Glittercat
Mermaid on Wheels! ^_~
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2010
Thank you so much, this makes good sense!
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ECV and wheelchair decorating! Share ideas and photos
- Thread starter ammag
- Start date
kae2disney
Disney loving mommy
- Joined
- May 7, 2015
My mom is not a mermaid fan, she is more into butterflies. My hubby is the artist when it come to pain. Now give me cross stitch thread and I will do it every time!Maybe you can paint? Have you tried?If not I say give it a shot!
Glittercat
Mermaid on Wheels! ^_~
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2010
Or what about the little ties that are paper and metal wire twist ties? Then it would be easy to attach and quick to remove.
Poor dear, I know that feeling. Do you want to talk?
ammag
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2012
Lol love that spoon kitten!!!!! Thanks so much, I am ok. Going to bed soon that usually helps a bit 
I have another idea....washi tape!!! If you're not familiar it's a paper tape and comes in just about any pattern, color and even glitter and metallics. It's removable and usually at craft stores for under $3. Good for temporary decorating and rentals, I am going to use some in the fall on my ECV rental. Debating nightmare before Christmas or Minnie Mouse
I have another idea....washi tape!!! If you're not familiar it's a paper tape and comes in just about any pattern, color and even glitter and metallics. It's removable and usually at craft stores for under $3. Good for temporary decorating and rentals, I am going to use some in the fall on my ECV rental. Debating nightmare before Christmas or Minnie Mouse
Glittercat
Mermaid on Wheels! ^_~
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2010
Nightmare Before Christmas!Lol love that spoon kitten!!!!! Thanks so much, I am ok. Going to bed soon that usually helps a bit
I have another idea....washi tape!!! If you're not familiar it's a paper tape and comes in just about any pattern, color and even glitter and metallics. It's removable and usually at craft stores for under $3. Good for temporary decorating and rentals, I am going to use some in the fall on my ECV rental. Debating nightmare before Christmas or Minnie Mouse
Just my 2 cents lol. 
Are you familiar with Spoon Theory? http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com/articles/written-by-christine/the-spoon-theory/ Some like it some don't, I go back and forth, but I do know there are days/weeks/months when I just don't have enough spoons (energy) for all of the basic life things. For example today is a bad pain and migraine day so I'm homeschooling my 3rd grader from bed. lol. Tonight I'll hopefully be able to make dinner and have a bath (for pain relief). I'll do some writing, and also planning for Disney. 
mamabunny
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2012
@Glittercat: We used spoon theory to explain our daughter's Fibro to her teachers - when she was diagnosed at the age of 7. 
But it helped a lot, and our entire family still references it to this day. It's a beautifully easy way to explain to folks about stamina issues.
We have TONS of fun with glow-bracelets and glow-necklaces (like glow sticks, but typically straight, skinny sticks with a plastic connector that lets you make a circle). You can typically get them at the dollar store in a package with quite a few. We have also connected several of the necklaces together and woven them thru wheelchair wheels, put stacks of the bracelets on the legs of walkers, we have been known to hang them all over an ECV, wheelchair, walker, whatever assistive device we were using at the moment... LOL
Let's see... what else? Oh - we put bike streamers (that mounted on the ends of bike handlebars) on our daughter's wheelchair handlebars. Been known to mount a bike flag for the occasional special event - typically with a customized flag, of course! That won't work at WDW or DL, but I digress... Over the years, for DD there have been stickers, and glitter (so much glitter...) and custom paint jobs. Some custom seat covers more recently, and lately our DD has been agitating about getting her rims chromed for the Ti-Lite! I'm not even sure that's possible! LOL DD also has a friend from high school who is a tattoo artist, and he is currently working on some back-of-seat art for her. He also "tattooed" her braces with art markers and Sharpies. I need to see if I can find those pictures.
LED lighting has made things *so* much more fun and interesting - I didn't even know those solar lights existed until I saw Sue's post!
When it comes to decorating with lights, I have two simple rules, and I hope everyone here will agree with me:
1. Please NO STROBING OR FLASHING LIGHTS. The bike lights I use for my main headlight and tail-light both have strobe settings, but I am very careful to never engage that setting in public. We don't want to ruin someone else's Disney fun by causing a seizure, or other issue for someone who is sensitive to flashing lights.
2. Please make sure that your lights are aimed AT THE GROUND, not into the eyes of children and babies in strollers. If nothing else, it's just polite. They are captive in the stroller, and can see little enough as it is (especially when things are crowded). Don't make their world even more uncomfortable by blasting them with a headlight!
OK. Get ready. Here's a picture of Angus, my personal ECV, with his "glow" on. These are battery powered skateboard lights, found on Amazon.com. They use a single 9-volt battery.
Sorry for the glare from the floor... The glow really does look cool at night, and I get tons of compliments on it! I mounted the battery box where it is super easy to switch on and off, and change the battery.
These pictures are prior to Angus getting his LED headlight and tail-lights. (please note that a family member put the seat back on UPSIDE DOWN as a joke... and then I found out it was actually more comfortable for me, so I kept it that way!) I used regular bicycle lights for those, since the clamps that go around the handlebars and seat post on a bike work just fine for me in this case. I mounted the headlight as low as possible, and made sure that it points directly to the ground. It puts out a nice circle of light in front of me, without being obnoxious.
Because of the design of my ECV, I can bypass using a basket (that red fabric triangle between the wheels works great for that) and I hang a cute backpack that I found at Target off of the handlebars, on the "front" (so facing away from me). I can carry everything I need or want easily that way, and still look kinda stylish!
But it helped a lot, and our entire family still references it to this day. It's a beautifully easy way to explain to folks about stamina issues.We have TONS of fun with glow-bracelets and glow-necklaces (like glow sticks, but typically straight, skinny sticks with a plastic connector that lets you make a circle). You can typically get them at the dollar store in a package with quite a few. We have also connected several of the necklaces together and woven them thru wheelchair wheels, put stacks of the bracelets on the legs of walkers, we have been known to hang them all over an ECV, wheelchair, walker, whatever assistive device we were using at the moment... LOL
Let's see... what else? Oh - we put bike streamers (that mounted on the ends of bike handlebars) on our daughter's wheelchair handlebars. Been known to mount a bike flag for the occasional special event - typically with a customized flag, of course! That won't work at WDW or DL, but I digress... Over the years, for DD there have been stickers, and glitter (so much glitter...) and custom paint jobs. Some custom seat covers more recently, and lately our DD has been agitating about getting her rims chromed for the Ti-Lite! I'm not even sure that's possible! LOL DD also has a friend from high school who is a tattoo artist, and he is currently working on some back-of-seat art for her. He also "tattooed" her braces with art markers and Sharpies. I need to see if I can find those pictures.
LED lighting has made things *so* much more fun and interesting - I didn't even know those solar lights existed until I saw Sue's post!
When it comes to decorating with lights, I have two simple rules, and I hope everyone here will agree with me:
1. Please NO STROBING OR FLASHING LIGHTS. The bike lights I use for my main headlight and tail-light both have strobe settings, but I am very careful to never engage that setting in public. We don't want to ruin someone else's Disney fun by causing a seizure, or other issue for someone who is sensitive to flashing lights.
2. Please make sure that your lights are aimed AT THE GROUND, not into the eyes of children and babies in strollers. If nothing else, it's just polite. They are captive in the stroller, and can see little enough as it is (especially when things are crowded). Don't make their world even more uncomfortable by blasting them with a headlight!
OK. Get ready. Here's a picture of Angus, my personal ECV, with his "glow" on. These are battery powered skateboard lights, found on Amazon.com. They use a single 9-volt battery.
Sorry for the glare from the floor... The glow really does look cool at night, and I get tons of compliments on it! I mounted the battery box where it is super easy to switch on and off, and change the battery.
These pictures are prior to Angus getting his LED headlight and tail-lights. (please note that a family member put the seat back on UPSIDE DOWN as a joke... and then I found out it was actually more comfortable for me, so I kept it that way!) I used regular bicycle lights for those, since the clamps that go around the handlebars and seat post on a bike work just fine for me in this case. I mounted the headlight as low as possible, and made sure that it points directly to the ground. It puts out a nice circle of light in front of me, without being obnoxious.
Because of the design of my ECV, I can bypass using a basket (that red fabric triangle between the wheels works great for that) and I hang a cute backpack that I found at Target off of the handlebars, on the "front" (so facing away from me). I can carry everything I need or want easily that way, and still look kinda stylish!
niftywench
Jenne From The Block
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2007
I recently returned from a great trip to WDW and had to use an ECV for the first time unexpectedly. Two things that i did to make it stand out more and to help myself be more visible were: I bought two pirate flags at Pirates and attached them to my lovely little scooter, and then i bought on of those new sets of light up Mickey ear hats and wore that every night. It was very helpful and really fun to wear
I am loving all the great ideas you all have!
I am loving all the great ideas you all have!
- Joined
- Aug 23, 1999
I'm curious, mamabunny. Are the lights meant to install permanently and just the battery pack removes?
How are the lights attached?
How are the lights attached?
mamabunny
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2012
Hey Sue! I have some more pix that may help you see how I attached them to my scooter.
The back sides of the LED strips have a strong 3M adhesive; so peel -n- stick. However, I wasn't sure I wanted them to be permanent - and there are Velcro strips across the frame that the red fabric triangle attaches to, and I didn't want to get those all sticky with adhesive. So, I measured twice, and cut once (LOL been watching too much "This Old House" on PBS! LOL) and left the adhesive backing in place where it crosses the Velcro. Additionally, since we were flying in and out of Orlando, and I knew that Angus would be in the care of the tarmac crew, I put a couple of zip-ties around the frame to help hold the LED strips in place, just in case the adhesive failed. (It didn't, BTW!)
I did "prep" the area by cleaning it with alcohol first, to help it stick better. Here come the pictures!
Front and back side of the LED strips
Measuring where the strip crossed the Velcro
My "Do not remove backing" areas all marked out!
Here the strips are stuck down (no zip-ties yet). This is looking at the BOTTOM (ground) side of the scooter, so it is flipped over at this point. The strips fit almost perfectly!
Everything is installed - and the red fabric triangle is back on. Now I had to feed the little wires up right below the steering post. (Cat fur courtesy of Oreo Cookie and Dustbunny)
Not the best picture ever, but this shows where I put the little control box - in the cane/crutch holder right above the front tire, between the foot pegs. It fit in there really nicely!
Everything installed, and all "glowy"!
LMK if you have any more questions - I hope this was helpful! The only thing I *don't* like about this setup is that there is a set screw in the cover of the battery/control box. I already had a little screwdriver in my toolkit that I keep with my battery bag for the ECV (I have 2 batteries and 2 chargers, and a strong compulsion to always be prepared!) so it's no big deal, just frustrating if you :::ahem::: forget to turn off the lights and the battery has to be replaced... 
It uses a standard 9-volt battery (alkaline) and the battery probably lasts somewhere between 16 & 24 hours total, although I have never just run it to see how long it would go. I keep a spare 9-volt in my tool kit as well (with the terminals taped off for safety) because I have found that 9-volts aren't as common as, for example, AAA or AA batteries are. In fact, at WDW, we never did find a shop that had 9-volts for sale on property, so I was glad I brought along my spare!
The back sides of the LED strips have a strong 3M adhesive; so peel -n- stick. However, I wasn't sure I wanted them to be permanent - and there are Velcro strips across the frame that the red fabric triangle attaches to, and I didn't want to get those all sticky with adhesive. So, I measured twice, and cut once (LOL been watching too much "This Old House" on PBS! LOL) and left the adhesive backing in place where it crosses the Velcro. Additionally, since we were flying in and out of Orlando, and I knew that Angus would be in the care of the tarmac crew, I put a couple of zip-ties around the frame to help hold the LED strips in place, just in case the adhesive failed. (It didn't, BTW!)
I did "prep" the area by cleaning it with alcohol first, to help it stick better. Here come the pictures!
Front and back side of the LED strips
Measuring where the strip crossed the Velcro
My "Do not remove backing" areas all marked out!
Here the strips are stuck down (no zip-ties yet). This is looking at the BOTTOM (ground) side of the scooter, so it is flipped over at this point. The strips fit almost perfectly!
Everything is installed - and the red fabric triangle is back on. Now I had to feed the little wires up right below the steering post. (Cat fur courtesy of Oreo Cookie and Dustbunny)
Not the best picture ever, but this shows where I put the little control box - in the cane/crutch holder right above the front tire, between the foot pegs. It fit in there really nicely!
Everything installed, and all "glowy"!
LMK if you have any more questions - I hope this was helpful!
The only thing I *don't* like about this setup is that there is a set screw in the cover of the battery/control box. I already had a little screwdriver in my toolkit that I keep with my battery bag for the ECV (I have 2 batteries and 2 chargers, and a strong compulsion to always be prepared!) so it's no big deal, just frustrating if you :::ahem::: forget to turn off the lights and the battery has to be replaced... It uses a standard 9-volt battery (alkaline) and the battery probably lasts somewhere between 16 & 24 hours total, although I have never just run it to see how long it would go. I keep a spare 9-volt in my tool kit as well (with the terminals taped off for safety) because I have found that 9-volts aren't as common as, for example, AAA or AA batteries are. In fact, at WDW, we never did find a shop that had 9-volts for sale on property, so I was glad I brought along my spare!Attachments
Glittercat
Mermaid on Wheels! ^_~
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2010
This is the only picture of the interior sides of my old wheelchair. The cream colored bit was tape so I didn't get paint on the seat. I don't have any photos of the finished version. I used it for 6 years, including at Disney World. The paint was all nail polish and it smelled to high heaven but it was interesting to work in!
mamabunny
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2012
Good grief girl! You are crazy talented! Wanna come over to my house? I got all kinds of things you can paint - and I won't make you use nail polish! LOL
Seriously, that looks AMAZING!!!
Glittercat
Mermaid on Wheels! ^_~
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2010
Good grief girl! You are crazy talented! Wanna come over to my house? I got all kinds of things you can paint - and I won't make you use nail polish! LOL
Seriously, that looks AMAZING!!!
Thank you kindly lovely! I would be more than happy to paint on your vehicle if only I could get to you or you to me. I can walk you through what I learned with painting in nail polish if you like! You can do it you know! Just believe in yourself!
mamabunny
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2012
@Glittercat, I love your optimism! Although I love to quilt, the majority of my talents lie in the areas of computers & electronics. I'm that weird geeky person who rebuilds /refurbishes computers for fun, and helps all her friends and family with their tech issues.
It's also my day job - so I am one of those rare, fortunate people who gets to do what she loves for a living!
Although I love to quilt, the majority of my talents lie in the areas of computers & electronics. I'm that weird geeky person who rebuilds /refurbishes computers for fun, and helps all her friends and family with their tech issues.It's also my day job - so I am one of those rare, fortunate people who gets to do what she loves for a living!
Glittercat
Mermaid on Wheels! ^_~
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2010
Fantastic that you love your job!!! Oh. My. Goodness you could make a small quilt of your favorite Disney image (example ideas: maybe the stained glass in Beauty and the Beast, or the castle, or bursting fireworks) and make it into a seat cover! Quilted work is so beautiful and intricate I think this could be a stunning piece.@Glittercat, I love your optimism!
It's also my day job - so I am one of those rare, fortunate people who gets to do what she loves for a living!
Glittercat
Mermaid on Wheels! ^_~
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2010
So do you dear! By the way any decision on your theme?You all have fantastic ideas!!!!! And fantastic talents
ammag
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2012
Nightmare!!! I've done some inspiration gathering, will definitely buy fabric to cover the seat and make some other accessories. I saw an adult Sally costume on a website on hale today but it was too $ for this. It would look cool though, I imagined putting it over the seat, like the seat back is the bodice? Sewing uo the arms and letting the skirt fall over and around the seat. Bt I will figure out somehitng! Here's some inspiration...
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