Tuesday, May 15, 2012

long overdue!!! tent DIY: part 3

Seriously. It's been more than a year. At this point, your tent skeleton has been assembled in your living room for 14 months, awaiting walls, a top, and the finishing touches! So drum roll please... I finally bring you the last portion of the tent DIY!



Use an embroidery hoop that is about 15-20 inches in diameter. Cut a strip of fabric and wrap around both loops. You will use this to connect all the sheets and to add the pitch to the tent roof. 


I found some fun floral and striped fabrics with similar colors at a local junk store. Each side took a double bed top sheet.  Decide which patterned sheet should go where, by draping the sheets from each post. Standing inside of the tent post will make the next part easier. You can see where I pulled the front sheet off the frame for me to step in. Teaching out a hand underneath with the interior loop for the sheets to rest on, pull each to cross the center. Sandwich the fabric with the exterior loop on top, and begin to tighten.


Don't pull the fabric tight as if you were to actually embroider it, but leave it loose in the middle of the hoop. Use a needle with a large eye to thread yarn through the center of fabric. I tied the yarn to the fan to pull up the roof. Not everyone's lucky enough to have a fan to tie to, so you may want to think about hanging a hook or just pulling the tent ceiling taught and flat.


I wanted the inside of the tent to feel magical, so I cut strips of fabric with pinking shears and tied a single knot around lengths of yarn, spacing each fabric piece a few inches apart.


I then tied each length of fabric to opposite horizontal poles, allow for a little bit of swag to happen, giving the space a softer feel with a little more depth.


I allowed for some fabric to drape from the front of the opening, tying it up in the center of the pole and pulling it to the side for a soft swag. Bunting around the front side of the tent added another whimsical touch. Mismatched pillows and throw blankets created a cozy and inviting feel. Candles lit in a varied collection of glass containers, also found at the local junk store, helped to give a little magic!


Chris' gifts were wrapped with craft paper, and touches were added in a black, red and white theme. I'm all about color schemes for gifts! The picture was a photo booth shot of us from New Years.


With the lights out, the candles gave the needed twinkle!


Chris loved that I had blocked him out of his living room and couldn't wait to see the surprise I was constructing, though the noise I made at some points had him a little concerned! Despite all the pink action going on, he still had the tent up several days later, as you can see below when Ellie, my dog, came to visit him later that week :)


What special touches of whimsy will you add to your tent?

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