Teepee!

Although I've daydreamed about some fun forts - the cost and time and effort of building a structure for my sons seemed not worth it. The trampoline and sandbox have been pretty great and they can have fun building temporary created little forts in the woods. Making your own is a fond memory of my childhood. But when Tristan announced that he wanted a Native American birthday party (after learning about Illinois Indians in History class) I started imagining a teepee. What a fun place for boys to have adventures, and much more DIY friendly (timewise and budgetwise) than a big fort.

Of course I needed my parents to visit before undertaking such a task.

First step, 8' boards. They were under $2 each. My dad drilled holes in the top and halfway down. I laced them together at the top with wire and rope and tied rope through and around the middle holes to keep everything all in place and evenly spaced.

Then we measured the bottom, up two feet, up two more feet, and sketched out the dimensions for the fabric. The cloth was 1. Painters cloth from Lowes, about $10 2. A heavy silky tan sheet from Goodwill $4 and 3. A thick flannelish gray sheet from Goodwill 1/2 price for $2 and a matching pillowcase for $.50

All together supplies cost:
boards = $11
rope = $5
fabric = $16.50

Total = $32.50

We also used an old Karate belt for the sides of the door.
I decorated the top with a stretchy hairband and some necklaces and a dreamcatcher that I already had.

This is how it turned out:

 

 At the very top of the teepee we used a old pair of boys size 2 sweatpants and cut out the elastic. Mom sewed the pillowcase with elastic at the top and connected the bottom to the panels of fabric.  The door was our leftover piece of painters cloth with karate uniform belts for a heavy edge.

The fabric isn't crazy tight, because measurements weren't totally perfect - which was fine with me. I like the soft loose freedom of the fully functioning teepee and it wasn't worth stressing about refitting and repinning and getting everything exact. It took my sweet mother a lot of time and work, and she is good with sewing to start with, but overall I don't think you have huge experience (but maybe a good dose of patience) for creating a teepee. And without stripes it would be simpler too. But it's not like a dress where it has to fit exactly. The teepee is reasonably forgiving. 

Here is the rest of the party:

 Feathers added to the glass jars and signs added to the square wreath:

And the cupcakes were little teepees - baked in a sugar cone.

We had balloons on our table-tree and lots of decorative games:

Fun party - thank you mom and dad for (yet again) making my wishes come true!