Yes, we live on the coast and close to the beach… but have you ever taken a baby to the beach? You need three adults per one baby with all the stuff you have to lug from your car to the sandy shore! So, a few weeks ago we invested in an $8 baby pool from Dollar General.
I quickly realized that despite the pool being relatively small it still took some time for the water to reach a temperature comfortable for JJ. I remember my mom mentioning how she recently saw tarps at Dollar Tree and I thought I could potentially DIY a cover for the baby pool. Not only did I successfully make a baby pool cover, but I recorded myself and made my first “viral” TikTok!
Here is the full tutorial:
DIY Baby Pool Cover
Cost: $7
Time: ~30 minutes
Materials Needed:
- Tarp from Dollar Tree (Search the automotive aisle)
- Elastic
- Safety pin
- Trace around the circumference of the baby pool and add an extra 3-4 inches on the tarp.
- Cut out your circle in the tarp.
- Fold the tarp about 1.5-2 inches over itself and begin sewing around the circumference. Make sure to leave a few inches open to string the elastic through. If you don’t have a sewing machine you could use hot glue.
- Measure the elastic around the baby pool. Make sure it’s tight but still has some give to it. The tarp itself will pull taught once you add elastic so the elastic does not need to be super snug.
- Now, this is probably the best hack of the entire tutorial. Detach the wand from one of the blinds in your house. Attach one end of the elastic to the wand using a safety pin and string it through the tarp.
- Attach the elastic to itself with the safety, leave a few inches hanging off so you can sew them to each other.
- Close up the hole in the tarp and viola!
I usually add water to our baby pool and put on the tarp while I go get JJ ready. It doesn’t take long to heat up the pool if it’s sitting in the sun with the tarp on. Once we’re ready to get in I drag the pool into the shade so we can enjoy. I’ve also been using the cover over the emptied pool to keep leaves and pollen from getting in it while we’re not using it.
A lot of Karen’s have commented on my TikTok about the hazards associated with keeping pool water in a baby pool for days on end. I am not recommending you to cover your pool and reuse the same water for an extended period of time, in fact, I’m not recommending you to do anything. This is a cheap hack to creating a baby pool cover. Hopefully this helps you keep your pool clean from debris, how you actually use it is up to you.
Enjoy this cute little baby butt!
