3 Quick and Easy DIY Face Mask Lanyards

When I have to go out and about on a necessary errand to two, I'm required to wear a cloth face mask.

  As always, I try to batch my errands to save gas (eco friendlier and all) and most importantly, time. 

 Which means, I usually take off my mask by the ear loops when I get back into the car. Then I hunt to find where it shifted around while I was driving to my next stop when it is time to put the mask back on again (always using the ear loops as recommended!) I need a better way to keep track of my cloth face mask in between the short times I remove it and need to put it back on again.

 I took my inspiration from the floating sunglasses strap similar to this one  I use when I’m at a water park or pool to keep my sunglasses from sinking if they are accidentally knocked off my face. In no time at all I a cloth face mask lanyard. (Disclosure: I am including affiliate links for your convenience.)

 Well, actually I made 3. Two handmade face mask lanyards and one cloth face mask chain because it is such a quick and easy project to do.

 Let’s make stuff!

  

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Quick and Easy Popsocket Makeover and Friday Favorites Link Party Week 539

Last October on vacation I broke the door on my  wallet phone case. I fixed it with a small piece of decorative duct tape on the fly and didn't get around to replacing the case until recently because the duct tape fix didn't work anymore. The flamingo Popsocket I made over while still useful, is dirty and worn from use and could use a quick and easy makeover. 

I replaced this phone case that only holds 2 cards with a similar wallet phone like these that holds at least 3 cards since I broke the purple one by trying to stuff my room key, ID, and debit card into the wallet part. (Disclosure I am including affiliate links in this post for your convenience.

How to Water Succulents the Lazy Way!

Two years ago I was given an echeveria plant. Up until that time I had no idea  how to keep a succulent, well truthfully most indoor plants, alive. Fortunately it came with watering instructions, an eye dropper pipette thing that looks like this, and a little bamboo pokey stick. (Disclosure: I am including affiliate links in this post for your convenience.) The instructions said to poke the stick in the soil. If the stick is damp/wet the succulent doesn’t need watering. If the stick comes out dry, water the echeveria with one graduated pipette full of water. I followed the same instructions (with slightly more water because it is a bigger plant) with the aloe vera plant buddy I bought the echeveria so he wouldn’t get lonely.

 And whaddaya know? Both plants not only lived but they grew so much I had to repot them after I found an even easier and lazier way to water but not over water my succulent plants. 

How Much Water Does a Succulent Plant Need to Grow?

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Soapmaking and Friday Favorites Linky Party 538

Well, there is one thing I have to say about our social distancing summer, I'm getting a lot of projects done that I've been putting off (repeatedly.) For example just this morning I finally played that game of Sock Concentration (although you may call it  matching up and reorganizing your sock drawer) in a desperate attempt to find a pair of matching no show socks to wear today.

Although I briefly considered wearing a pair missing mates, because no show socks, amiright? But hey, it's done, I'm wearing matching socks (also I'm wearing an actual shoe that requires a sock) and in a Marie Kondo fashion that I revised after the first go round to work a little better for me - I hope.

My last batch of liquid hot process soap came out with the consistency of Flubber and I've been putting off trying again since its failure. Projects have been keeping me sane since this whole mess started and soap making was the only thing left on this list. Also, the summer heat in the garage already melted my coconut oil for me and since melting my oils at too high a temperature was Step 1 in my last comedy of errors, I gave it another go.

Soapmaking is easier when the summer heat melts your oils for you!

How to Make a Recycled Aluminum Can Butterfly Necklace

  I don’t drink a lot of soda but every once and awhile a pop can will cross my path. Once I finish the beverage I have two choices:

1. Recycle the can in the recycling bin.

2. Recycle the can into a cute necklace.

 

Today I am going with Option 2 because it will make a much more entertaining tutorial than Option 1 and it will give me a chance to answer I often get: How do you smooth the edges of a cut aluminum can?

 It’s easy! Let’s get started. 

How to Smooth and File the Sharp Edges of a Cut Aluminum Can

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Quilted and Embroidered Cloth Face Masks and Friday Favorites Linky Party 537

I needed to test if my sewing and embroidery machine was actually fixed the third time it came back from the repair shop (yes, really. You read that right. Three times to replace a part I suggested might need replacing in Round 2.) I grabbed some scrap fabric and set up a complicated machine embroidery design to put my machine through its paces. Thrilled that it worked, I played can I machine embroider that weird fabric? and messed around with various sewing machine feet, stitches, and settings. I had some pieces I rather liked so I made them into cloth face masks, playing with a few different styles and techniques for funsies. It felt good to play.

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My favorite is the embroidered deer. The embroidery came out beautifully but I wasn't thinking ahead and used a thick piece of stabilizer which is hard to breathe through - oops! I cut the majority of the stabilizer from around the deer to make a breathable mask. If I were to do it again, I would chose a lighter or water soluble embroidery stabilizer. Live and learn!