Happy Tape project

I think it was the blog Oh Happy Day that I first heard about Happy Tape, but since then I've seen it on a few blogs about crafting and I've been dying to buy some. I didn't want to pay for it to be shipped to France since I figured it would cost more than the tape was worth- especially if the package got caught in customs. So I sort of filed it away in my mind, for a rainy day.

Then over the holidays while in Wisconsin, when I finished up my Christmas shopping, I decided it would be a good idea to give a thought to what I wanted to get the girls for their birthdays since lots of things are so much cheaper (and easier to find) in the States. Suddenly, I had the idea of ordering Happy Tape for Ella for her birthday since she LOVES using tape. She is in heaven when I let her have a roll of regular Scotch tape and will easily spend an entire morning taping things together- paper to paper, paper to wall, paper to finger, finger to finger- anyways, you get the idea. This is the perfect present, better than the box o' balls that I got her when she turned 2 (ie, I got a packing box and just filled it up with every kind of ball that I could find. She adored it!) or the box o'flashlights that she got when she was 3 (you can figure this one out I think...).

The tape turns out to be kind of pricey, but more so because its so hard to choose. I ended up ordering a big 10 pack of spring colors, a pink mix, a blue and red patterned pack, and a pack of 'neutrals'. The rolls actually seemed quite small when I finally received the package- I don't know how much is supposed to be on each roll, but I suppose that since this is masking tape, in my head, I had imagined masking tape sized rolls that you use for taping off when you paint walls. They are actually about a quarter of that size. But saying that, once I started using the tape, it seemed like it there was a lot on each roll and it will last a long time. 7

Because OF COURSE I couldn't wait til February 10th to crack open the tape. It was singing its siren song and finally I couldn't resist! Besides, I had the best project- I had gotten a little notebook for Christmas, one that I could carry around in my purse. I was happy with the leather cover, since I figure it will hold up to the assault that it will suffer getting banged around inside my purse. But it was a bit blah. Enter Happy Tape! OK, so maybe stripes is a bit obvious, but I think it turned out so awesome. The edges are a bit ragged and I think that I should cover it all in clear plastic to keep the tape from peeling up at the edges, but overall, it turned out prefectly.

I know that the majority of the tape I need to leave alone so that there is something to wrap up for Ella, but I can't stop thinking of all the neat things that you could do with it. I think it will be really neat to use for wrapping presents. I want to get a few rolls of plain white wrapping paper (PS Parisians- Bon Marche has 40% off all their wrapping supplies. I think it is a great time to stock up.) I was thinking it will be cool in photo albums for 'framing' photos. I also thought that it could be used on photo mats in frames. I'll be great for labeling jars and bins in the kitchen, since it is easy to write on. Ooo- I'm thinking it would be fun to order some of the wide tape to use on bins of toys in colors to match each of the girls rooms. I wish it were less expensive so that I could be really indulgent but like I said- it might go a lot farther than I think so I won't harp on that issue any more. And in the end, I'm sure Ella will have lots of great ideas of fun ways to use it, so I can hardly wait til her birthday next month (honestly, I'm wondering if there is time to have another order shipped to my mom so that she can ship it to me?)

One more idea for Happy Tape that I just put to use- use it to add a few stripes to a piece of plain card to make a really sophisticated and expensive looking thank you note. I had to write one to the delivery man at Monoprix. I ran to the grocery store after picking up Ella from school and only realized once I was at the checkout for deliveries that I didn't have my wallet, only a 100 euro bill. I apologized and asked what I could do. The cashier wanted me to put my cart on the side and come back once I had my wallet but the delivery guy said to just pass my things through. I didn't quite understand, til he pulled money out of his own wallet for me! He loaned me enough money to pay the bill and said to just give the money to whoever came to my house later with my groceries. How nice was that! Especially on a freezing cold day like today, when I really didn't feel like having to do the trip twice. Honestly, I might have to stop complaining about rude Parisians.