How To: Create A Woven Duck Tape® Pencil Case

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Walmart. All opinions are 100% mine.

I can't believe its time for kids to go back to school. My coworker's kids went back the second week of August! Crazy, right?

I was given the opportunity to play with some Duck Tape®, and after reading a dozen tutorials (and being wildly impressed by what people create), I came up with a fun back-to-school project: a woven Duck Tape® pencil case! 

Supplies

• Two rolls of Duck Tape® (Walmart has a huge selection of solids and prints in the craft/paint department – I used Totally Tie Dye in pink and purple)
• Four magnets (you can find these in the craft section as well)
• A ruler
• Scissors

So here's what I learned: you can make this pencil case any size you want. This tutorial follows final project dimensions of 12" long and 5" wide  – plenty of room for packing in color pencils and markers.

Step One: Prepare Strips

Pull and cut 14"-ish strips in one color – you'll need 12. I made them a bit longer than what the final product would be so I'd have slack to cut. Neatly fold the tacky side over on itself.

Duck Tape® is 2" wide on the roll, so when it's folded, the strips are 1" wide.

Repeat the process with the second color, except make them slightly shorter (about 13") and make 14.

Step Two: Weave

With 14 13" Duck Tape® strips in one color and 12 14" Duck Tape® strips in another color, it's time to weave.

The first couple strips were tough to get in place, but after a few were woven in, all the strips held themselves together. 

Once everything is woven, tighten the strips so there aren't gaps from piece to piece.

Step Three: Trim & Edge

With all the pieces tightly woven, carefully trim the slack. 

Add an edge by pulling off a piece of Duck Tape® and tearing it longways. It tears with ease and accuracy! Fold it around the raw edge of the woven piece – about a half inch on either side.

Repeat on all four edges. Ta-da! The dimensions are 12" x 14". 

Step Four: Form the Pencil Case

Fold the bottom up five inches. Secure the two folded edges with halved pieces of Duck Tape®. Trim excess. 

Step Five: Trim the Flap & Add Magnets

Line the inside of the top flap with two pieces of Duck Tape®. I used a pen to lightly trace a shape to round the edges a bit, then snipped and retrimmed (again, with pieces that were torn longways).

Then, the magnetic clasps! First, make sure your polarity is situated. You want the magnets on the flap and the magnets on the inside of the pouch to attract, not repel!

Tape the flap magnets with tape that matches the lining. Fold the flap over and note where the magnets hit. Then, add a second pair of magnets to the inside of the pouch, aligned with the flap magnets. Tape those as well. I used purple tape in the inside – it's almost camoflauged, but you can see them!

The flap should fold down and snap neatly in place with the magnets (just as long as you did the polarity correctly – if not, no worries! Duck Tape® is easy to peel off and restick).

Done! A totally unique pouch ready to hold pencils, sharpeners, erasers, a few spare dollars – whatever!

This is my first Duck Tape® creation and I really enjoyed playing with the tape! Seriously, I was tempted to take the pencil case and use it as a funky clutch, but I made it for a young friend of mine who's going back to school soon.

Instead, I started brainstorming all the things I could make: an iPad cover, a change purse, bookcovers – endless possibilities. Follow @TheDuckBrand for plenty more ideas and tutorials for back-to-school Duck Tape® projects.

But hey, even if you're not up for weaving, you can still use Duck Tape® to personalize things. Line a paper bag bookcover with bacon. Cover a three-ring binder with mustaches. There are so many options when you buy Duck Tape at Walmart! Why send your kid to school with the same marbled composition notebook as everyone else when it could be covered with minions?

Have you ever created something with Duck Tape®? Tell me about your Duck Tape experiences in the comments!