Outdoor Faucet Cover in a Hurry

For tools, you will need scissors, gloves, wire cutters, and an electric drill with a 1/4″ drill bit. Beer is optional.

For materials, you will need a large diameter plastic container, in this case I had an empty Gatorade can. I picked up a $5 roll of fiberglass pipe insulation from the hardware store, and had a roll of fence wire on hand. Also, you will need several feet of duct tape or similar waterproof tape.

In a pinch, you could substitute cloth for the batting, such as a pair of worn socks, and use a straightened coat hanger for the wire.

Using a drill, bore a 1/4″ hole in the bottom of the plastic jug near the side.

Cut a 2′ length of wire with wire cutters.

Fold wire in half with a tight bend, and insert the bent end into the hole from the bottom. This wire will secure the cover to the faucet body.

With your gloves on, cut several strips of insulation, a short strip 6″ long and two longer strips 12″ long.

The short strip will insulate the bottom of the jug and the longer strips will insulate the inside and create an air seal around the faucet head.

Fold the small length of insulation and stuff into the bottom of the jug.

Wrap one of the longer lengths of insulation around the inside bottom, and another around the inside top, protruding about an inch past the jug lid.

The folded wire sticks out past the jug lid another 4″ or so, in order to make it easy to loop around the faucet head later.

Wrap duct tape around the outside of the jug, and around the protruding insulation to protect it from getting wet.

To install on a faucet head (pictured), loop the folded wire around part of the faucet and push the jug against the faucet, pulling excess wire through the back.

Take the two wire ends sticking out, and fold around opposite sides of the jug, meeting at the top side.

Twist wires together where they meet, and secure your faucet cover.

Optionally paint cover to match your house if you don’t like the chic look of duct-taped junk.