Life Hacks

After a bit of a lull, I’m back on my crafting/upcycling BS again. In no particular order, I saw a YouTube video of designer Emily Rode’s apartment which lead me to revisit her clothes which triggered my algorithms to send me images of similar looks. Amongst these photos was a picture of a blazer covered in retro patches. This reminded me that I ordered chenille patches from Blu Hummingbird a ways back and I hadn’t figured out what to attach them to. Then I remembered the green corduroy blazer I thrifted last year. I could place these daggers like the embellishments on a Nudie Jacket. And so I stayed up late making it so.

I also had the idea to add shoulder pads to some of my t-shirts. I’ve been watching a lot of Drag Race franchises and there is a lot of talk about the importance of padding and proportion. I was out ranging and discovered a dusty old convenience store that sold a lot of sewing notions, so I picked up some pads stayed up late making it so.

I think it works and I’ve already acquired some more pads to add to other shirts.

Another notion I picked up at the variety store were these metal clips designed to be used as mitten holders. I attached them to some Cartier embossed ribbon that I got off a gift. My plan is to use this contraption to hold masks or napkins (to make an impromptu bib —I’m a messy eater).

Because it’s August and sweltering, I also paid a visit to Dollarama to stock up on summer things before they bring out the Christmas stock.

Whilst there I saw that they had memory foam knee pillows. I already have one but sometimes I also use it as a head pillow because it is shape gently cradles the neck. I bought two cotton tea towel to make a pillow case for it so I could display it on the couch.

Last year at the Dollarama, I bought pet cooling pads for the cat. These are basically blue mats filled with some sort of pressure activated gel that stays cool for up to four hours and then quickly resets itself without need for refrigeration. 

We are going on a trip and my medicine needs to stay at room temperature. The complication is that you can’t take ice packs in your carry on. I had been researching travel coolers for meds and I realized that they were made of the same material as the cat’s cooling mat. The carry pouches cost $60. The cooling mat and a roll of duct tape costs $5.

I also wanted to bring my trusty Herschel backpack with me on my travels but it’s looking very beat up and grimy. I have it a good deep cleaning but it still looks so dingy. I thought about dying it, but since I found a backlog of patches, I thought I’d add appliqué to give the bag new life. It’s still, obviously, a work in progress. But I can stay up late making it so.