Five Fabulous Uses for a Dollar Store Curtain
Apart from being a great, cheap shower curtain, you can turn these sheets of plastic into a variety of useful items. With a pair of scissors and some tape, you have all you need to improve life around your house.
Toddler protective apron. You know those heavy duty craft aprons you can get? This is the disposable version. Fold the shower curtain in half and cut a rectangle wide enough to wrap around half your toddler’s body and long enough to reach his knees when held to the shoulders. Use a 6″ piece of masking tape to tape the cut sides together, leaving a 5″ gap between the folded top and where the tape begins. Repeat with the other side and cut a shallow U in the center of the top fold for a neck hole. Just pull over the child’s head, put his arms through the holes left at the sides and you have a great way to protect his clothes! This works for messy painting or when your little one wants to feed himself spaghetti. When it gets too dirty or worn, just toss it. Depending on the size of your kid, you can get anywhere from 3-6 aprons from one shower curtain.
Disposable tablecloth. Perfect for birthday parties. Choose a brightly colored curtain and toss it over the table to protect it from spills. If you are going on a picnic or eating outside, a shower curtain can also be used on a picnic table. To keep it from flying away, grab a corner, wrap a rock in it and tie it in with a bit of string or yarn. Repeat for each corner and your makeshift table cloth will stay put. This is also great for little kidsÃ?´ craft tables where they will be painting. Simply cut the sheet to size and tape it to the child’s table.
Make a shade tent. A shower curtain can make the perfect place for your little ones to play safely outside. All you need is a string and some rocks or stakes, plus your trusty dollar store shower curtain. Tie the string to two trees or a post and a tree, whatever happens to be available. You’ll want at least 6Ã?´ of string that is about 3 feet off the ground. Hang the shower curtain over this and then tie a piece of string around each corner. Tie the other end of the string around a rock or stake and toss it away from the tent to pull the edges out. Once you have all four corners done, there will be a nice area under the shower curtain that will be protected from the sun, but still nice and bright. Spread a blanket in there and have a picnic or a nap, or just play in the shade.
Mattress protector. Do you have a kid who wets the bed? The solution is a cheap shower curtain. When making the bed, lay this down first over the mattress, tucking the edges under the bed. If you have troubles getting the curtain to stay in place, try using a couple pieces of masking tape to tape it to the underside of the mattress. Then put on the sheets like normal. This is a better solution than a plastic sheet which can be crinkly and uncomfortable for the child, these shower curtains tend to be soft, but waterproof.
Drop cloths. If you have to paint, dollar store curtains are a handy, cheap way to protect your furniture and floors. Simply drape over anything you don’t want paint on. If you need to, use masking tape to secure the curtain. This is also a good way to cover your furniture when you go on vacation.
As you can see, you can get a lot of uses for just a dollar or two! So, go pick up a couple of shower curtains the next time you are near the dollar store and keep them on hand for the next time you need a tent or a disposable tablecloth.
