Lady Bug Remover Here in Indiana we get TONS of ladybugs in the fall. They always manage to get inside my house. I get very tired of grabbing kleenex after kleenex to kill them. So I take a strip of duct tape and roll it up, sticky side out, and then gently press it on all the lady bugs I find. Once they're on the duct tape, they can't escape. It's quick, easy and best of all, cheap! - Randy Hoover

Resourceful Room Cleaning 101 I am a messy person, and I live in my room... I hadn't cleaned my room in a year and my mom had started getting really annoyed and was always yelling at me to "get the garbage off the floor." So one day me and a few friends decided we'd do just that. We put what little money we had together and ran up to the store to buy about four rolls of duct tape, came back, and proceeded to tape all the garbage from my floor onto my wall... Mom almost had a stroke when she saw what we had done. - Yuri K., Toronto, Ontario

Mouthpiece on a Roll I coach boys lacrosse, and occasionally, players forget their mouthpieces. It is penalty to not have one in during play, so I carry some Duct Tape in my coaches bucket to remedy this. Just tear off a 2 to 3 inch piece, fold the sticky side together lengthwise, and wallah, a mouthpiece. Of course, I strongly suggest they bring a real one next time...but we're always prepared. - Mike D., Virginia

Frame of Fame Hey Duct Tape Guys - I bragged to everyone about the fact that my question was a Hump Day Stump Day entry in your 2004 desk calendar. As a result, I got a terrific Christmas present from my friend Cindy. As you can see, it was a roll of Duct Tape, a 2005 Duct Tape desk calendar, and a framed copy of my question. Note the fact that the frame is trimmed with Duct Tape accents. Ah, the joys of Duct Tape. - Lloyd B. Rumble

Pick Gripper I recently bought a bunch of guitar picks that are made of a slippery material. Every time I used them they would slip out of my hand.. so I decided to make a grip on them all using duct tape and it worked great. - Serena S., Deerfield Beach, Florida

... And Another Frame Job
I just opened my 2005 Duct Tape calendar, and saw your email address. Here's a use I've not previously seen:   my favorite daughter framed for me a photo of my favorite grand-daughter ...  and matted the picture frame with duct tape. Very appropriate! - Karl L., Rome, NY.

Duct Tape Dress Form My wife sews. She had a hard time finding a form that she could work on for herself. I put her in a long tee shirt and wraped her up from neck line to knees. We used three roles of duct tape and after I was done we cut her out taped up the form,stuffed with cotton batting and pu on a stand set at her hieght. It worked sos well that one day a delivery man seeing the form in the window thought that my wife was home. She was not. It works great we used the form for three years. you have to be carefull when wraping a person. If you make it to tight they can't get their wind. and their legs will turn blue. - Dale E. B.

Duct Tape Galoshes I went fishing with a buddy on a cold and wet February weekend some time ago. After getting in the boat with my tennis shoes on, I discovered that I had forgotten my rubber boots at my house. To keep dry, I put my feet (separately) into plastic shopping bags and duct taped the bags to my shoes, up to my ankles. The plastic bag kept the wet out and kept the duct tape from sticking to the shoe. That story actually occurred about 20 years ago. I have duct taped stuff that is older than you guys are. And I still have some of them. - Ray McD., Houston, Texas

Blue Jay on a Roll Last minute Christmas present for my mommy. It turned out very well I think. - Paula, Vista, CA

Raccoon-Proofing I used duct tape over the holidays.  I had an incident with a raccoon which invaded the attic to my house.  I found out that it had ripped my dome cover off my power vent on the roof.  Unfortunately, we were due for over 12 inches of snow.  I had a sizable opening on the top of my house.  So, being inventive since I can’t seem to find a replacement, I used a trash can lid to cover the opening.  I used duct tape to secure it to the existing brackets on the power vent.  It is a sight for sore eyes. - Cheryl Anderson

Paw Protector I have a herd of kitters that I have rescued over the years.  This year I got a new all in one fax, printer, copier, scanner thingie.  Unlike my printer that the kitters usually sit or sleep on top of, this new gadget has buttons on the top.  After a ream of paper and useless prints later, I devised a solution.  I duct taped a small tupper ware dish over the buttons.  I actually taped it to the protective plastic cover.  Now the kitters aren't faxing China or making prints. - Wooie  

Duct Tape HolidaysStephanie saves money on her holiday decorations by bringing out the colored Duck® brand duct tape. did you know that the tape comes in 19 different colors now - plus a clear duct tape that is perfect for crafting icicles!

Nostridamis Duct Tape Guys? Do you guys realize that your topic for today is Martha Stewart and that today is the day that Martha Stewart begins her incarceration? How did you know that today would be such an appropriate day to use her as a reference in your calendar? I'm impressed! - Bill

Stuff like that seems to happen to us all the time - it did with 9/11, too - we had a firestation hint. Freaky. We do these things two years in advance. Hmmm... Maybe I should list a date when Jim and I win the biggest lottery in the history of the world..

Glove Repair in India I am from the US, but I teach at a school in rural in India, and the wildlife (snakes, scorpions on the exciting side, lizards and rats on the not-so-exciting side) tend to co-habitate with us. So I returned from my summer off to find about $500 of my best outdoor gear eaten to shreds by a rat (one of my students found the rat, decomposing, in one of her best sweaters...who got the worse deal?). Anyway, one of my gloves was almost completely demolished, as well as a wool sweater. So I cut up the sweater, put it inside the glove, and duct taped it in! The result -- one glove that was way too warm on my backpacking trip in the Himalayas in November!
Thank you duct tape! - Andrew M., Pune, India

Shake it Up! I had 2 cans of spray paint that needed to be shaken so I duct taped them to the wheels of my self-propelled mower started it up raised the wheels off the ground and Voila! Paint mixed with no effort. - Richard S.

Duct Tape Gun Holster This is a "custom fit" duct tape gun holster that I made. Notice that it also has a slot for an extra magazine!! The gun in it is a fake airsoft gun, so I hope that won't cause any legal trouble. Michael L., Forest, VA

Barb's Inspired Uses: My mother-in-law knits slippers for us.  They have a yarn bottom, so they wear out in about six months from walking on them.  So I always put duct tape on the bottom of my slippers, to act as a "sole" and have had my slippers for years!!  Be careful, they are very slippery, so if you go outside and it's wet, or icy, the slippers will act as ice skates.
Also, we have a Yellow Lab dog who jumps off our pontoon boat, and climbs up the people ladder.  She loves to jump into the water to retrieve her tennis ball.  We had to get a new ladder this year, and the rungs were very wide going up the ladder.  We were afraid that our dog would slip through the sides of the new ladder and hurt herself.  Therefore, we used duct tape to wind around the ladder sides, and it worked!!  The duct tape can last all summer long, without being replaced.  
Last, but not least, one of my friends at work had her bra strap break, and was looking for a safety pin.  Nobody had one, but jokingly I said, "How about a piece of duct tape until you get home?"  Sure enough, it worked, and we still laugh about it!!
Thanks for a great calendar! - Barb McE.

Coffee Stays Put! For those of us who drive older pickup trucks, with no cup holders provided, I found what I think is a real innovative tool for duct tape. I use a roll on my pickup seat as a coffee go mug holder. The sticky edges of the roll ensure it sticks to the seat, good even in a panic stop. The center of the roll is just the right size for the tapered coffee go mug.- Dave S., Cochrane, AB

Ever wonder what keeps the planes up? On a scuba trip to Honduras I flew back on Taca Airlines. There was an inspection plate missing on the wing, very close to the window where I was sitting that was covered by duct tape. I didn't notice it until another passenger cried out "There's duct tape on the wing!". The flight back to Houston was about 2 hours long, and the duct tape survived. Thank Goodness for Duct tape! - John M.

Parabolic Mic ala Duct Tape Well today was the Christmas play at church, and it was a rousing success...because of duct tape. The kids were nervous and shy, as many of them had never been on a stage before. Some of them were so quiet that the microphones were not picking up their voices, and no amount of encouragement would get them to speak any louder. They just weren't going to be heard.The ideal solution would have been a parabolic microphone (those big plastic spherical things you see on the sidelines of pro football games), as they gather and focus the soundwaves, making even whispers strong enough to be picked up. Ideal too, because they are directional...you can simply point them at the person speaking from the front row of the audience. The problem with that solution is we don't have one, nor can we afford one! However, in the true spirit of Christmas (and duct tape) I decided that what we can't afford to buy we have to manufacture. I grabbed the duct tape, a wireless mic, and a short section of mike flextube, then ran off to the kitchen for an industrial size mixing bowl. In a few short minutes I had assembled the crude looking device shown in the pic. A little testing, a little tweaking, and some radical adjusting on the sound controls and we had a working (for our purposes anyway) parabolic mike. - Jon A., Grand Rapids, MI

Duct Tape Trainer for Dog's Ears Chopper's ears wouldn't stay up - so, Duct Tape to the rescue! Looking for more "pet uses" of duct tape? You'll find some in our HMO on a Roll pages.

Purse Liner My wife can never find anything in her handbag.  This is because of the black lining they use in the bags.  It's dark it there! I suggested she line her bag with white duct tape, so everything will be more visible.
I then thought this would also be a great idea for our senior citizens who like to take home any extra roast beef, or any other kind of sloppy food from their "Early Bird Specials".  The duct tape would make their hand bags water (gravy) proof! - Ron K.,Richboro PA

Duct Tape Lasagna Sealer Why waste your money on fancy Tupperware? Use duct tape to secure the sides - Here my kids proudly displaying their Christmas lasagna that grandma secured with duct tape. - Kathy B., Trenton, OH