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Writer's pictureSue Leonard
Apr 1, 20234 min read

Things to Make You Smile: Peeps & Duck Tape

It’s almost Easter and you may have Peeps® on your shopping list. Who doesn’t love Peeps? From the charming name to their cute little faces. But if you think Peeps are just a fun, sugary treat, think again. To show their love of Peeps, hundreds of organizations hold Peeps® diorama contests: The Peeps brand themselves, the Washington Post, and the Nantucket Atheneum are just a few. The OpenNotebook, an organization that helps science, environmental, and health journalists sharpen their skills, holds The World’s Finest Science-Themed Peeps Diorama contest (see the 2022 winners).



When I googled “peeps diorama contest” I got 35,000 results. There were several contests but most of the results had ideas for making Peeps dioramas.


Making a Peeps diorama must be fun at every step. Just looking at a peep brings a smile to your face. Then you can use your imagination to plan some fun way to arrange the little critters for a diorama. In the end, you get to eat them. It just doesn’t get any better.


Diorama of Edward Hopper's Nighthawks


If you don’t feel creative, you can do what our friends did on Easter and hold a Peeps badminton game using a Peep instead of a shuttlecock. It’s almost like angry birds. The only drawback is that you’ll have to clean the racket and hose down the playing surface when you’re done. I’m guessing ants love Peeps as much as we do.


According to Huffington Post, Peeps can also be divisive. (1) They write: “Consider Peeps the candy corn or conversation hearts of Easter. People seem to either love them or despise the very thought of them. Still, the marshmallow treat apparently has enough of a following to warrant a Pepsi collaboration. We’ve rounded up 35 funny tweets about Peeps ― tweeps, if you will. Enjoy!”



Peeps now come in several flavors. Wild Berry, Fruit Punch, Kettle Corn, Hot Tamales (really?), Cotton Candy, Party Cake, Watermelon – possibly many more. And Peeps are not just for Easter anymore. There are Pumpkin Peeps for Halloween and Thanksgiving; Candy Cane and Gingerbread Peeps for Christmas. I’m a purist – just give me plain old marshmallow Peeps. I bought watermelon Peeps last week to match the table décor. I didn’t like them, but hubby did.


Since Peeps are the candy corn of Easter, you can make things with candy corn, too. At our community’s pumpkin decorating contest, one group covered a pumpkin with candy corn. I can’t imagine how long that took. Pinterest has ideas for things you can make with candy corn – everything from garlands and wreaths to earrings.



Speaking of making things from Peeps and Candy Corn, have you ever seen a Duck Tape® prom dress? Our friends had never heard of prom dresses made from Duck Tape. They were astounded when I showed them pictures from the Duck Tape® ‘Stuck at Prom’ scholarship contest. They thought Duck Tape came only in silver. My friend commented, “I go to Ace Hardware all the time and I never knew Duck Tape came in so many colors.” Twenty-eight colors according to the Duck Tape website.



The Stuck at Prom contest offers $10,000 scholarships to the first-place prom dress and tuxedo winners and eight $500 runner-up prizes (I wonder if $500 covers the cost of the Duck Tape). Duck brand has held the contest since 2001 and says over 8,000 students have entered the contest using over 100,000 rolls of Duck Tape. Grace Vaughn, from Florida, won in 2022. Vaughn received more than 5 million views on her video of her black and white Yin and Yang-inspired ballgown dress and accessories that took 143 hours and 45 Duck Tape® rolls to design.


We wondered, how do they keep the dress from sticking to their skin? Answer: they tape the Duck Tape on regular clothes, such as tank tops or pants.


Duct Tape dresses must be pretty popular. I got 5,940,000 Google results for Duct Tape Dresses. One website warns, however, that wearing the dress can be very hot and cautions the designer to remember to build in a way to go to the bathroom. By the way, according to Duckbrand, you don’t actually have to wear the dress to the prom.


I was a little surprised my friend didn’t realize Duck Tape came in colors. I’ve used it for years to reinforce boxes for my closet with bright colors and designs. Hubby and I even made our first end tables from cardboard boxes, contact paper, and duct tape when we were first married. The table tops were alternating blue and white stripes.


Using the tape for decorative box covers isn’t the only way you can use Duck Tape. Duckbrand.com has a Crafts and Decor section on their website with over 240 craft ideas, including ideas for the classroom, for Christmas and Halloween décor, and for accessories such as purses. Look out, Martha Stewart!


So the next time you can’t think of anything way to have fun, enter a Peeps diorama contest, make a candy corn garland, or hold a Duck Tape craft show.


References


Below are some links to get you started with Peeps, Duct Tape, or Candy Corn




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