Three Truly Useful DIY Ideas For Sheltering-At-Home

Three truly useful DIY ideas for the sheltered-at-home. And that’s most of us, right? These are ideas you can use today to make life just a little bit easier, and they don’t involve the usual (excellent) suggestions of meditation, reading the classics, or taking up mixed martial arts. Not that there’s anything wrong with those pastimes!

This article is a good personal one, and presents solid reasons to read the great books. I’m still glued to Netflix.

The suggestions below are useful immediately and require little in the way of materials or skills (Heh, I have almost no DIY skills; I can barely stitch a button and I’m not sure I own a frying pan).

Plato wrote, “Necessitas est ingenii mater” (necessity is the mother of invention), and the great New Jersey philosopher Tony Soprano said, “You gotta do what you gotta do.” We can make it easier with these DIY ideas:

Make your own non-medical mask. I’ve been playing around with scarves and tee shirts to create a non-medical mask for going out. After numerous not-quite-right versions, I came upon this tutorial. These are the best homemade masks I’ve tried. We cut up a HEPA air conditioning filter and slipped the pieces inside the mask. Success! Wash or disinfect after each use.

Here’s the info: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/diy-cloth-face-coverings.html and scroll down to “Bandana Face Covering.

And here is my swell guy Sandy, modeling the male version.
While I chose a vintage handkerchief in a feminine floral. 😊

Create easy alcohol wipes for cleaning and traveling. Disinfectant wipes are also AWOL in most stores (who is the person with 10,000 wipes in their basement?). But we’re lucky to have one 16-ounce bottle of isopropyl alcohol. We put several tablespoons in a small pack of baby wipes, shake it up and re-seal. Use only as needed; soap and water washing works for cleaning hands.

A toilet paper alternative that works. I’ve put an end to stressing about the shortage of toilet paper. The stores like to tease you online, saying “three rolls remaining”, and if you’re gullible like me, you zoom out to find zero actual rolls. So I have adopted a version of the home-made bidet. I fill a small but powerful spray bottle with tap water, and use it to freshen all my lady parts after using the toilet. Then I allow myself TWO squares of actual toilet paper to dry.

These 8-ounce spray bottles are ideal for the task. Pretty, too.

Bonus tip: don’t discount the liquor store for limes, peanuts, soft drinks and boxed wine. We don’t drink a lot, but found we could pick up limes for our Corona Lights, snack food, and ginger ale. Uncrowded, quiet, and no toilet-paper seekers in there.

How do you solve quarantine supply problems, using your own mind-blowing creativity? Stay fabulous and safe, wash and wash and wash, xo

None of the above is meant as medical advice! Listen to the professionals for all the latest news on the virus. Meanwhile, browse these simple pleasures:

Header image via source.

(Visited 1,504 times, 1 visits today)
FacebooktwitterpinterestinstagramFacebooktwitterpinterestinstagram
FacebooktwitterpinterestFacebooktwitterpinterest

patti

6 Comments

  1. Glad that you made these masks/face coverings, they look cute and easy to make. I’ve tried some tutorials who made me feel overwhelmed!
    And love to read that you’re ok and using some good old common sense to deal with any shortage.
    besos

    • Hello dear Senora! Thanks for coming by, and I hope you and all your loved ones are well, xo.

    • i am honoring pugs this month, in celebration of Z! I bet you’ve sewn some fab masks, xox.

    • Yes, thanks, I made one of these too, TOF! Great to see you and I hope you are staying well. xo

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.