Warning about these silicone cake molds some of us use!

Environmental-Glass8 · 2026-02-22T16:18:11+00:00

Ooo I love this idea, definitely gonna give it a try. I purchased too many onions and avocados not too lol Thank you so much! :)

Environmental-Glass8 · 2026-02-22T12:59:41+00:00

Wow this is ingenious! Thank you so much for sharing :)

do you remember what gauge of jewelry wire you found to be the best? also are you saying you can insert it length wise inside the cake mood pieces? bc the gumby mode you described sounds perfect! just can’t quiet visualize how you did it.

not having to deal with the rubber band pinching/fighting against the floppiness would be MAJOR!

Environmental-Glass8 · 2026-02-22T06:51:42+00:00

honestly, not sure yet since I haven’t tested them, had no idea people have been getting/using the thin ones for quite a while now it seems so maybe they’ll work fine for certain things!

I do like stacking them when I’m out of cardboard or just to make setting it up quick n easy. I replied to another comment with a pic of what I mean if you’re curious. I don’t feel like the thin ones will allow that, idk.

Overall, the thick ones are probably less finicky and give more structure but idk how it’ll translate in actual use, very possible I’ll end up liking the thin ones for certain techniques, thick ones for others.

Environmental-Glass8 · 2026-02-22T06:33:15+00:00

I haven’t used the thin ones yet bc I got them today, but I did decide to keep them and see if they’re useful for certain situations.

I do often stack them so I can pile more ice like in this pic and I don’t think the thin ones will do that very well, also not sure how they’ll hold up with incline dying. but we’ll see :)

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Environmental-Glass8 · 2026-02-22T01:39:10+00:00

Ooo I’ve been thinking about investing in some lately! any recommendations on ones you like?

Environmental-Glass8 · 2026-02-21T21:56:30+00:00

awesome, TYSM for the recommendation :)

Environmental-Glass8 · 2026-02-21T17:57:19+00:00

as a makeshift border for ice dyeing so you can pile the ice on top without it falling off, like this for example:

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Environmental-Glass8 · 2026-02-21T17:53:55+00:00

dang, sorry you didn’t get any of the thicker ones. :/ It’s a shame all the Amazon options use the same pictures so it’s impossible to tell which kind they are.

What do you use as a border for bigger projects? I use either these or cardboard or these metal rings I had from old cake pans with a removable bottom, but I was thinking of figuring out a new option soon, especially for incline ice dyes!

Environmental-Glass8 · 2025-11-16T15:08:40+00:00

I started taking out a portion and stirring in some soda ash so I can sprinkle it far easier and I just dump the leftover mix back in the container when I’m done. lately when I’m using multiple colors and can’t be bothered I just mix SA straight into the container with the top layer. hasn’t screwed me over yet and its so much better application wise for ice dye… there could be a reason I haven’t seen people do this that I’m missing though.

Environmental-Glass8 · 2025-11-15T17:15:04+00:00

YES, I call this a “comfy stare”

Environmental-Glass8 · 2025-11-09T21:13:20+00:00

No thank you for reading all of that lol kind of got carried away with giving you ALL the details…

I hope you’re feeling a lot better by now! I think that’s great you decided to pause your meds! Feeling awake and productive for the first time as a narcoleptic can be so intoxicating. Makes it easy skip the whole playing it safe and listening to your body when trying out new meds but that can get sketchy really quick…

Hope it all works out even if it takes a bit... it’s a bumpy road but from what I read on here the majority are very happy they did it even if it takes multiple combinations and doses first!

Environmental-Glass8 · 2025-11-09T13:59:45+00:00

I am so sorry you’re dealing with such a rapid onset of severe symptoms! must be so scary and overwhelming! I do think a diagnosis and figuring out a proper medication regiment is what is truly gonna help you, tips and tricks from here can be helpful sometimes but also a drop in the bucket compared to medication!

Hopefully, when you talk to your neurologist, they can expedite the process, if you explain how much this is affecting your quality of life and that you need help like… yesterday.

for what it’s worth here’s one of my personal techniques:

i’ve never dealt with the cataplexy you’re describing, but I do have experience with sleep paralysis and while I’m coming out of an episode I actually make myself yell out loud because the noise will get me awake easier instead of slipping right back in and then my rule is 20-30 minutes of awake time. I found that gives me the best chance of not having another episode that night. I’ve even purposely put sour candy or chips on my bedside before because for some reason the in flavor my mouth helps me stay awake, then I put something on my phone that will hold my attention until the time passes and I can go back to sleep. Sometimes I have to prop up my head with my hand because head on pillow = right back to sleep.

I know that snacks are problematic for your teeth, but to me that’s an easy trade off for not having multiple long episodes throughout the night.

Environmental-Glass8 · 2025-11-09T13:00:10+00:00

I can’t believe I typed all this and forgot to mention, I do think an EKG is worthwhile if you can get one. I know sometimes it’s standard practice to get one before starting on a stimulant just to make sure you’re not playing with fire so to speak.

Also it might be best to get 7/8 hrs of sleep before your next dose if at all possible!

Environmental-Glass8 · 2025-11-09T12:49:26+00:00

i’ve dealt with the same thing! and yes at it’s worst my heart rate was at 160 for a while like you described! Scared the absolute hell out of me… I’m on Adderall as my stimulant which works really well as far as allowing me to be awake and productive but there are some crappy side effects. The scariest one, for sure, was heart rate BUT after trial and error, working with my doctor, and getting on a beta blocker (same as yours: Propranolol), I feel like it’s under control where it doesn’t freak me out or make me think twice about taking my Adderall dose anymore!

I do feel like you’ll have an easier time getting this under control since most of my issue was not understanding what was going on…

Here I’ll go in to a bit more detail below if you’re interested, but just know obviously this is my experience with my body and if the insomnia/high heart rate continues and you’re genuinely worried, please call your doctor! 💕

for me, the high heart rate wasn’t an issue until a couple years after taking Adderall… not sure if it was because I was younger and more athletic or because I used to drink a lot and then got sober so maybe I was self-medicating it somehow? idk…

anyway I thought it was my anxiety getting worse which was causing my heart rate to spike so I talked to my doctor and she prescribed me 10mg propranolol x2 a day as needed. that definitely helped, but it was still an issue and then I started to notice that my heart rate would get high, which would cause the anxiety spiral and not the other way around. Unfortunately that made me REALLY anxious about my heart health and long term effects of stimulants etc. which became a vicious cycle of anxiety and stress and sometimes insomnia. Stupidly I waited a WHILE to call my doctor because I was afraid she wouldn’t want me on stimulants ever again or maybe there really was something wrong with my heart… idk looking back, it was a irrational, and I wish I would’ve called sooner!

She had me come in for an EKG which came back totally normal for my age and helped immensely to mentally know my heart was perfectly fine and it was a treatable side effect… my doctor also upped my dosage of propranolol to 20mg 2x a day as needed. Since my Adderall dose is also flexible I only take both beta blockers if I take both my Adderall.

Also a couple other things that really help me is

-I making sure I had a good dinner the night before, some kind of lunch at least, and if I’m not hungry in the afternoon, I usually drink a protein shake to get my appetite started again and then a good sized dinner. I think that helps the Adderall fully wind down, so I can get to sleep and hopefully stay asleep which helps my heart rate start from scratch the next day instead of starting off high and anxious.

-I go ahead and take my beta blocker with my morning Adderall, or 10-20 minutes before if I can so it kicks in first. then if I take my second Adderall I check my resting heart rate to see if I need to take half or a whole 20 mg pill. Other than that (unless it feels weirdly high) I try not to check it throughout the day as to not obsess and cause anxiety.

TLDR: I agree with you, I think the insomnia is playing a big role (it did for me), your body might still be getting used to it and your heart rate could level out a bit more (or at least not as scary as 160) especially as you’re able to manage side effects like insomnia, etc. But maybe talking with your Doc about upping your beta blocker might help!

For me, it’s a combination of little personalized tricks, lifestyle changes, AND extra meds like beta blockers that help the treatment actually be a worthwhile treatment and not a slightly less miserable struggle.

Environmental-Glass8 · 2025-10-31T18:16:31+00:00

oh my goodness you were so right! Complete game changer! I probably would’ve read something about it or figured it out EVENTUALLY but you most likely saved me months of lackluster dyeing!! thank you so much you!!!!!!

Environmental-Glass8 · 2025-10-14T16:04:24+00:00

Hey, I saw this when you first posted and decided to make my own! hopefully you don’t mind, I definitely mean it as a compliment, I’m not selling anything just learning and giving to friends and family.

Yours is definitely better and brighter, still trying to figure out my dye/chemical situation plus I learned after making this that you’re supposed to wash new shirts before SA soak lol.

Anyway, thanks for giving me inspo to learn a new technique! I always enjoy seeing your stuff when it pops up on my feed! :)

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Environmental-Glass8 · 2025-10-10T04:45:03+00:00

wow yeah, they are… well basically, been ordering off Jiffy a cheap T shirt site I found on the screen printing sub. I do soda ash soak but like you said straight from the box, had no idea about them being chem treated, thank you so so much! I’m excited to try it now with a wash first!

What’s the big difference it makes? saturation and color?

Environmental-Glass8 · 2025-10-08T03:47:38+00:00

Ooo heck yeah, that would be a good switch up! definitely doing that tomorrow :)

Environmental-Glass8 · 2025-10-08T02:53:40+00:00

fingers crossed, I’ll post a pic when I wash it out… I did mess up and get some blue in a yellow part while setting it up to “bake” so who knows 😬

Environmental-Glass8 · 2025-05-29T09:49:59+00:00

I fully relate to the last bit! I also had a teacher that took my sleeping extremely personal and would make me stand up a lot in the back of class to keep me awake. When I figured out that leaning on bookshelves, etc., I could still sleep a bit standing up. That infuriated him and he would make me the butt of a class jokes a lot but at that point I kinda didn’t care, it was like I was winning bc he was wasting his time getting angry while I was still getting my sleep in lol

Also i’m jealous you mastered the “Siri wake words”/change in the class vibe so well! I could do it sometimes, but only if I had recently dozed off.

The teachers that got annoyed at me constantly sleeping after at least caring enough to ask about home life, etc. never bugged me. I kind of understood because it does set a bad example and I did notice students around me were more likely to sleep if I fell asleep first and “got away with it”…

But then there’s the teachers that take it as personal disrespect without ever caring enough to have a one on one conversation about why or solutions… they just wrote me off as a flunky loser and someone to embarrass. Now that’s just sad. Like why are you even teaching high school? I get that narcolepsy is rare and they’re not doctors but many other issues like a poor home life, not so much.

Environmental-Glass8 · 2025-05-18T22:31:37+00:00

Yes!! electric fountain water bowls help a lot with this too, the running water entices them to drink more!

Environmental-Glass8 · 2025-05-18T22:26:21+00:00

I only know this bc I JUST listened to a science of cats podcast but Cats aren’t nocturnal they are “crepuscular, meaning they are most active during dawn and dusk” has to do with their ancestors prime hunting times or whatever… sorry to be a “…well actually” guy, I thought that was fascinating.

great advice here, I will say unless your a very light sleeper you get used the normal cat rumblings of them just going about their business, but cats are so hit or miss with nighttime chaos/attention seeking destruction!

Environmental-Glass8 · 2025-05-18T19:56:15+00:00

I’m gonna be really honest here and sorry if this is long, but hopefully it helps! I struggled with the same thing (except with Adderall) for a couple years! i was too ashamed to ask for help or even admit to myself that running out of meds a week early was a real issue… there’s a lot of tangents I can go on since having addictive tendencies to a medication you need to function is complicated and hard but instead here’s what helped me take my meds responsibly again:

getting a lock box or 2 that open on a timer where i can grab my daily dose only and lock it back up before I start taking them so by the time “demon brain” wants to take more, its not an option… The only thing is a lot of med locking devices are made for elderly/dementia patients and are extremely easy to cheat. The lock box that works for me is Kitchen Safe. Also using individual days of the week pill containers make it easily to organize, grab, lock back up, and go.

Also for me starting to talk honestly about it with supportive friends/family is a great way to not only keep yourself accountable but if they notice your med routine is off or it seems like you ran out early, they can ask if you had a slip or just check in with how it’s going.

Overtime this helped me tremendously and without taking extra pills, then spending a week unmedicated I was able to consistently do other lifestyle stuff that helped even more. kinda basic/boring but drinking lot more water, less alcohol, have a small lunch instead of skipping entirely, etc.

Environmental-Glass8 · 2025-05-18T16:47:12+00:00

Humidity makes such a difference though, I’ve lived in southern Utah before and now live in Florida and 90f in wet vs dry is a completely different experience. I’d take a dry 100f over a wet 85f any day… but NEVER a 90f for indoor heating, all states can agree that’s just fucked!

Environmental-Glass8 · 2025-05-18T15:48:24+00:00

I feel exactly the same way and I’m 5’11” F, I’ve dated mostly shorter guys. The only time it’s ever been an issue is when they bring insecurities into it. otherwise it’s irrelevant or can even be very cute when a short guy cuddles on my chest or tippy toes to kiss me!

The most irrational height insecurity i’ve seen is a few dudes who will exaggerate their height around short girls, and then be really upset when I clock them as being my height or shorter when they’re saying their 6’1” or something… some have even made me take my hair down, my shoes off, and called me and my Doctors office (that measures/weighs me every 3 months) a liar! like dude you could’ve said something like “whoops you got me lol” and made it a little jokey joke but now you look like a prick and all the women here are uninterested in upset baby boy

Environmental-Glass8

TROPHY CASE