Contact paper black out shades (and other uses)

I am blessed with a baby who is a super sleeper baby.  He's been sleeping through the night since he was about 3 months old and will regularly give me a 3 hour nap (last week he even did 4 hours!)  I like to think that his wonderfully serene nursery has something to do with it, especially his blackout shades.

So when we're traveling or away on vacation, I try to do everything I can to recreate the comforts of home for him.  Along those lines, I learned a few things from our first beach trip with Knox but one thing I did not plan for was just how bright his room would be in the beach house we were renting.  Try as I might with blankets and draped towels, I just couldn't get the room to nap-time darkness.  The first few days of that trip were brutal.  A 20 minute nap does not allow mommy enough time to get through an entire issue of Us Weekly, much less a fruity adult beverage on the beach!

Well I learned from my mistakes and for our second beach trip I packed along my current favorite thing ever - black contact paper.

$7 and 5 minutes was all it took to turn his room from this:

To this:

 

Best $7 I've ever spent.  And the best part - at the end of the week I just peeled it right off the glass.  No residue and no signs it was ever there at all.  It is the PERFECT solution.  

Besides being an amazing on-the-go darkness creator, here are some creative uses for contact paper.

I love carving pumpkins...err...minus the actual messy carving part.  This year I'll be decorating with festive and spooky silhouettes instead. Printable silhouettes below.

Mice silhouette
Owl silhouette
Bat silhouette
Hissing cat silhouette
Jack-o'-lantern silhouette

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Contact paper can be a renter's best friend.  Use it to transform a not-so-pretty refrigerator like Titti at Shoestring Pavilion did here.

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Or create some renter-friendly "wallpaper" like Stephanie of SabbeSpot did with her chevron wall here.

 

I have enough leftover that I'll be using it for a fun project for Knox's 1st birthday party this weekend.  I can't wait to show you guys the party!  I think it's going to be adorable.

What other ways have you used contact paper?