A team of Public Storage employees recently learned together how to make their own face masks: bedazzled, orange marvels with a ton of personality. They even found a way to make the project special with a friendly contest among co-workers.

We hope they now bring cheer to our properties, where masks are required because that’s just what we need right now! As a lot of us look at wearing masks long term, we’re finding that it’s very doable to order one online. Heck, even J.Crew has a line of preppy options on their company website. Or a bandana can work in a pinch. But if you’ve got the time and want to personalize, we’ve got the tips for making your own face mask to help make that happen.

Property manager Reshma Bunseelal-Fero said it took her just five minutes to put her mask together. She cut out her fabric, folded the material, and hand-stitched the edges.

It’s super easy, even for non-sewers. She found instructions online, plus, “we are never too old to learn new things,”; she said.

Face Mask Instructions

We’re following advice from the CDC, which has tips on making face masks. We’ve adapted them below.

Materials

• Two 10″; x6″; rectangles of pretty cotton fabric

• Two 6″; pieces of thin elastic

• Needle and thread

• Sewing pins

• Scissors

• Sewing machine (optional)

Layer the two pieces of fabric on top of each other, with the wrong sides facing out. Pin and stitch with small stitches across the long sides of the tops and bottoms, about 5/8 inch from the edge.

Turn right side out.

Fold in the sides by ½ inch and pin them shut so you have a clean edge with no seams showing.

Then add one elastic to each side, inserting the ends of the elastic between the pins to the top and bottom corner of what you decide is the back side. Try it on at this point to make sure the fit is solid but comfortable.

Once you are sure the fit is right, sew the side seams with the elastic encased in them. If you are hand sewing, you might have to go over the elastic a few times to reinforce these corners.

Now you have a mask with fabric that can match your personality.

Public Storage Team Doesn’t Mask Its Enthusiasm!

In the end, Property Manager Reshma Bunseelal-Fero took first place in the mask contest, but to the group, it feels like they all won.

To win, Bunseelal-Fero took an image of the website banner “The Hunt Is Over for Storage Solutions”; and bedazzled it with neon-colored rhinestones, including the words “PS We Care”; and a heart. It brings much cheer for sure.

Relief Manager Natasha Clarke and Emerline Louis finished second and third place with the masks above after Senior District Manager Andrew Capranos called on his team to create them.

“We wanted to make sure everyone was working safely, but our goal was also to make it fun,”; he said. “It was nice to see our property managers get creative throughout the competition.”;

They even inspired a companywide competition after their success in the Sunshine State. The winner of the Public Storage competition was Me’Shara Chance in West Palm Beach, who made a mask using a fabric with words like super and wow in comic book style print.

“I decided to make myself a mask for work and I picked out this fabric mainly because of the word SUPER! SUPER may mean a lot of things, but to me as an employee of Public Storage being Super is what we strive to be!,”; Chance explained.

Bunseelal-Fero believes the masks are working their magic on customers too.

“It’s a way to make them smile,”; she said. “Having a cute mask might spark a conversation and take their mind off of things.”;