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Duct Tape Flip Flops

Macaroni Made

By Michelle Melnik; Macaroni Kid Deerfield/Greenfield July 25, 2013
Material:
Duct tape (is pretty much all you need), but you can also use some old flip flops for your template, and pipe cleaners as the "straps". If you would like to make your flip flops more durable, you can trace your flip flop template onto cardboard, then cover the cardboard in duct tape. We chose to use duct tape alone, making our flip flops more of a slipper.

You may also want to have some ribbon, jewels and other embellishments so kids can make their flip flops completely unique.

Directions:
I find it easiest when making anything with duct tape to put strips of it face down on the counter. Keep overlapping the strips until you have a pretty large rectangle or square (depending on what you are making). I did just enough so that it was large enough for my flip flops and my daughter's. I used actual flip flops for measuring.

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Once we had enough duct tape laid out, we carefully lifted all the duct tape off the counter and turned it over. Then we covered the sticky side with more duct tape. I traced some old flip flops and then folded the duct tape in half so I could cut two out at a time.

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Then we used pipe cleaners for the straps. We rolled duct tape around the pipe cleaner. We measured out the length of duct tape needed, then placed our pipe cleaner on one end of the duct tape and rolled it so the duct tape covered the pipe cleaner completely. 

Your old flip flop templates come in handy at this point. Use those to make a mark on the back of your duct tape flip flops for where you'll need to put the hole for the center "strap". I just put it in the same spot as the circle that is on the back of most flip flops and used scissors to make a hole. I folded the duct tape pipe cleaner in half and put the bottom through the hole, securing it on the back with more duct tape. You can then just wrap the side straps around the flip flops and use more duct tape to secure those straps.

Let kids use ribbon and other embellishments to make their flip flops their own. We attached tulle ribbon to the top of the flip flops with duct tape. I have found the best way to attach anything to duct tape is to use more duct tape. These flip flops are working perfectly for getting in and out of the pool, running out to get the mail and even setting up a flip flop shop.

What duct tape creation can we make next?