Post #484260 by Tacky Tiki on Sat, Sep 19, 2009 3:08 PM

Thanks Mike! I was just working this one out! I saw some "Alhambra" water bottle covers on Ebay just now. We were trying to figure out how to have the bag tight enough and still be able to fit the handles thru. Your idea of a slit on the back is perfect!!! Now I can look for fabric. I'll look for trigger cloth for the bottom, or something even heavier, then look for some tiki fabric. I was perusing scrub tops again this morning and found some nice fabric.....

And just a comment to Kiki: the cooler is from 1998. I tried to take a picture of the date on the label. I checked that before I got the idea of altering it's appearance. If you could see my house and my 1972 Aristocrat travel trailer with everything period correct, you'd know I was sensitive to cool older stuff. I love vintage. And vintage Aloha shirts. And it bothers me when people make other stuff out of cool vintage Aloha wear. But the results are cool, and I've been considering buying a bag that may be for sale at the FI parking lot sale next weekend. I can't bring myself to cut up vintage stuff, and my friend "killed a muu muu"-what was probably a really cool dress, for a seat cover for her scooter. But the seat does look really sharp. So it's my own issue, and although I can't bring myself to do it, others who "repurpose" Aloha wear with respect to it's origins (and vintage tablecloths, etc,) are not to be looked down on, but they are artists with a different vision. Enough said. We're all tiki 'ohana! Peace out!

Now, back to our regularly scheduled program...

Mike-sodium hypochlorite eats through fabric, as you know, being medical. When you use the bleach pen, do you let it dry then wash or rinse the item? Let it bleach, then rinse? I'm keeping that one in my bag of tricks. I may do a tiki with bleach or I may make a cooler cover out of Hawaiian print fabric (NOT my good vintage stuff!!) and have my friend embroider on another piece of solid fabric. I could velcro on various embroidered signs, according to the occasion. Or the type of drink involved.

I'll admit, I didn't like the idea of painting this thing-it has the special UV resistant plastic and it's all OSHA approved. I didn't want to compromise the integrity of a drinking vessel. And I think it would scratch easily. The cooler bag can be washed easily and so can the cooler. And I could have several designs for various occasions. Last night I had a co-ed bably shower for one of the girls in the scooter club. I could have a scooter cover. Tomorrow is another scooter rally. And I created a Facebook group for people in both scenes, so that's where the Project Mai Tai comes in...rolling around a cooler full of mai tai and passing it out, courtesy of "Scootiki", our Facebook group. Just another fun way to meet people and expand their knowledge of different scenes!

:drink:
Tacky