
Paper cutter (optional, but recommended)
Modge Podge and paintbrush
Dowel (or other round implement to wrap the strips around)
Coffee stick (or equally skinny item for arranging the strips inside the ornament)
Starting Your Washi Tape-Filled Ornament
The cardstock I have on hand is a book of 6”x 6” pages with two sides: one pastel and one bold. I chose to put my washi tape on the pastel side so that, when cut and curled, the bolder color was the one showing; select your paper and method that will suit your individual project.
Begin laying strips of washi horizontally across the paper, close together so there are no gaps. Make each piece of washi slightly longer than the page – the excess will get trimmed away.
Continue until the entire page is covered.
Trimming the Washi Tape Page
Using a paper cutter, trim away the edges of your page until you are left with a paper entirely covered by washi tape with no excess hanging off. Pro tip: When trimming an edge with excess washi, make sure you cut a small strip of the paper; this prevents the washi pieces from clumping together on the cutting blade.
Important Step: Modge Podge
Next, you need to coat your entire page in a light layer of Modge Podge and allow to dry. If you skip this step (like I did initially) you will find when you go to curl your washi page strips that the washi edges peel away from the paper, as shown below. Then you have to go back and Modge Podge each individual strip of washi paper, which is a pain. Do yourself a favor: do not miss this step.
Cutting and Curling the Washi Tape Paper
I eyeballed cutting my washi tape page into strips of roughly ¼” to 1/3”. Make sure you are cutting opposite the direction you laid the washi tape, so each strip features all the washi tapes! I ended up with 16 strips, which is more than enough for one small ornament. (I think two 6” x 6” pages would be enough strips for 3 small ornaments, based on the extras I had leftover.)
To curl the strips, wrap tightly around your wooden dowel then release. The strips will relax considerably, so curl them tighter than you want your finished curl to be.
I did a ratio of 2:1 washi tape facing out versus washi tape facing in, I liked the varied look it gives the final product.
Filling Your Washi Tape Ornament
Next, gently feed the washi tape curls into the mouth of your ornament, one at a time. As needed, use the coffee stirrer to rearrange the curls. In my opinion, the ornament looks best slightly over-filled with washi tape curls.
Finished Washi Tape-Filled Ornament
And just like that, you are done! You have a lovely looking ornament! This project is great for using up washi tape scraps or samples since you only see glimpses of washi tape from any given angle.
What do you think? Will you give this project a try? If you do, please tag me on Instagram @washitapewarrior – I would love to see your work!
