Spooky packing tape transfers
Here's a quick and easy Halloween project: votive candle holders with packing tape transferred images. You'll need clear packing tape and access to a laser printer to make these.
First, select the image you'd like to apply to your candle holder. (Check here for scary vintage clip art, like this spider, bat, crow, skull, aardvark, or search the database for other illustrations.)
With a laser printer, print your images out 2" high (or to fit within the size of the clear packing tape you have.) An inkjet printer won't work for this project, so don't even think about it!
Laminate the front of your image with packing tape. Use your thumbnail to burnish your image onto the tape, making sure the parts with toner are stuck down well. Then trim the picture down to size. You can either cut carefully around your image now, or just cut out a square and trim it later. Doing it now is probably easier. 
Soak the image in a bowl of warm water for ten minutes. Then rub the wet paper fibers off the back until you're left with just clear packing tape and toner.
The tape will still be slightly sticky, so you can directly apply it to a candle holder, or for a more permanent solution, adhere it with Mod Podge, acrylic gel medium, or other glue.
50 comments:
How creepy. ;-)
Don't worry; I won't send you one. In fact, maybe I'll peel them off and replace them with puppies and kittens.
Puppies and kittens would be much better! And thanks for not sending me one. You're so considerate!
Mum
Aarvarks are scary?
That was a test to see if anybody was actually reading.
They look kinda scary to me!
Okay... I'm gonna go sew now. :)
love this!!
What a great idea!!
That is cool. Looks like ol' packing tape is going to give duct tape a run for its money :)
Jenn @ rookno17.blogspot.com
Are you kidding me? This is retarded cool. I'm doing it.
how awesome! thanks for sharing!
OMG these are soo kewl. I can think up a bunch of ideas for this AND my boyfriend happens to have a laser printer. Yay!
I love these!!! So cool! Transfers are always exciting!
That is the coolest thing ever!!!!!!!!!!
I will never remove your blog from my Google Reader subscriptions, because you never cease to serve up pure awesomeness. Did you come up with this packing tape printing technique yourself?
how fun! will have to try. the kids would love this.
that aardvark is a bit scary!
aardvarks Are scary 0_o Hsve you Seen their faces??
Will hsve to try -- how does this work for color??
I have this sinking feeling that everything in my home will now have some sort of packing tape decal on it...
What a great project!!! I can't wait to try it on all sorts of things!
AAAh I love learning new techniques like this! Love it! Thank you!
clever - i had no idea you could do that.
it works fine with an ink jet printer.
awesome! I am wondering a couple things though... mod podge is brushed on outside of piece or used to adhere it? and also...think if you sprayed this with sealer it would be waterproof, say for cups?
this has got to be the most absolutely fabulous thing i've seen months. love it!
Kathryn, how'd you get it to work with an inkjet? I did a test, and the ink bleeds everywhere so the image is ruined.
MaryMary, nope, I didn't invent this technique. It's just one of those things out there in the world. Like knitting or something.
Headless Angel, I'd put the Podge under the image like glue. About the sealer, I'm a little doubtful, plus I'm not sure the sealer would be food-safe for drinking and such. I don't know. Guess you could try it.
Oh, and color laser prints should work fine. You might test it with magazine pages too. Offset printed stuff should work.
I was about to waaaaaaaa until I read that it WILL work with an inkjet printer too!
Thanks for sharing!
Awesome idea. candlelight and Halloween just go together so well.
Here's another spooky use for packing tape:
http://www.tapesculpture.org/gallery.html
Aardvarks are not to be trusted. Cool project, Jess.
Eek! I don't like spiders, haha, but it's a nice idea (: howell I'll stick with the pumpkins
Love it! :) this time of the year i'm in the mood for spiders and creepy beasts better than cute kittens. Now i need a laser printer...
I've done the same thing in art school with acrylic gel medium - brush it on really thick, let it dry, and then remove the paper pulp with water. Never thought to use packing tape!
NB: It only works with laser printouts or photocopies because it's the toner that sticks to your film.
Brilliant. Such an easy way to make custom glass items.
tonyadusold.blogspot.com
tonyadusold.etsy.com
Just wanted to let you guys know that I tried doing larger print outs and it worked. All you have to do is slightly overlap the tape on the image, and it holds it together. Good luck with doing larger projects!
Great, thanks!
This clipart website? Is. Amazing.
Thank you for sharing!!
this is how we used to fake our IDs back in high school.
That is so cool! I love Halloween!
LOVE this!
Hey, yeah! Fake IDs might be a good DIY project to post, too. I'll keep it in mind. :)
This is such a cool idea. Did you download the gif or tif? I don't quite understand how to size for printing. I adore your website. Look forward to hearing. Sarah
You could also just print on a transparency sheet and mod-podge it on. And you don't need a laser printer in that case.
thanks for the reply. I have a laser printer, I just don't seem to be able to size the images to fit the tape or the container. Sarah
Sarah, I don't remember which I downloaded. Probably the largest size, so it would have the most resolution when I scaled it down. I used Photoshop to open the image, and entered 2" as the height I wanted the image resized to.
People without Photoshop could use an online image editor like Picnik, which will resize images, I believe.
Or try adjusting the settings in your print dialog box. If you download and print the largest spider image at 18%, for example, it will fit on 2" wide tape.
Brilliant! Makes me wish I had a laser printer!
Thanks again for a super idea! Linked on She's Crafty-http://crafty.littlerockmamas.com/index.php/2009/10/25/sppoky-packing-tape-transfers/
At How About Orange, learn how to make packing tape transfers of creepy Halloween images that you can use to decorate votive candle holders and whatever else you can find for the holiday. The technique is a great one for any type of image, not just Halloween!
I tried this but it didnt work but I know it was a layser printer
Hi! I tried it and I love it!! Do you think you could do larger prints and use laminate paper?
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