This post brought to you by Dollar General. All opinions are 100% mine.

Windproofed Tablecloth With Memorial Day sneaking up on us, picnic season is officially here! Are you ready? I’ve been scrambling to make my back yard ready for another summer of entertaining. One of the things on my to-do list has been dressing up our patio table. It’s a plain, round metal table that I love, but whose top has seen better days; a few seasons of sun and rain have started to take their toll. I knew that the obvious solution was a tablecloth, but I was having a hard time finding one in the right size. And I want to leave the tablecloth on all summer, so I also had to find a way to make sure that it wasn’t going to blow away in the wind. I came up with an idea that would solve both problems, and off to Dollar General I went in search of supplies!

Project estimate:

  • Picnic table cloth, $4
  • Plastic clips (2 or more packages depending on size of table), $2 and up
  • Clothesline or rope, on hand or $3.50 (and you will have lots left over for future projects!)
  • Ruler or yard stick, on hand
  • Sharpie, on hand
  • Scissors, on hand

Total: about $6 and up

Dollar General Summer Section

I’ve been loving the bright, bold colors in the summer seasonal section at Dollar General this year – especially all of the turquoise and lime green stuff! I’ve been eying up a lot of goodies there. (See that package of plates and cups with a Moroccan pattern? They WILL be mine!)

tablecloth project supplies

They had a nice selection of vinyl tablecloths this year; after much debate, I went with a bright, stripey pattern. The tablecloth is made to fit a standard picnic table, and if you happen to have a table that it fits already you can skip the cutting and go right to the wind-proofing. However, since I couldn’t find a cheap tablecloth that would fit my little, round table, I had to trim it to fit. The other supplies that I bought at Dollar General, the clips and clothesline, both came out of the laundry section.

custom sized windproof tablecloth

Spread out the tablecloth with the printed side facing down. Place the table upside-down on top of it, centering it as best you can.

measuring the excess tablecloth

Measure how much excess you have around the edges. Measure from the edge of the table to one of the short sides of the tablecloth. I had about 10 inches to work with.

draw a circle around the tabletop

Using a Sharpie to mark the distance, measure out that distance every few inches around the top of the table. Then play connect-the-dots to draw a circle all the way around the perimeter of the table.

tablecloth cut to size

Now it’s time to cut. The material that the tablecloth is made from is not the easiest thing in the world to cut, so you’ll need a good, sharp pair of scissors and a little patience. Don’t worry if your edges aren’t exactly perfect, because they will be hidden at the end!

attach clips to tablecloth

Attach the clips around the outside edge of the tablecloth, spacing them as evenly as possible. It is important that you use clips like these ones that have loops on the ends so that you will have a place to thread your rope. For the best results, add enough clips so that there is 10 inches of space or less between each of them. In the end, I used three packages of clips (for a total of 12 clips) to make it all the way around with the proper spacing.

tablecloth on table

At this point, you’re ready to put the cloth on the table! Center it so that there is the same amount of overhang all the way around.

thread rope through clips

Cut a length of clothesline and thread it through the loops on each of the clips.

windproofed tablecloth

Pull the rope tight and tie it off with a sturdy knot. Trim off any excess clothesline and you’re done!

Don’t forget to visit Dollar General for all your Memorial Day supplies!

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