Sometimes the doomscroll yields great treasures. From a new Kindle hack on BookTok to a TV performance tip from us here at Pocket-lint, social media is the gift that connects us all (and our little idiosyncrasies) across space and time. My work life must have infiltrated my social media habits, because the Instagram algorithm graced me with a DIY hack that was as cute as it was functional: a leash for my remote control.

Why on earth would a remote need a leash? It might not be trying to escape my apartment, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t hiding in my living room’s nooks and crannies. I don’t watch TV every single day, so the tendency to forget where I left the remote is way more familiar than I’d like to admit. When it’s behaving (and I’m not lazy), it’s sitting nicely on the coffee table. When it isn’t, it could be absolutely anywhere.

Plus, I’ll take any opportunity to inject whimsy into my life. Crafting a leash for my Roku remote was a happy little side quest I think anyone would benefit from. Here’s how I did it.

Type

Case

Material(s)

Silicone

Brand

AKSHFETH

This case is made of soft silicone in several bright colors to prevent loss and make your remote much easier to find.

How to make a leash for your remote control

You’ll need three key things

I came across @cierramillerr’s Reel the other day and immediately saved it for inspiration. She and her roommate were running into a similar problem with losing their TV remote, so they attached it to a power strip via a long, colorfully beaded string. That way, they could follow it from the connector point all the way to wherever the remote lay hiding. The video demonstrates her finding it beneath a blanket mound.

To emulate her process, I bought a silicone remote cover (to connect the string to the remote) and a pack of colorful acrylic craft beads. Instead of buying new string online, I dug up an old three-foot-long plastic ribbon from Christmas. After dressing my Roku remote in its new outfit (the remote cover), I tied the string to the holes on the side. Then, I spent the next 20 minutes absentmindedly stringing the beads on at random while re-watching My Lady Jane on Prime Video (RIP, Season 2). After the sparring scene in the woods, I had a couple feet of rainbow leash draped over my lap.

Then, I realized that I had nothing substantial to attach my remote’s leash to, so I opted to make it a wrist accessory by tying a loop at the end. Even if I lose my remote between the couch cushions, the long, colorful tail will make it much easier to both find and retrieve when all is said and done. Plus, if I attach it to my wrist while watching TV, and it drops to the floor, I’ll have an ultra lazy way to pick it up without moving from my (likely cozy) position beneath the blankets.

If anything, it’s a cute little craft that brings a little more pizzazz to otherwise one of the most boring (but common) household devices there is. It gives my boring Roku remote a personality, and is definitely a goofy little story to tell guests when they come over for movie night.