DIY Friday – draw the curtains

Our bathroom has received an unfair amount of design neglect this past while. I wanted to add a bit of pizzazz to it and thought what better way than via our shower curtain. With a marker in hand and three hours later, I added this Sharpie shower curtain to our bathroom, and I finally have those antlers I’ve wanted. Kind of …

What you’ll need – a shower curtain {preferably 100% vinyl. I couldn’t find one and used a fine weave 100% polyester curtain and it worked out fine}, paper large enough to sketch on {tip – use the reverse side of a roll of wrapping paper if you don’t have large pieces of paper}, masking tape, a Sharpie permanent marker, eraser, pencil and an imagination. 
Step 1 – decide on what to draw on your shower curtain. This can be the hardest step. I magiked up this little number on Photoshop. This isn’t necessary, but Photoshop helped me quickly draw, erase, and rearrange my idea without wasting paper. I prefer the unfinished look of this sketch, so I kept the raw lines in my finished piece. This rough style of drawing also shows you don’t have to be 100% accurate to tackle a piece on this scale. You can choose to copy an existing image onto your shower curtain – you don’t have to create something from scratch. No judgement here. 

Step 2 – secure your paper to the floor with tape and draw your design in pencil. When you are happy with it, go over your design in marker. You will use this as a template. You can also choose to use this as your step 1 and skip the Photoshop malarkey if you like. Step 3 – lay your shower curtain over your template and draw your design using the permanent marker. You can tape down your shower curtain if you like to stop it moving around. I didn’t. I like living on the edge. 

Step 4 – I ironed my shower curtain at this stage because I have OCD. This step is not necessary, but it was a step I took to make it nice and smooth. Please use caution when ironing a shower curtain. Don’t use the highest setting as we are dealing with plastic here, folks. Step 5 – c’est fini! Hang up your shower curtain, and enjoy!
You can make your design as simple or as complicated as you like. I think I may add more to ours at a later stage. I more so think this would be a fab weekend project for kids. A cheap and cheerful way to add some  young people’s artwork into your home. And for those of you wondering, yes the Sharpie marker is permanent and no the water from the shower doesn’t effect it. 

I hope you have an awesome weekend lined up. If the weather holds up here, I foresee lots of walks outdoors and who knows – maybe flip flops.  
Happy Friday folks 🙂 xx A

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20 Comments

  1. Anonymous
    April 26, 2013 / 16:17

    Looks like you had some help from a furry little friend on this project =^u^=

    @_nerf_herder

    • April 27, 2013 / 08:08

      She was very helpful I'll have you know. She even chased the marker around the living room floor without me even asking her to.

  2. Barb_in_GA
    April 26, 2013 / 16:17

    I just noticed that you snuck some hydrangeas in there. Clever girl!

  3. Anne C.
    April 26, 2013 / 16:44

    That is absolutely awesome, Alex. You are so creative. Love seeing your projects. Thanks for sharing.

  4. April 27, 2013 / 00:13

    Speaking of 'DIY genius'!!!
    I freaking love this.
    No, I LOVE this.
    The absolute best projects are when a simple idea is applied to an overlooked item. I never would have thought of doing this. SO. SMART.
    Can you tell I like this? OMG, I am gushing over here.

    • April 27, 2013 / 08:04

      Ahahaha, you so cray Pat. I'm afraid you're just adding fuel to the flames with that comment. Coming from you, I am very flattered.

    • April 27, 2013 / 13:11

      Hella cray cray over here… for that shower curtain!

  5. April 27, 2013 / 05:52

    Wow that is awesome!! Love your design BTW and wow you are seriously talented. But I do have a wee question, what's in the decanter? Shower gel? or is it just coloured water?

    • April 27, 2013 / 07:55

      I knew someone would mention the decanter! Haha. You will just have to wait and see my dear Janine. It will soon be blogged …

    • April 29, 2013 / 22:43

      Sheeesh you are a tease Alex lol. I love decanters and think they look cool with bubble bath and bath syrups in them. I made up a batch for one last night.

  6. April 28, 2013 / 15:00

    This is spectacular. You are quite the artist and have a creative mind. love it Alex!

  7. May 4, 2013 / 22:35

    Can I move in with you now please? I hate living with a boy 🙁

  8. July 2, 2014 / 10:11

    I absolutely love this idea! The possibilities are endless.

  9. October 16, 2016 / 18:23

    This is such an amazing idea! How has it gone so far with washing it? Does the sharpie bleed at all?

    • October 17, 2016 / 16:27

      Because of the specific fabric that this shower curtain was made from, it did actually bleed in the end. But after a few months. In hindsight this striped / weave style shower curtain was not the best choice. I've learned a lot in the 3 years since blogging this. A plain shower curtain should work much better!