Duct tape earrings with cardboard fliers: How to

Ever received those ad-fliers on the street and wondered what to do with them? A nuisance at times and serving their purpose on others, you cannot escape them. Often we pick them up out of sympathy for people who stand hours in the sun to give them away. They probably earn a pittance.

Once they glare at you at unwanted places in the household, you prefer to trash them.

If you can use some quick thinking and have a thing for the funky when it comes to dressing up, it's possible to make the best use of these.
In this project, I have used a cardboard flier from one of the restaurants near home.

Here it is, a modified version of what I got.

Years ago when I was sick, I used such cardboard, and cardboard from medicine cartons, and that was what prompted me to start work on paper crafts. A single piece of such commercial card paper throws up a million ideas. This time I decided to simply tape them. It is amazing what a strip of duct tape or decorative tape can do. Limit not your creative brain. Go ahead and try this with industrial tape of different colours too.


On another day, I would have cut the pictures out for gorgeous bookmarks. This time though, my roll of gold colour tape came in handy.

So, the materials you need are

-- used flier cardboard or card stock from cartons of toothpaste, medicines or small gifts around home
-- a pair of scissors

-- duct tape
-- small hole punch (a revolving hold punch plier that you get in hardware stores helps) Else, use could use a pin and toothpick although the finish may not be great
-- jump rings
-- earring fish hooks

Optional:  Super Glue or gorilla glue

In a few easy steps, you can get a funky pair of earrings.
Tape the cardboard with enough tape.

What I have here is a thick surface tape. With tape that is thinner, you may need to be careful while cutting and pasting.

Cut the cardboard into squares. Optionally, you may first cut the cardboard and tape each piece.

Use the small hole punch to poke holes on one corner of each of these pieces.

 

Fix a jumpring each for two squares. Now add another square each to these.

Duct tape earrings with cardboard fliers

To these two sets, add a fish hook each.

A problem may arise with these cut pieces. The edges may feel sticky because of the duct tape glue. To set that right, you can lace the edges with the Super glue or Gorilla glue or multi-surface glue, and let them dry out. Your cardboard earrings are ready. 

Do this project on a leisurely afternoon, as a crisis management bit ahead of a party, or simply to indulge kids. The short time needed for this can give you that satisfaction of seeing the results up early. The earrings are light weight. Get over the popular squirm of them looking cheap. They are funky. And you just did your bit, not to throw away cardboard.

Picture courtesy: Radhika M B

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