For the Kids-DIY A Frame Tent


I was so excited to start this project when I first stumbled across it...the DIY A-Frame Tent from Cakies. Gray LOVES building tents, whether under the table with a sheet, under pillows on the couch, in his bed...So I thought this would be a really cool present for Christmas!

So I basically followed the directions step by step as in the original post. The only thing that I altered was the size of fabric that was used. I used a piece of fabric that was about 78" long and 39" wide (I think they said a single bed sheet would work-but I thought that was a bit too big). Once I got it all assembled (handy hubby drilled the holes and cut the wood-although I probably could've done that! But I was barefoot in the kitchen doing housework and looking after the youngin's!). It took two of us to hold the frame in place and hang the sheet. I'm not sure how Rubyellen at Cakies got hers to stay in place? Cause ours was slipping all over the place! I think the dowel in the holes weren't snug enough...so we had to come up with a solution to hold the tent poles in place without them spreading further apart....here's what we did....

About 1/2 inch or so down from the top of the tent legs, I screwed in an eye hook on each side. I then tied a bit of twine to each side...this part was a bit tricky (it's a two person job, not one!). I was trying to balance one side while holding the other and tying the string! You want to spread the tent legs out as much as you think it needs to be and then tighten and knot the string in place.



So, I could just leave it like this. It would be perfectly fine-if I didn't have two (one soon to be) rambunctious boys. I think it needs to be a bit sturdier and I would like the material to be straight and not cave in at the bottom. So hubby and I put our heads together and came up with a plan...

We went and bought two more dowels to use at the bottom of each tent leg. Similar to the design at the top, we will drill a hole for the end of each dowel to fit through. I am going to attach a couple more elastics to the bottom of the material and loop the dowel through them. Hopefully that will solve the sturdiness issue. Sorry, I haven't done it yet! But I will post a photo once I do and let you now how it goes! I guess it just shows some things are not quite as easy as they look. I'm so glad I did it though, cause it's pretty awesome if I do say so myself!

Linking up at Someday Crafts, Creations by Kara. Happy Hour Projects, The Crafty Nest, Ginger Snap Crafts, I heart Naptime, The Creative Girl, I Can't Stop Crafting