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Conway family goes viral over plastic-protected hug blanket video

The homemade hug blanket will allow the Ayoub family to give hugs to their newborn niece when she arrives.

CONWAY, Ark. — Quarantine boredom has revealed a new, popular creation for one Conway family.

"It was my wife's idea that I didn't support in the beginning, it was just a crazy idea,” said Paul Ayoub, a Conway man. 

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Ayoub documented his wife's unusual quarantine project on TikTok, a popular social media app. 

She collected all kinds of items, like a shower curtain, glue, and tape, to make what they call a "plastic hug blanket" to attach to the front doorway. 

"It all spawned from the fact that my sister-in-law Kristie is having my niece, Mariah,” said Ayoub.

Because the Ayoub family can't physically meet the new baby, the hug blanket -- made of plastic and held together with lots of hot glue -- will allow them to safely give baby Mariah hugs when she arrives. 

"My wife bought jumbo size bags, gallon size bags, and those are the arm holes," Ayoub said. 

TikTok viewers wasted no time sharing their love for the creation. 

In less than 24 hours, the Ayoub family got 1.5 million views on the video they posted of their kids trying out the new creation. 

"It exploded and I got an 'I told you' so from my wife. Rightfully so, she was like, 'I just made you TikTok famous,'” said Ayoub. 

Now, the video's going viral on Instagram with over a million views. 

The Ayoub family said they've enjoyed the feedback, but they believe this video spreads a message of hope the most. 

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"I think people are missing things that we take for granted, like little things like a hug. In a time where things seem helpless and scary, people gravitated towards it,” said Ayoub. 

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