Snap! Silly Bandz Craze Finally Fades: What to Do With All Those Bands

The Silly Bandz trend is dead -- and not just because USA Todaydeclares it so. I knew it months ago when the cry-fests at home, otherwise known as Silly Bandz counting between my 4-year-old son and 7 year-old daughter, ended as suddenly as Indian Summer. These once-precious commodities -- colorful rubber bands shaped like animals and other things -- began gathering dust on tables, under couches and in planters. I even found a few in my building's lobby, lying on the faux marble like fish that had jumped the bowl.

Instead of tossing the elastic dealybobs into the trash bin of forgotten grade-school fads, I say we parents put them to work. Here are five grown-up uses for Silly Bandz, just in time for the holidays: