“Give me two shower curtains, a hula hoop, and a drill!” I yelled, channeling my inner MacGyver. But under an hour later, we had a DIY Kids’ Canopy Play Tent and my kids went bananas! This isn’t some crazy feat of mad DIY skillz, the truth is I’ll do anything to avoid sewing or spending a lot of time (and money) on a DIY project. While making the play canopy is easy, your kids will love the outcome and you’ll feel like a superhero for pulling it off so quickly– and on budget for wayyyyy less than retail. Like, $130 less than retail.
I’d been working out in my head how to make a play tent for years but never actually bit the bullet to try it, especially because I sew like a drunken sailor (you know, if drunken sailors sewed). But then last week my son was looking through the Land of Nod catalog and asked for one of their gorgeous canopy style play tents and I thought I’d give the DIY version a whirl. It was one of those ‘this is either going to be kinda cool or an epic failure’ situations. For once, I’m happy to report it worked the first time I tried. Plus, you will not believe which household items I used to make it!
After the book Simplicity Parenting rocked my world, I’m moving towards simpler toys. Unbranded, imaginative toys like this play tent are giving kids the freedom to make up their own stories and create their own worlds. This DIY version can be a reading nook, dreaming space, camping area, ice cream truck, carnival tent, rocket ship, or whatever kids want it to be at that time. The store-bought version is usually one thing, and one thing only– whatever the decoration on the side SAYS it is. I’ll take ‘creative playthings for 100, Alex’ and go for the undecorated version!
Back to the tent. This was so easy to make, I truly can’t believe it worked! The best part is you can totally customize it however you’d like. I fell hard for this rugby striped shower curtain from Target (and I have to say, they had tons of cool designs) but you could use ANY shower curtains you wish, at any price point, from any store. The sky’s the limit, have fun choosing your own style! Here’s what you’ll need before starting:
Materials:
2 shower curtains (I used this Rugby Stripe shower curtain)
extra large binder ring (OR use Target ring shower hooks as I did below)
hula hoop (I used a smaller size for this project)
braided nylon rope (I used SecureLine Diamond Braid Nylon rope, 40 ft. X 1/8 in.)
felt & velcro (if making the bunting)
fairy lights (optional)
heavy duty hooks with anchors for the ceiling (check the weight limit on the ceiling hooks)
drill
scissors
Directions:
STEP ONE: First, drill four holes in the hula hoop. The holes should be opposite of each other and spaced evenly, one in each quadrant.
STEP TWO: Using one shower ring (or binder ring), gather the shower curtains. First add one, then the other, and close the ring. It’s a tight fit, but it works!
Here it is with one curtain attached, to illustrate how it looks when it’s closed.
STEP THREE: Cut four pieces of nylon rope and pull through the holes in the hula hoop. The length should be enough to loop through the holes in the hula hoop and back up. Since ceiling heights and curtain lengths vary, I don’t want to give exact lengths but you should be able to hold the hoop up by the ropes and the hem of the shower curtains should align with the floor with enough room in the rope to reach the ceiling and tie off.
STEP FOUR: Gather all 8 ends of the rope and pull through the top ring in the center of the gathered shower curtains. Tie off to create the tent part of the canopy and leave a long tail in which to attach to the ceiling.
STEP FIVE: Install the ceiling hook. Follow the directions on the specific hook you bought. In a ‘I can’t believe I’m putting this photo on the internet’ moment, here is the picture my 7-year old took with my DSLR camera while I was installing the hook. It took me years to figure out how to use that dang camera and here she goes and nails it her first time. I call this one ‘Messy Hair Don’t Care’. And also ‘yoga pants are not my friend’.
STEP SIX: This gets tricky to explain, so use your intuition and what works for you. I tied another knot at the top of the ropes and then used a shower curtain ring to hang that to the hook. NOW. The shower curtain ring doesn’t hold much weight, so this may not be the best method. You will find a better method. Go with that one. For now, this works for us until I can find a stronger ring.
STEP SEVEN: Finishing touches! First, use velcro to secure the shower curtains together at the top of the hula hoop.
Then, make the flag bunting. I did call this a no-sew tent, but the truth is I sewed the bunting because that requires the sewing skills of a 5th grader, which is more my level, no offense to fifth graders. 🙂 You can definitely do this no-sew, just use velcro to attach the flags to the tent instead of sewing them together. To create the bunting flags, I cut out triangles of equal size and ran them through the sewing machine at the top. Then, velcro dots attached them to the tent. I would have loved to use white velcro so it shouldn’t show through the felt but was on a time crunch and black was all they had.
STEP EIGHT: My kids love that there’s two ‘doorways’ (since there’s two shower curtains), but if you only want one entry point then use velcro to secure the back seams. Another finishing touch is to either sew (or velcro, of course) ribbon closures on the front. We didn’t get fancy, which means this project took just an hour to finish!
It’s hard to see in the photos, but we also added battery operated fairy lights around the hula hoop to make it glow. It looks gorgeous inside the tent and also at night.
I think he likes it.
I think she does too.
In fact, I heard them giggling at 6:30 this morning as they played ‘camp’, filling the tent with books and lanterns and ‘camping’ gear. Certainly an unintended side effect.
Costing $130 LESS THAN the catalog version, my kids think this DIY no-sew kids’ canopy play tent is a winner. So does my wallet.
If only I’d channeled my inner MacGyver made it years ago when I first started thinking about it. SO MUCH WASTED TIME.
Now where’s my duct tape, tennis racquet, and rubber bands? I have a swingset to DIY! 😉
nn says
So cute and creative!! I think any kid would love this!
Sarah M says
This is amazing!!! You did a wonderful job!! My kids love to find a ‘hide away’ to do their reading. This is such a sweet spot.
Ronnie says
I didn’t try this with my kids, but i think they wish I did. Nice Project….
Carrie Higgins says
Ha! Yes, I wish you did. 🙂
Jo-Lynne Shane says
that is SO cute. pinned it!
Theresa @DearCreatives says
Hi Carrie This is super. I just finished a tee pee myself but, might have to try this one if I make another for as a gift. pinned
Laura says
So cute. My sister-in-law posted one of these on FB at the beginning of summer and I promised my kids I would do it. We even had all the supplies but I never did! I still think there’s time!
Vel says
This is awesome! I can see why your son is beaming!!!!!! Thank you for the tutorial! Saw you from Centsational Girl!
Sandra says
When my son was very small he loved sittin in a corner behind a chair under our huge bay window, looking at his books. I mean crawling little. The doctor told me when we discussed what I thought was odd behavior, that little people like small spaces. DAH made perfect sense right away. This is such a great ideal. Even really little children would love their own little private space. Great job!!
Pili says
Love it!! I wanted to make a canopy for my girls but never tried as most of them require a lot of work, but I’m trying this for sure, thanks for the tutorial.
I would love if you share it with us at our Tuesday link up party, have a wonderful week!
Granny Annie MN says
Your handsome son’s happy smile proves that a picture is worth 1,000 words. Such a good idea almost makes me wish that we still have young kids–note that I said ALMOST. Love your creative ideas.
Carrie Higgins says
You made my day. Thanks for your sweet comment, and I agree– that smile melts my heart!
Hannah says
I’m curious how did you connect it to the ceiling?
Kristy says
I did this over the weekend! Getting the right amount of rope cut was the hardest part. It turned out great!!! If post a pic if there were an attachment option. Thanks for the help!
Kit says
This is perfect! We just built one for our little girl, she’s over the moon. Thank you!!
Michelle Bates says
I’m so gonna make this next weekend! I saw the concern for the hook weight. Couldn’t you just use a Carabiner? They are SUPER cheap and they are make for holding a ton of weight. I use them for our swingset. I think they cost like $3 at the hardware store.
Tara Daley says
I used this tutorial and created my own in ni time. This was great. Very helpful. I took a pic, but don’t see a place to upload.
Tara
Carrie Higgins says
YAY! I’d love to see it! You can email it to me at makinglemonadeblog at gmail dot com.
Pag says
Fabulous!!! I myself would love to be in that tent reading my favourite books
Wendy says
Carrie I’m unclear about #7 instruction. Could you clear it up for me. I’m sure it’s easy and makes sense but it’s early and maybe my brain is just foggy, Lol
Carrie Higgins says
Yes! The first part is just to attach velcro at the top where the two ends of the tent meet each other to keep it closed. That way the curtains won’t slide around the hula hoop but rather stay in one place. For the bunting, you’ll cut out equal sized triangles, overlap them at the corners in one long row, and run them threw the sewing machine at the top to create a colorful bunting which you then can attach with velcro around the top for an extra ‘pop’. Hope that helps!
Vicki D says
Very clever design…your son is darling! Love step 5 photo caption “messy hair don’t care” and “yoga pants not my friend”! LOL
kelsey says
I am going to try this this weekend!
Thanks for the idea!!! I have two girls would they both fit at the same time?
Tara says
Do you think grommet curtains would work for this project as well?
Carrie Higgins says
They might work, but I anticipate the fabric would slide around the hoop with large grommets.
Stephanie says
We have broken so many tent poles ? This is great. Could it would with just a curtain?
Carrie Higgins says
I think this probably could work with curtains too!
Sarah says
I love this project! I just made it for my kiddos and they, too, are over the moon! It’s a good thing I didn’t show them your kiddos’ awesome lantern—they’d ask me where theirs is! How did you get your tent to stay put? Ours keeps tilting depending on the direction it gets pulled; it’s never quite straight.
Carrie Higgins says
Ours did get a little tilt-y, but a quick tug puts it back in place. SO glad they are loving it!
Cindy says
About the ring, the one who keeps everything hanging on the ceiling hook, you can use a colored carabiner. It can hold a lot of weight and is pretty strong! 🙂
Christina says
I’ve been looking at Tutorials and videos to make one of these. So glad I came across yours. It’s the simplest yet cutest one I’ve seen. Great job!
Lindsey says
How did you hang the fairy lights on the inside of the tent?
Carrie Higgins says
I looped them around the hula hoop inside. 🙂 They’re very light, the heaviest part is the battery box.
Lorena says
I love this idea! thank you!
Our apartment gets really hot during summer so im just wondering if with shower curtains it won’t be too hot inside…?
Carmen says
It shouldn’t be! But you could maybe do a lighter fabric or something instead! 🙂
Erica says
I love this idea! Instead of velcro to close the tops of the shower curtain I used binder clips. I added a garland around the top and again used binder clips on the inside to attach it. I LOVE it and so does my daughter 🙂 I put an oversized dog bed in it for seating. My 20 month old and I can sit in it together!