HOWTO Make a duct-tape corsage

Instructables user Thatkidwithayoyo has a fine formula for making a corsage out of the universal medium of exchange, duct tape:

I didn't want to buy in to the wasteful "buy, wear for a few hours, throw away" corsage culture, so I decided to make a more economical, longer lasting, and greener alternative.
This instructable will teach you how to make duct tape flowers and then use those flowers to make a corsage. The flowers and corsage will last forever and are waterproof, recyclable, hypo-allergenic, and just plain cool! They are also cheaper than a normal corsage and don't require a trip to the florist.

How to Make a Duct Tape Corsage and Flowers (via Craft)

Previously:

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

MORE: Happy Mutants • maker

More at Boing Boing

Eurovision 2013: An American in London

The technology that links taxonomy and Star Trek

Bekah

Duct tape is super amazing stuff – I once patched a hole in a canoe with it and it held for the rest of the journey (and that had some grade 3 rapids in it). But really I don’t think this is greener – would have to look at the production cycle for duct tape and all its elements to see how it compares to shipping orchids etc. Maybe if you made a corsage out of a drink can or recycled electrical wire.
owenblacker

My wife made her bouquet and our buttonholes from duct tape for our wedding. We all thought they were very cool! :o)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mojen/2685259670/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/mojen/2684446571/ if you want to see the end-result.
drabheathen

“Wasteful”? “Economical”? “Greener”?

Considering all the freaking chemicals it takes to put together a roll of duct tape, I’d say you’re better off sticking with a flower. At least a flower’s biodegradable.

Or making it from found objects – beads and cloth.
theresamat

I agree with #15. Why is everyone hating on the Duct Tape accessories? Yes, there are not very enviro-friendly; I get that, but I would be honored if a guy took the time to create a corsage for me!

Of course, this is coming from a girl who made herself a duct tape hat…
stuiethegod

dang, those look a lot better then the ones I made in high school. Why is everyone hating on duct tape?

Oh and Jeff, and the girls I made flowers for in high school loved them.
starfish and coffee

oh, and they “don’t require a trip to the florist”.

fuck yeah, I just hate entering a florist. why have we put up with this natural shit for so long?
kengor

You ain’t gettin’ no pussy with a lump of duct tape.
ricket

!(green) == green?
Keeper of the Lantern

My brother’s a musician and back when he’d play Broadway shows-on-the-road, he’d occasionally forget a tie. So he’d just go to the stagehands and whip one up with duct tape.
Pantograph

Imagine my disappointment when I realized this wasn’t about a duct tape corset.

/me drinks his morning coffee
flipper99

Let me get this right …

Searching for a GREENER alternative to flowers?

What can be more green that growing something and returning it to the earth …

And you came up with duct tape? plastic tape and a chemical glue ..? since when is duct tape recyclable? they send trucks around to collect it in your area?

jeez.
Teller

Duct tape is the corsage you give to a man.
wakaman

+1 on Flipper’s comments.

This is not green by any stretch of the imagination. And corsages/dried flowers last practically forever. I still have one from junior high kicking around somewhere.

Even if you buy a plastic corsage, it’d still be greener than all the tape that goes into this one.

I never really understood the duct tape fetish that some people have. Yes it is a great product for many tasks, but turning it into wearables is just silly
Anonymous

Hey guys! I’m going to use a petroleum byproduct and call it “greener” than A FUCKING PLANT!
Anonymous

Apparently there’s a basic misunderstanding of teenage girls going on here (closely related to post #1, by the way.)

Girls *keep* corsages. We carefully lay them out to allow them to dry…I even know girls who disassemble the corsages, dry the flowers, and make lovely shadowbox bouquets with the reassembled materials. The rest of us generally don’t throw them away until they crumble into dust (and there’s not much that’s more biodegradable than a flower that has already begun to biodegrade.)

I don’t think there are too many girls who are going to do anything with a duct-tape corsage other than dropping it into the nearest garbage can (oooh, there’s that throwing away a mass of chemicals and plastics thing) — if you could even get her to wear it. (and hypoallergenic? Can I please tell you about allergies to chemicals? Now there’s a nice memento of prom — a seeping patch of blisters on her shoulder from a reaction to the duct tape.)

So…you won’t get to first base, and she’ll likely pitch it in the trash.

Your flowers are clever, but pony up the cash for real flowers, stud.
Bekah

speaking as a girl born and raised on a flower farm…. may I just put in a promotion for real flowers – even if you pick them from the side of the road :)
arkizzle

Surely it’s greener than shipping orchids from tropical climes, or growing them hydroponically in milder places.
ROSSINDETROIT

Waterproof. Because the first thing I want to know about any botanical decoration is what happens if I swim with it on.
Boeotian

http://www.ducttapefashion.com/
Anonymous

any guy turning up in my driveway with that best back right back up and go right to the next girl’s house cause they ain’t gettin near me with that.

god forbid us girls want to adorn ourselves with actual real flowers and not remade office supplies. the duct tapers need to give up the reconstituting and find some leaky ducts already.
Jeff

Just don’t do it. She will not be impressed.
IamInnocent

http://www.ducttapeguys.com/fashion/prom/index.html
surreality

OK, so the green claim is just silly, and I can understand the not wanting to actually wear it claim. But I was expecting more duct tape love from people who read BoingBoing! My current boyfriend knows how to make roses out of duct tape and gave me one which I keep on my bookshelf. I don’t make claims to its greenness and I’m not going to wear it, but it’s awfully cute, looks very real, and I know he spent a lot of time and effort on it.
Anonymous

Great idea! With this you will also not have to buy into the wasteful “buy, wear for a few minutes, throw away” condom culture either. The economic benefits do not end there. You will also avoid the cost of an additional date.
kib

Perhaps this effort was from the same brilliance who wrote “Peece” on the desk?
Bekah

#17 Rossindetroit and #19 Kib :D hehehe love it
#16 Teller absolutely – and it is a male corsage actually
#15 Stuiethegod No no not hating on duct tape at all just a teeencey wincey little eye raise at the green claim – now if it were in green duct tape that would be different ;)