Make a Duck Tape Lunchbox for Back to School!

Is your teen or tween the kind of kid who likes to be different, to show their individuality and to make things themselves? Then have I got a back to school craft project for them–create a custom Duck Tape Lunchbox out of Duck brand duct tape!

The kind folks at Duck sent me a whole fabulous tote full of their products which they sell at Walmart to play with this summer. There was all sorts of cool stuff.

Included were a ton of different patterned rolls of tape–solid neons, silver, photo realistic macaroni, chevron, quilted and more. There were 10 sheets of Duck Tape Fabric, mini rolls with flashy metallic Duck Tape Prisms and glow in the dark Duck Tape Glow and even their newer Duck Tape Washi.

For the lunchbox project I chose to use the leopard print with bright lips throughout, then a coordinating neon green solid in both the regular size and the mini. Princess LOVES neon green. Not quite sure why. . . Additionally I used bubble wrap (leftover from a package I received) and some heavy duty velcro dots I found in the sewing section at Walmart.

I started out by picking a lunchbox I already had for a template. Then I trimmed the bubble wrap to be the width and length (both sides plus the bottom) I needed for the box. I covered the bubble wrap completely on one side with the leopard print, then on the other side with the neon green. I used my “template” lunchbox to see what I needed to trim off to make my lunchbox. Next I created two equal sized squares for the sides of the box (again roughly based off my purchased lunchbox) and covered them in the same matter.

To join my pieces I chose to use the contrasting green on the print. I figured I wouldn’t be able to make the print match closely , so I might as well make the joins completely different and use it as a design point! I used the thinner tape on the outside and then I reinforced it on the inside with the wider tape.

Basically I just attached the sides half way down to make a “T” or cross shape. Then I folded the sides up, bent the long parts in and taped to join.

A tip–tape it “however” at first–it is going to shift a bit and not come out even all the time, then then if necessary go over the strips again with another piece of tape that you can place carefully to make it as even as possible.

Once the box is together, fold it flat and then mark and cut out your handles. Doing the “binding” around the handles was a bit tough–I put longer strips of tape on the straight parts, but to make the curves I kept cutting off 1/4 to 1/3 inch pieces and easing them around to get the shape I was looking for.

Use your self sticking Velcro dots to make a closure, and you are done!

And there you have a one of a kind, customized, Duck Tape Lunchbox!