If I had a penny for every empty food container that I’ve saved for a craft project, I’d be a very rich woman. Here at Projectkid.com, we are serial (and cereal) upcyclers…both for the ecological impact on our planet and for the convenience factor (use what you have!). More than ever during this quarantined time, we’ve hoarded all the boxes, caps, lids, tubes and containers that have passed through our household. When you have a bin of these things in your house, it invites kids to inventively build three-dimensionally; they can innovate with their hands and don’t need to rely on craft kits.
When Stonyfield asked me what I could make with their quart-sized yogurt containers, my creative juices went on overdrive. Hats! Pencil cups! Drums! The tubs are sturdy and waterproof…so yes, a vase or planter would be perfect! I wanted to make vases that felt sculptural—something where you could recognize that the base is a simple quart size container but the boundaries of the basic cylinder were broken. Since duct tape is also waterproof, it was the perfect, colorful option to use on the outside.
These duct tape vases were so much fun to make. You can create people, animals, or just various abstract patterns. They make a great DIY gift idea this holiday season to make with your kids!
Cover the container with strips of duct tape, working from the top down.
Cut another strip of tape and stick a cotton ball to the back. Adhere the strip to the container, making sure that the cotton ball lands where the eye would be. Repeat for a second eye. Smooth the tape down around the eyes.
To make the eye lids, attach a piece of tape to parchment or wax paper and cut out crescent shapes. Attach to the top of the eyes.
Use a sharpie to draw the outlines, lashes, and pupils of eyes.
Cut a triangle from thin cardboard, about 2-by-2 inches and cover with duct tape. Fold in half and tape to the container as a nose, right in between the eyes. Draw on nostrils with sharpie.
To make the mouth, fold a piece of red duct tape to the center, and then to the center again from the opposite side. Cut out a top and bottom lip and use folded-over duct tape to attach just under the nose.
Now that you have the face, it’s time to add the features:
Ears: Cut two matching ears out of cardboard and cover with duct tape. Tape to either side of the head.
Short hair: Cut swoops of duct tape out and attach them along the top of the yogurt container.
Ringlets: Tear off a piece of duct tape, about 10 inches long. Lay a pipe cleaner down the center horizontally and fold tape over towards the center. Twirl the pipe cleaner/tape around a thick marker to make the ringlet and use a small piece of duct tape to tape the curl to the yogurt container.
Straight hair: To make bangs, adhere two 4-inch pieces of tape to each other. Fringe the ends and trim to the correct length. To make the hair, cut three pieces of duct tape: 6, 8 and 10 inches long. Fold each in half lengthwise. Make a loop with the shortest piece and tape ends together. Loop medium piece over the smallest loop, and the longest over the medium one. Use matching duct tape to secure to side of yogurt container. Repeat for the opposite side.
Make the body:
Peel the wrapper off of a single-serve Stonyfield Farms yogurt container and cover with duct tape.
Add details like collars, stripes or buttons to make the body.
Use a piece of folded duct tape to attach the body under the head.
