It's worth noting that this particular debate has sparked an incredible amount of violent disagreement, due mostly to variously deep applications of real-world physics and highly technical interpretations of the specific wording.
In addition, Crawford has stated that
Minor Illusion is specifically supposed to only be able to create
static images, meaning that they cannot move or be moved. While you would be able to create a badge or helmet with it, the resulting item would sit motionlessly at the exact spot it was created, forcing you to stand perfectly still in order to not give the illusion away (cue first disagreement as to what "static" means with regards to the universe at large, and how much relativity should be applied).
However, he's also stated that the cantrip can create "complex sounds", including recognizable intelligent speech, of whatever length you might choose. You could create an entire recital so long as it falls within the 1-minute spell length. This is vastly more versatile than the image version of the spell, and where its real utility comes in (aside from the good ol' "make this hole look like solid ground, or make that cliff ledge look like it's 5' farther out than it really is").
Some individuals argue that while you cannot make an illusion of a creature with
Minor Illusion, animal taxidermy is technically an "object" and should be able to be replicated by the spell. Even so, due to its completely static nature, you would need poor lighting conditions or other special scenarios in order to use this effectively.
It's worth noting that
Silent Image can also be acquired as an at-will spell via Warlock invocation as early as level 2, which is part of what makes Warlocks better illusionists than Illusion-Specialty Wizards until level 14. One application is to place a
Silent Image of a boulder up on a cliff/mountain, and then use
Minor Illusion to create a loud rumbling from its position in order to draw attention to it. Depending on how much you're willing to rules-lawyer (it's actually reasonably consistent with RAW, so it really only depends on how much your DM thinks it's stupid), you could do both during the same turn by previously using a Ready action of "cast
Minor Illusion after I next cast
Silent Image".
You can also just do dumb things like make an illusion of heavy cover, which would force a ranged opponent to either spend an action trying to Investigate the illusion and figure out that it's fake, or take disadvantage on their ranged attack because they're aiming for whatever tiny portion of you is sticking out from behind said cover. Or the DM could just ignore all of that, because none of your uses are actually protected by the rules, and you are exactly as overpowered or useless as the DM decides you are going to be.
Unless we're talking about real life here (which would explain why this isn't in the DnD thread), in which case ah ha ha physics and illusions
do not mix. The only way you'd be able to wing that is by pulling a The Shadow interpretation and saying that the "illusion" is strictly in the eye of the beholder, and you're really just psychically influencing someone else to believe that something is there. In which case, the illusions become useless against electronic surveillance or people you don't know are there.
What level do I need to cast it on to create some illusion of hope of myself
Illusory Reality
By 14th level, when you cast an illusion spell of 1st level or higher, you can choose one inanimate, nonmagical object that is part of the illusion and make that object real. You can do this on your turn as a bonus action while the spell is ongoing.
Unfortunately...
The object remains real for 1 minute.