The Dollar Tree Cookie Cover Hack That Has Us Asking 'DI-Why?'

The latest popular food hack, which comes courtesy of a YouTube video showcasing a number of helpful kitchen crafts, is a DIY dome to keep pests away from your tray of cookies. The hack begins, as many do, with a quick trip to Dollar Tree to pick up a clear plastic bowl and a pack of wooden rings.

From there, the hack is as simple as using a hot glue gun to attach two rings before gluing them to the base of the bowl, creating a makeshift handle. Once you've crafted your cover, you can use it to shield a normal dinner plate full of cookies from bugs and other open-air contaminants. Unfortunately, the hack doesn't seem to be worth the trouble, as other affordable lids and cookie trays provide better use and are widely available both in stores and online.

For starters, this Dollar Tree lid doesn't provide an airtight seal, so it does little, if anything, to prevent stale cookies. Beyond that, the cover doesn't appear exceptionally stylish, it relies on the strength of hot glue, and it mostly just seems like a waste of a perfectly good bowl.

Though the hack seemingly doesn't do much to keep your cookies fresh (or impress guests), there's something to be said for kitchen hacks that serve no purpose other than bringing out your love of DIY. Sure, other store-bought containers might do the job better, but those don't allow you the freedom to whip out the glue gun and kill half an hour with a fun, artsy craft. Even so, in a long-form YouTube video full of creative endeavors, the DIY cover seems like one hack that never reaches its true potential.

This hack could find better use as a jumping-off point for a flashier serving bowl that uses other arts and crafts supplies from Dollar Tree. For instance, why settle for a pair of bland wooden rings as a handle when you could hot glue a small dinosaur toy to the bowl's base, making the cover perfect for a child's prehistoric-themed birthday party? Additionally, the cover's exterior could be littered with stickers, painted designs, or other accompanying accents. You could even bring your kids in on the craft by allowing them to customize their own Dollar Tree bowls — while, of course, ensuring an adult handles and supervises the hot glue gun at all times.