Use A Travel Pillow For Extra Packing Space

 Hello Readers. When I went on vacation I had enough room in my suitcase and my carry on for all my stuff. I packed carefully and I had everything organized. When I came back... it was different story. I bought souvenirs, I went to thrift stores, I checked out vintage shops and I had to figure out a way to get all my stuff home.

 Use that travel pillow as extra packing space on the airplane.

Travel pillows are common on airplanes and they can be brought on board the airplane without counting as a carry-on bag.

 

Most travel pillows are actually 2 pieces. There is a pillow case that can be unzipped, opened and removed.

 

Inside the travel pillow is a squishy foam pillow. You can remove the foam pillow. This is what I did when I was trying to fit all my belongings into my suitcase and carry-on bag. I took the foam pillow out of the cover. 

 

Once my pillow was empty, I started stuffing it. 

 

I stuffed my pillow case with as many items as I could. I was desperate to get home without paying an extra bag fee.

 

You can see a reenactment of how I fit so many clothes into my pillow. 

 

I zipped up my pillow and it looked... just like a travel pillow. It still works as a pillow as well. The clothes were a bit firmer but still gave me a usable cushion.

 

I hope this idea can help you if you are in a travel situation like mine. Your pillow might help you in more ways than one on your trip.

 

  Did I learn a lesson about traveling light? Yes! Will I remember to travel lighter next time? To be determined. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

 

***Year End Update- This pillow idea came to mind in a panic at the airport in Iceland. It got me home with no bag fees but I have heard that it is more difficult to get extra items n the plane now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Making a Money Belt

Hello Readers. This may be a weird project. My daughter is headed to Europe soon. She needs some kind of money belt so she doesn't loose her money or ID. She is also concerned about pick pockets. She looked online at lots of different kinds of money belts and discovered we could probably make one for her. She wanted a stretchy belt that could hold different sized items.

I started with this very stretchy tank top. I cut off the bust portion and used the lower half.

I folded the band in thirds. (It is hard to see with this black fabric.) And stitched vertically at different points around the belt. This first/lower fold made the pockets and the fold over the top made the pockets enclosed on the top, all around the belt.

Here is another picture. You can see the top flap goes over the pocket so nothing will fall out. And hopefully it will be pick-pocket proof too. 

Thanks for reading, now go make something fun for yourself. Or your daughter.

***Note- This photo was added later.

The belt is worn low on the hips, under clothing.