From Ricochet's Tool Box

I'm not quite sure sometimes if I'm more clever or cheap or lazy.  Most likely it's a combination of these qualities that make me the crafter that I am.  Allow me to elaborate, please.  There is always a home improvement project going on at my house.  Hence, we always have an abundance of blue painter's tape lying around.  As you probably already know, the main use of painter's tape is to tape off areas that you don't want to get paint on.  Also, the main quality of the blue tape is that it is low tack, and therefore easy to remove and doesn't leave a sticky residue behind.  Because we have a lot of it lying around our home, I have been utitlizing it in various crafty projects.  Here are some examples:

I used lots of blue tape in my Paper Weaving Tutorial.  It really
helped to secure the weave and keep it nice and tight.  When
it was time to remove the tape, it left the paper undamaged.

I used blue tape in my Tudor Rose Tutorial to secure the leaves to
the petals.  When I tried it with stick pins, the pins caught up on parts
of my sewing machine and fell out when I was rotating the flower.

This is a photo of wallet I was working on a while back.
I used tape to mark where I wanted to place the inside pockets.
I also wrote the measurements on the tape.

When I buy a pattern, I unfold all the tissue and tape around the
edges of all the pattern pieces.  Then, I cut out the pieces.  This
reinforces each piece and makes it really easy to trace onto fabric.
The blue-taped pattern pieces don't fit neatly in their original envelope,
but usually I paperclip them all together an lay them on a shelf.
I only take the time to do this with a pattern that I know I will use over
and over again.  

As you can see, blue tape is used all throughout my craft room.

The masking tape doesn't have to be blue, of course.  When I was making
 The Envelope Wristlet Tutorial, I used some regular masking tape
to help me mark where to place the magnetic clasp on the flap.

Because it has a higher tack than the blue tape, I used regular masking tape
to keep the edge of the flap clean and decoupage free.  You can see
the finished project here: Another Modge Podge Upcycle.

Stay tuned for more unconventional crafting supplies from Ricochet's tool box.  Also, please check out our current sewing challenge, The Naughty Notions Challenge.

Happy crafting and big hugs from Montana,