# Cheap Black or White Curtains / Panels



## bbshop (Nov 2, 2006)

For the last few years I have used a HUGE black plastic tarp to "hide" all the junk in my gargage for our annual party and make the garage more usable party space. This year I was thinking that I would hang metal rods from the ceiling and put black panels on them.

Does anyone know where I can buy CHEAP panels 84 inches or longer? Black preferably but I will dye them if I can find white. 

Thanks!


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## Ghostess (Sep 8, 2005)

You could try Walmart... the cheap flat bed sheets are good for all sorts of things.


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## ScaryChk (Oct 2, 2006)

You could always go to the fabric store and buy some cheap fabric. Then make "loops" for the rod by using iron on adhesive. I did it last year to make some theater curtains. I don't know how to sew, so this works fine for me!


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## Jackielantern (Oct 31, 2005)

At JoAnne's Fabrics you can buy muslin that comes up to 108" wide, I think? Anyway, with a 40% off coupon for a single cut of fabric it comes out cheap. The downside is it's cream in color so it would have to be dyed.


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## bbshop (Nov 2, 2006)

*Muslin*

I have been told about the wide muslin at JoAnne's but I've also heard that you pay a premium for material this wide and also that if the material is in the "Home Decor" section of the store they mark it up even more (from a friend who used to be a Manager for Joanne's). 

I need LOTS of material to cover the walls in my garage, I found "84 inch panel PAIRS for $9.99 and I would need about a dozen sets to cover the walls equating out to $120.00 plus 8.5% sales tax in NY - yikes. After doing the math with the Joanne's coupon and calculating the amount of fabric needed per pair I came up with $7.51, I would save about $30.00 by making them myself - not sure if it's worth the hours of labor. 

I was hoping to find a curtain wholesalers online (hotel supplier perhaps?) where I could buy a case of panels for cheap money.... but it's not looking good at this point.


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## gennifyr (Aug 22, 2006)

dollar stores sell black shower curtains...


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## bbshop (Nov 2, 2006)

*Shower Curtains*

Thanks. I have investigated using shower curtains and also black plastic tableclothes but there are two problems.

- they are usually only six feet long and I really need eight feet

- I wanted something that I could use every year for my party, not just one time and I don't think the plastic will hold up over time. 

Keep the good ideas coming!


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## Jackielantern (Oct 31, 2005)

bbshop,
hmm, I don't recall the muslin being that expensive. But then again I only bought 45" wide & with the coupon it came out to under $1 a yard.

How about canvas drop cloths? They're a nice heavy weight & come in large dimensions. Plus they will be good for other things (dare I say) you don't need them for Halloween anymore. They would be too large to dye, but I've seen on home improvement shows where the paint them. I don't know, that sounds like a pain in the a$$ though. I'd probably just get some Scene Setter stuff to attach.


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## bbshop (Nov 2, 2006)

*Drop Cloths!*

I love this idea..... I have to go to Lowe's this weekend for something else and I will definitely investigate this option... thanks! I knew brainstorming this with the forum would develop some good ideas.


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## halinar (Oct 10, 2005)

I'm not sure of the size but I use a couple king sized bed sheets stapled up in my garage and they have to be around 8' tall to reach from the rafters down to the floor.


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## bbshop (Nov 2, 2006)

*Black Denim Drop Cloth - Chimney Sweep*

Believe it or not they make black denim drop cloths for Chimney Sweeps here an example:

http://www.burdisco.com/p-21-black-denim-drop-cloth-9x-12-14-oz.aspx

I am going to keep surfing around for a better price but the nice thing about using a drop cloth (or a sheet like suggested above) is they already have finsihed seams so all I have to do is sew a pocket at the top for a rod!


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## wilbret (Oct 8, 2004)

For the warehouse at a store I set up, we hung cables across and used tensioners (turnbuckle) to pull them tight (bolt/eyelets on each end, turn it and it gets tight). 
This costs a whopping 10 bucks max from any hardware section, even Wal Mart.

On the cable we hung canvas tarps. This allowed us to have a wall when we wanted it, but gave us the ability to move them out of the way like shower curtains. 

You could use any fabric or material, and add eyelets for the same effect. It was dirt cheap. Harbor Freight has some cheap canvas tarps...


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## Jackielantern (Oct 31, 2005)

If you didn't want to add the eyelets you could use those curtain rings with the metal clothespin like clasps. They're cheap at IKEA & have a pretty good bite to them. It's what I used to hold up a "wall" of landscape plastic.


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## wilbret (Oct 8, 2004)

Jackie, funny you mention Ikea.... because they also sell cables you can use for this. We used it IN the store. 

They come with fancy stainless or faux stainless mounts to attach to the wall. Then, you use the ring/clamps you mention.


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## Jackielantern (Oct 31, 2005)

Wilbret, ya I saw the cables there. I had eye hooks & wire at home already so I just used that. (I only had a span of 12') Who woulda thought IKEA would be good for Halloween prop building?


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## tallula_g (Sep 19, 2006)

Have you looked at the materials at Shindigz.com? They are a prom supply company and have gossamer, paper, foil, etc. in huge rolls. A 19"x100yd roll of black gossimar is $49.99. Don't know if this is what your looking for though.


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## bbshop (Nov 2, 2006)

*Cable et al...*

I love the cable idea and will do some research on that - I will also check Harbor Freght as we have one right in town for the drop cloths!!! And IKEA for the rings... we don't have an IKEA locally so I would have to order them online. Do you have an estimate of how many rings I would need for a 9x12 tarp (12 being the lengh across being pinned).


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## Jackielantern (Oct 31, 2005)

I only had a span of about 12' & I'm pretty sure it was a 12 pack, how handy! Like I mentioned before I used landscape plastic (leftover from improvement project) with a height of 9'. The rings held very well, I probably didn't need to use so many but I had them so I thought I might as well use them all. Target has the same type of rings, they'd probably be just as reasonable if you factor in shipping costs from IKEA.


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## Jackielantern (Oct 31, 2005)

Oh! I bet Bed Bath & Beyond or Linens N Things has them too - and with a coupon maybe they would be close in price as well.


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## wilbret (Oct 8, 2004)

www.northerntool.com is another place for canvas tarps. Although, sheets will work, you'd just need to weight them at the bottom somehow to keep them from blowing around.


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## wilbret (Oct 8, 2004)

Here's a set... 24 for 4.99
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20075947


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## IshWitch (May 19, 2006)

I got my canvas drop cloths from BigLots for quite cheap. If you have or know someone with a paint sprayer you could have 'em black in no time. Have the paint dept. tint a couple of Oops buckets down to black. That's what I do when I need some. Usually helps to know the people in the paint dept. and go when they don't have any customers.
 
Our pirate ship's bow was 2 tarps, one on each side...
http://s5.photobucket.com/albums/y184/Baricuda/Halloween 2006/?action=view&current=halloween390.jpg
http://s5.photobucket.com/albums/y184/Baricuda/Halloween 2006/?action=view&current=halloween391.jpg


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## Ghostess (Sep 8, 2005)

I just did my formal dining room in curtain style black fabric. I bought a bunch of black fabric from Wal Mart for a buck a yard. I needed the fabric to be at least 9.5 ' long to go from ceiling to floor. You can't see it very well in the pic, but it looks good in person.








I don't know how cost effective that would be for you though. 

One note on trying to dye muslin.... it doesn't work very well. (Or at least it didn't for me.) I tried it last year and ended up with a bunch of purple fabric when I wanted gray. I used black Rit Dye to do it.


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## bbshop (Nov 2, 2006)

After much surfing and pricing, I have decided to go with Black flat sheets from Wal-Mart they are $13.86 each which was cheaper than purchasing the drop cloths and then having to purchase the dye and dye them (which might have been a nightmare to do given that most of them have a protective coating that doesn't allow leaks to seep through). 

I did notice a comment on this thread about weighing down the bottom so they don't move around - any suggestions on how to do that? I have seen those table cloths weights but wanted to see if any of you have other ideas?


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## DeadTed (Aug 12, 2007)

Just saw this thread. Not sure if my idea has been mentioned by someone else, but I'll go ahead and say it anyway.

I just started decorating the inside of my house today. In one room we are putting camo netting on the ceiling and letting it hang down to look like a forest. Well, our ceiling is white and shows throw a bit, so I wanted to do something similar - black plastic stapled to the ceiling.

After doing a bit of searching I found the plastic tarp stuff to be 3'x50' and around 13bucks. Fabric just cost too much as well. I ened up picking up some weed mat from the garden section. It's not as solid as fabric or plastic - if you look close it looks like fabric weaving - so it ends up being dark, but not solid black which is all I need. Best part about it, it's only $7 and it's probably half the weight of fabric or plastic.

I was able to hang it myself and use a staple gun - super light, cheap and the same size as the plastic. Just my two and a half cents.


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## Indyandy (Sep 19, 2006)

Just to add my 2 cents worth. Last year and this year I was able to purchase black king size bed sheets at my local Goodwill store on half off day for $2.00 each. You might check there if you have one close by.


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## bbshop (Nov 2, 2006)

I bought the king sized sheets at Wal-mart but returned them.. just too $$$$$. We will use the black plastic tarp that we have used for the last two years to camoflage the junk in the garage... however I did find black TWIN sized sheets at Wal-Mart that I sewed into black drapery panels for our bay window - they came out great!!! The best part is they were only $2.86 each!

The sheets are 96" long so I had to shorten them to the standard 84", the sides and the top of the sheet are finished so all I had to do was sew a rod pocket in the top and cut open the sides.... Voila' instance black drapes... I took some digital photos I'll try to put some up here soon. 

I love the $2.00 deal on the King Size bedding at Goodwill... I might have to try there for some cheap sheets that I can dye gray to put over all my furniture for the "abandon house" look - the added bonus is they will protect my furniture from messy guests at our party!


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