Duck, duct, duck . . . TAPE!

Have you seen the latest?

No?

Don't worry. I hadn't either.

That is . . . until recently, when Katie came home from school and declared, "Mom, we need to go buy some duck tape!"

"Duct tape," I corrected her, "and why do you want to buy some of it?"

You see, I know all about duct tape. Yes, I do. ALL about it. I happen to have been raised in a house with the KING of all things duct and taped. Oh, yes I was.  My father.

When something broke, my Dad had just the thing to fix it ... duct tape. And it looked something like this . . .

According to Wikipedia, duct tape was "originally developed during World War II in 1942 as a water resistant sealing tape for ammunition cases. Permacel, then a division of Johnson & Johnson, used a rubber-based adhesive to help the tape resist water and a fabric backing to add strength. It was also used to repair military equipment quickly, including jeeps, firearms, and aircraft because of these properties."

But in my house, the King of Duct Tape didn't use it for military equipment or jeeps or firearms. Nope, not at our house. In our house, we used it to tape the side of the furnace that kept falling off, or the back of a ceramic calendar that dad must have dropped without any of us knowing. Duct tape was also used to secure handles on an old basement refrigerator, hold up certain parts of automobiles, and even used to secure the washing mashing hose to the sink. Yep, duct tape was a staple in the house I grew up in.

So, I wasn't surprised when Katie said she wanted some - because Katie is alot like my Dad. What I wasn't expecting, upon our arrival to our local Target store, was finding that there is a brand of duct tape called, of course, "DUCK TAPE" and it appears to have taken on a whole new persona. Nowadays, duct (or 'duck') tape is available in every color under the sun . . . red, green, blue, white, purple, zebra pattern, tie-dyed, peace signs. You name it . . . it's out there. So, being the lover of all things duct, we picked up a few rolls of it.

Then when we came home . . . I got to work. Turns out, you can pretty much make ANYTHING out of duck tape. We did a little googling (I love Google, don't you?) and before long, we had a lovely rose AND a wallet. Seriously . . .  

Oh, but wait . . . there's more!

Weeks passed, and then Katie received a phone call from her dear friend, Megan (who happens to live a few doors down, and whose Mom, Christina, I just adore.) Megan invited us over for a special Duck Tape Purse Party!!! IMAGINE!!! What a sweetheart. Except, my dear friend Christina wasn't aware of her daughters plan. So, after a little more Googling and putting our heads together . . . we came up with our Duck Tape purses. . . . WITH BONUS PHOTOS!!! (I KNOW!! IT's HEAVEN, isn't it????!!!!) Could you imagine????

We really got fancy when it came to the purse straps. . . I mean, who would have thought . . . DUCK TAPE BRAIDED straps!!!! Look out Coach! We're DUCOACH!!! (Ok, maybe not . . . I have to work on the name a little more.)

But look at our creations . . . I even made a Nintendo DSI-XL holder (that's the purple one below):

Seriously!

What I failed to mention, however, is that about 1/2 hour into the Duck Tape Purse party, all the kids left to go play as the moms sat around the kitchen table making the purses. A couple hours of silliness and slap-happiness, we had some really original duck tape items. We laughed and said we should start a demonstration business going to homes and sitting making these purses night after night. Heck, with the right glass of wine by my side, anything is possible, don't you think? (Ok, maybe NOT!)

So, just had to share the latest creative adventure from "From Chaos comes Happiness!"

Next time you are in Target (or Walmart, Lowes, Menards or even Walgreens), pick up a few roles of Duck Tape and see what you can make . . . the SKY is the limit, my friend!