Phanessa's Crafts: DIY Play tent

Hi! Here's a quick tutorial on a DIY play tent I made as a photography prop. I followed the tutorial I found on Pinterest here. Just a few tweaks....

My boys enjoying the tent:

Supplies:

2 - 1x2x8 wood, cut in half (4 pieces, 48" each) $6

1 - 3/4", 48" (4ft) wooden dowel $3

3 yards of fabric (on sale at JoAnns for $2.49/yard! total $8)

ribbon (I had some laying around)

drill & bit (3/4")

Here's my 2 pieces of wood cut in half (nice employee at Home Depot did it for me) & my wooden dowel.

I marked BOTH sides at 2 inches from the edge (I later changed my mind for one side which would be the top of the tent & marked it down to 3 inches before drilling - I may mark it at 4 inches on my next one for the look I want to achieve)

I went to the store and purchased a 3/4" drill bit since my husband said we didn't have one. It was about $2. I was going to wait for my husband to do this part for me but as I am very impatient and hubby doesn't get home from work until it's dark... I decided I can do this myself between getting off work & picking up my boys. It wasn't hard. I was just being lazy lol

Slide wooden dowel into holes on top. I used this as a photography prop so I didn't buy the additional 2 wooden dowels for the bottom of the holes. If this were for my boys, I'd probably add the 2 at the bottom for extra stability.

Here's the fabric I purchased at JoAnns. You can choose to use flat sheets... whatever you please. I definitely don't have any sheets with patterns or even color I like! I wanted a plain ribbon but this was all I could find that kinda matched! You'll need 4 strips.

I don't have a picture here but I sewed the ends of the fabric after draping it over the tent frame to figure out the length of the fabric needed. Using a pin, I mark where I want to sew (don't forget you'll need about 1/2-1" of seam allowance on each end). The width of the fabric was the right measurement for the tent so I didn't make any cuts or hem those edges.

Sew the Ribbons on the 4 corners and use these to slip through the holes on the bottom of the legs and tie. If you choose to use wooden dowels down there too, just tie it to the frame.

I think it would look better if I add more ribbons to tie halfway up the legs of the tent so the fabric isn't as droopy. The arrow pointing to the bottom just shows you where you would tie the ribbons you sewed on to the fabric (through the bottom holes). I would have liked to have the top of the tent stick out a little more so this is where I will measure 4 inches from the edge (instead of 3) - just for the top though. I had a little fabric left over so I made a little pillow case!