DIY Embossed Washi Tape

Washi Tape was on the heat in the scrapbooking and paper crafting world a while ago. I have been loving this translucent effect of the washi tape when I first saw it… never bought one because I wanted to make a DIY washi tape myself.

I saw many tutorials on how to make a DIY washi tape, I find the tissue paper and double-sided tape version most appealing to me. I am not repeating what others have done, I want it to be something special, so, I embossed it to become a dimensional washi tape. I think it is not available in the market yet so it is a good idea for scrapbooking craft.

What Is Washi Tape?

So… what is Washi Tape actually? Washi paper (和紙) was originated from Japan and it is commonly known as thin handmade paper made from rice, wheat or fiber from a tree. Washi paper is generally strong and translucent, it is vastly used as shoji in a Japanese Tatami room. The shoji recalls me to the movie scene that the ninja used to wet his fingers with his saliva then poke the washi paper on the shoji to peep into and spy… Printed washi paper is used in gift packaging and sometimes as origami paper.

In short, washi tape is a printed washi paper that has a sticky backing, to stick on a card, gift box, envelope, furniture, toys, etc., be it for decoration, for organizing, for labeling, you name it. Some people do call washi tape as tissue paper tape or printed masking tape or vice versa, I think they are all almost the same.

Washi Tape Ideas

Primarily, washi tape is used as a tape but in a fancy way with its colorful design. Since it can be tape on most surface, Washi tape is then being used widely as a decoration to spice up your belongings. Not only that, you can use it as a marking to organize your items in the grouping. Here is the list of washi tape ideas:

• Decorate Stationeries
• DIY Temporary Wallpaper
• Revamp Your Furniture
• Wall Art
• Nail Art
• Scrapbooking Display
• Clothespins Tutorial
• Magnetic Bookmark
• Drink Labels
• Food Flags

Need more ideas on what to do with washi tape? Click here to get more washi tape ideas from Mel Stampz where she complied hundreds of craft tape ideas and how to make to them.

How To DIY Washi Tape

(With Embossed Medium)

Tools & Materials:

1. Tissue paper (long strip, any color)
2. Rubber stamp
3. Embossing medium and powder (preferred acid-free, any color)
4. Double-sided tape
5. Heat gun
6. Cutting mat
7. Craft knife/scissors
8. Draft paper

Note: for normal printed washi tape, you can use permanent pigment ink instead of embossing medium and powder.

Get ready the tools and materials listed above.
Cut tissue paper in a long strip, slightly wider than the rubber stamp.
I am using transparent medium ink pad in this tutorial, but you can use another type of embossing medium including the colored pen, the same one I used to make the multi-color heart with transparent embossing powder.
The brush is optional, it is for cleaning purpose only.

Press medium against the rubber stamp, make sure all contact surface is covered with the embossing medium ink.
Press the rubber stamp on the smooth side of the tissue paper. Repeat the inking and stamping to cover the full length of the tissue paper if you can work fast enough before the medium dries out, otherwise, split the work into a few times.
Place a draft paper under the tissue paper before stamping as the ink will penetrate through the thin tissue paper and stain your table.

Sprinkle the embossing powder on the tissue paper where the stamped medium ink is.
Lift the tissue paper and move it slowly so that the powder can travel across to cover all the stamped medium.
Place a paper underneath to catch any powder falling from the tissue paper.
Add more powder if required.

After all the areas are covered with embossing powder, expel excess powder onto the draft paper.

Store any unused powder back into the bottle.

Heat up the heat gun and blow it to the tissue paper. Hold the edge of the tissue with your hand or paperweight to keep it from flying away.
You will see the powder started to melt when the heat is applied to that area.

Go through all the area and make sure they are properly melted and embossed.

Adhere double-sided tape to the wrong side of the tissue paper.
Cut the tissue paper along the edge of the double-sided tape. If you want fancy edges, you can cut it with craft scissors, or even punch some design with a puncher.
The embossed washi tape is ready to deploy on your next project.
You can roll them up until they are good to create.

Do you like this DIY Washi Tape that has the embossed texture?