Friday, October 5, 2012

Found it on Pinterest and Actually Did It: Kid's Canopy Tent

I found a tutorial on Pinterest on making this super adorable and super easy canopy tent that uses only three items and takes 10 minutes to make.  I'm not kidding (we all know how fond I am of making up bs numbers for my own amusement), it's that freaking easy.

Are you ready for the items you need?  You may have to write them down, there's a ton you know.
  1. Gauzy style curtains (the tute called for 6 panels, I used 4).
  2. Embroidery hoop  (the tute used a 23", I could only find a 12" and it worked fine).
  3. Ribbon, one or two spools depending on the length of your curtains and how tall your ceilings are and scissors would be good too unless you want to use your teeth, which is fine too.
  4. Cat, optional (the tute says nothing about using a cat but I did anyway).
Cat is optional

Start by getting all your stuff together, I already had curtains in a soft green (mine are 84") from my old apartment (why I kept them I don't know but now I'm glad I did!) and about a billion spools of ribbon but I settled on lilac to match my daughter's room.  I just needed to buy the hoop and I couldn't for the life of me find one bigger than 12" other than online (not worth paying shipping for a $6 item) so I hoped it would do.  It ended up working perfectly fine.

If you've used optional cat, keep said cat from stealing screw

Take your hoop apart and make sure not to loose the screw.  I bought a cheapo wooden hoop and was originally worried how flimsy it would be but it supported everything fine.  If your kids are rough, you may want to get a sturdier one since you can't use the inner ring with the curtains.

Really Jasper?  Look at him!

Stick a baggie over the end to keep it from catching your curtains while you slide each panel on.  Make sure all the seams are on the inside as well to keep it looking tidy and you can cut off the tags as well if you like.  If you do make one with a bigger hoop like the original tutorial suggests, you may want to use six panels instead of the four I did.  Four panels would be stretching it for anything bigger than a 14" hoop I'd say.

Careful not to snag the curtains while putting them on

With all panels on, close the hoop and even the panels which is not shown in this pointless photo

Once all the panels are on, remove the bag, close the hoop with the screw and evenly distribute the panels around the hoop.  Like I mentioned earlier, I couldn't for the life of me cram the inner ring back in with the curtains all bunched up so I just ditched it.  It was sturdy enough to support everything so it worked out ok in the end.  I can always replace the ring with a better one in the future if I need to.

You can make ribbon tying interesting by adding a second optional cat as I have

Cut three or four pieces of ribbon (three if you use six panels, four if you use four panels) preferably without the aid of your optional cat.  First you may want to figure out how high up you want it to hang (don't forget that you want the curtains to drape on the floor too) and measure how much space is between where you're holding the curtain to the ceiling.  Add several inches (six-eight should be enough) to that length to compensate for knots and the angle it hangs from hoop to top knot.  Now cut your ribbon to the length you need and tie one between each panel if you used four panels or every two if you used six panels to keep it looking even. 

Helper cat says you're doing it right.

Pull your ribbons together at the top and make sure it's straight.

Observe my wicked awesome knot tying skills

Tie a knot in the top.

Use a good hook and a stud finder, last you need is it coming down on your kid's head
Hang it up and make a door by parting the panels in front

Your canopy is done!  I told it was easy!  Now you'll want to hang it.  I suggest using a heavy duty hanging hook and break out the stud finder to find a proper place to hang it up on your ceiling.

It looks so cute doesn't it?  I kinda want one for me!

It's been cat approved, say hello to Jasper and Zoe who helped me

Add a few pillows, blanket, toys, (a fluffy cat or two is optional) and all done!  The best part is that if you want to save space you can always take it down and wrap the curtains around the hoop and stash it in a closet or under the bed. 

Feel free to pin this blog post or you can repin the original tutorial from my own Pinboard!


8 comments:

  1. OMG! When I was a kid I would have loooooooved that! So awesome!

    http://www.AllThingsTangled.blogspot.com

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    1. I know same here! When I showed it to my mom I asked her why she didn't make stuff like that for me! LOL!

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  2. OK, how cool is this??? What the heck would we all do without Pinterest? This is awesome, and I'm pinning your post! LOL
    My kids are gonna love to try this out.
    ~Kim
    from Blogging Buddies
    2justByou.blogspot.com

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  3. What a wonderful world. What a good job for this post. Very rich and constructive at the same time. I want to say a thumbs up to the creator for keeping this web site simple. Congratulations finally a web site of top-level. Have a nice day! Sports Bedding

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  4. That turned out so cute! I bet your kids love it. And I love that your cats helped out! :)

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    1. Thank you! My daughter adores it! The kitties had fun helping too ;)

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