Cosplay supplies can come from all over. You can make trips to craft supply stores, fabric districts, and electronics providers like Adafruit for specific needs, but you can also turn to your closets at home or the aisles of the local dollar store. Getting creative means you save yourself money and flex your resourceful muscles. Win-win. One versatile everyday sort of item is a shower curtain. You can scoop shower curtains up on the cheap at thrift stores, Ikea, and any big box store. Clear ones can be used for more purposes but solid color shower curtains are helpful too. Here are five suggestions on how to use shower curtains in cosplay:

Elsa’s corset – If you’re planning to make the icy blue dress Elsa wore in Frozen any time ever, consider using a shower curtain to make all the sequins on her corset. I’ve seen a few different approaches to crafting the embellishments but rectangles from a thick clear shower curtain would work wonderfully. A frosted curtain would work too. Event Horizon Cosplay has a tutorial that shows how she made Elsa’s corset from a similar material. It’s going to require time and patience, but it will be worth it.

Diffusing lights – LEDs are a shining addition to any costume, but you might want to give them more of a diffused look. Some World of Warcraft and Tron costumes I’ve seen soften the light from LEDs and EL wire by covering them, and a clear or frosted shower curtain would be more than suitable for the task.

Cape – A bright solid color shower curtain could be transformed into a fun cape for an original costume design. The vinyl texture of shower curtains seems like the right type of material to fit right into many anime costumes, too. You’d just need to adjust the top of the curtain to fit around your neck and try to iron out the creases. Let the curtain hang in your bathroom or iron it through a thick towel. Leave the curtain as is or embellish it with paint or glitter. A clear or frosted shower curtain could be used for a different take on Elsa’s cape.

Karate Kid shower costume – The 1984 film The Karate Kid features Daniel Larusso (Ralph Macchio) in a wrap-around shower curtain costume. He wears the outfit for a Halloween party. His shower curtain is red with white polka dots, but you could use any shower curtain your heart desires.

Wings – If you’re cosplaying any character with transparent or opaque wings, cut the template out from a shower curtain. Since shower curtains usually have a little stretch (I’m thinking of the thinner ones from Ikea), it should be simple to spread the material over a wire frame and hot glue it into place. You can apply thin coats of sparkly acrylic paint and/or glitter to give the wings a little shimmer.