Contributor Anu from Nalle’s House is back with another fantastic project which I’m thrilled to share with you!
Hi there! I’m so glad to be back to share another project.
During the summer I tend to spend a lot of time outdoors with my two little boys. House projects sometimes take a back burner to a trip to the splash pad, playing outside or even relaxing a little on our patio. So, in the spirit of spending so much time outside playing, I made a simple a-frame tent for the backyard. Once our basement reno is complete the tent will also have a home indoors.
My boys love it! A couple of happy campers!
For those of you who don’t know already and were wondering why there is a sign in a foreign language on the tent, it’s because our family is Finnish. My sister-in-law sent us the sign from Finland and “tervetuloa”means “welcome” in Finn. So this is not only a DIY post, but a foreign language lesson as well. 🙂
When I designed this tent I wanted to make it fairly sturdy to stand up to many years of use. I added a board across the bottom of the tent opening to make sure that it doesn’t collapse and can be set-up on any surface. Also, the wood I chose is maple. It is more expensive than pine, but it doesn’t get banged up as easily and has a nice grain too. I really love the natural wood with the blue fabric that has a modern, nautical look to it. The fabric is also Finnish. I found it quite randomly at our local fabric outlet. The pattern is called “halkolaituri”which, according to google, translates to “log dock”. That’s my last Finnish lesson. I promise! 🙂
Here’s how to make your own tent:
You’ll also need some tools like a drill, hex key and a sewing machine.
* For a no-sew version of the tent tarp, you could use iron-on hemming tape for the long edges and staple the short ends to the side dowels. However, if you do it this way you won’t be able to remove the tarp for washing.
** To fold the tent: unscrew the hex bolt from the front and back corner of one side of the tent to free the bottom board at one end. Screw the hex bolt back in without the bottom board and fold the tent flat. (the bottom board will fold up)
I hope you enjoyed the tent and are making some fun summer memories of your own! Thanks Michelle for having me here today.
p.s. Please feel free to visit Nalle’s House
Hey there! I’m Michelle; I’m an Passionate DIY’er and in constant pursuit of how to bring beauty to my house full of men (3 boys + 1 hubby). Stick around and see what I’ve got up my hard-working sleaves!
hey! can this a frame tent be folded up? to be stored etc?
thanks.
** To fold the tent: unscrew the hex bolt from the front and back corner of one side of the tent to free the bottom board at one end. Screw the hex bolt back in without the bottom board and fold the tent flat. (the bottom board will fold up)
I want to build on for my 2 grandchildren, do you have a pattern for the sewing the fabric?
What are the over dimensions of the frame, height and depth. And it is adjustable, i.e., can I have it wider at the bottom to make the tent shorter so when taking photos I can get the whole tent in the photo if 2 little ones are sitting in the front of it. Thanks, Kathy
About to make these for a sleepover! Hope it turns out good!
Yay! Let me know how they turn out!
They’ll be awesome. Good luck!