Duct Tape Decorated Storage Container

If I've said it once, I've said it a hundred times: you can NEVER have too many storage solutions.

I'm always trying to look at things in a different way in order to reuse or up-cycle things rather than recycle or throw them out. When my husband came home with ice cream in a sturdy plastic container with a tight-fitting lid, I knew I'd be reusing the container for storage.

Since I didn't really want the container to still look like it contained ice cream, I decided to cover it with duct tape. I'm really happy with the results.

MATERIALS
- empty plastic container with lid
- duct tape
- electrical tape (optional)
- exacto knife, scissors

1. Thoroughly wash and dry the container, inside and out.

2. Wrap a strip of duct tape around the side of the container along the top edge of the area that you want to cover.

If your container has angled sides like mine, you'll have to cut slits in the duct tape with the exacto knife to get it to lay smoothly over the container.

3. Wrap another strip of duct tape around the sides along the bottom edge.

4. Since I had just a narrow gap between my strips of duct tape, I decided to use electrical tape to fill in the space and provide some interesting contrast. You can use another piece of duct tape if you prefer.

5. Apply a piece of duct tape to one side of the lid. Press it down firmly into the corners.

6. Use the exacto knife to trim away the excess tape in the corners.

7. Repeats steps 5 and 6 on the opposite side of the lid.

8. Cover the middle of the top of the lid with another piece of duct tape. Trim any excess.

9. DONE. 

Pretty easy, right? The only thing I noticed once I was at this point was the stamped writing on the edge of my lid. I tried some cleaners and rubbing alcohol but couldn't get it off. After some more experimentation, I discovered that sticking a piece of electrical tape on the writing and peeling it off removed most of the writing.

 

Now you're really done. Enjoy decorating and filling your containers!