Duct Tape and Cardboard Photobooth

These past days I have been working on a duct tape and cardboard photo booth. Here are some simple instructions for how to make it.

You will need:

an assortment of boxes (at least 1 box big enough to sit inside)

a box cutter

several rolls of duct tape (I used black and red)

scissors

The first step is taking the biggest box that you have and decide if it is big enough for you to kneel down in. My box was a little too short so I decided to tape up the sides of the top and bottom corners to make the box taller.

Next, you cut a door in one side of your box to create the entrance to your photo booth, leaving a section of the top of the box in place to hold your booth together.

NOTE: Keep the piece of cardboard that you cut out. You will need it later.

What would a photo booth be without a curtain?! I decided to make mine out of black duct tape - actually, it was gorrilla tape which was really smelly. My family really wished I had picked a different brand of tape.

Making the curtain

1. Making the curtain takes two people. First, measure the height of your opening and cut two pieces of duct tape the same height. Make sure to measure from the top of the box (over the piece of the box at the top) all the way to the floor.

2. Place the first two pieces of tape together, sticky side to sticky side, but leave a few inches at the top to go around the piece of cardboard box at the top of your door opening. This part definitely takes two people. One to hold the pieces of tape apart, and one to stick them together. Attach this first strip to the far left edge of your door opening along the top bar of your doorway.

3. Do that two more times, and space them about 1 inch apart starting from the left side of the box. This should get you about half way.

4. Then cut 4 strips of tape as long as the first pieces you've cut, but don't tape them together.

5. Take 1 piece of the tape and put it on the inside of the curtain between the first two solid pieces. Then put one on the outside of the curtain on top of the piece you just placed on the inside, sticky side to sticky side. This turns the first two strips into one solid piece. Repeat this step with the second and third strips.

You now have one side of your photo booth curtain.

Do that whole thing again, but this time starting from the right. You will end up with a curtain split in the middle. Be sure NOT TO TAPE THE RIGHT AND LEFT SIDE TOGETHER.

Finishing the curtain

Cut one piece of tape the width of the top of the box where your curtain is attached and place it half horizontally on the outside and fold it over to the inside. I used the same color tape as my curtain tape.

After you have your two halves, you need to finish off the edges. Pick a contrasting color of tape and stick half of it on the front of the left front middle side of the curtain and fold it over to the inside. Do the same thing on the right front middle side.

Finally, you will need to trim the bottom edge of your curtain so that its all the same length.

Now you add your device holder. Find a box that fits your device. A shoebox or a jewelry box or whatever you can find that will work. You can even create a box out of other pieces of cardboard and duct tape. Whatever you use, your device should fit snuggly so that it doesn't fall out. I used my beats solo box to hold my ipad mini because it fit perfectly!

Installing your device holder

NOTE: Before you decide where to place your device holder in your photo booth, find the app you plan to use to take your photos. I used Awesome and Arty Selfie Pic Booth of Fun. It will take the photos in landscape mode and put them in the photo strip the correct way. However the interface doesn't turn into landscape mode. Once you know which way your app goes, you will know which way your device holder box should go.

After you've figured out which app you are using, sit inside your photo booth to decide on the placement for your device holder box. Hold the device holder box up at eye level while you are kneeling inside your box and trace a line around the outside of the box.

Next you use the box cutter and cut on the outline you made on your photo booth box to make a hole for your device holder box.

Before you install your device holder into your photo booth, add a device pullout tongue to your device holder box by sticking two pieces of duct tape together (sticky side to sticky side). One should be longer so that it can stick to the outside of the box. The pieces of tape should be long enough to reach from the outside, down through each face of the inside with a little piece sticking back out on the outside.

Then insert your device holder box into the hole you've cut out of your photo booth. It should be half in and half out.

Finally, tape the device holder box into place on the outside of the photo booth.

I ran into an issue with the box being too snug for my device which made it turn off occasionally. I solved this problem by adding a piece of cardboard just slightly bigger than my ipad to the inside of my box to stretch it out slightly.

The last step is actually optional, but I decided to add a roof, floor and decorations to make it feel more finished and to have better light.

To make the roof, you use the piece of cardboard you cut out to make the door opening and cut that piece in half (or size it to fit the top of the box). I left a little sliver of the roof open to let some light in. Next time, I think it would be fun to add some LED lighting to include some extra light. Tape the sides of the top to the sides of the box. Do the same thing with the floor.

Use some tape to create a backdrop on the opposite wall of your device. I made a heart out of my red tape for Valentine's Day.

Building the photo booth was a really fun challenge, but the best part is taking silly selfies. So get in there and make some faces and have fun!