DIY Tee Pee!

I have been into the whole tee pee idea since Baby A. was in the womb. I thought it was really cute but really unnecessary until he could walk or crawl into it enough to enjoy it. The thought totally stayed in the forefront of my mind, though, because there are tee pees all over, like these super cute (albeit somewhat expensive) ones from Amazon, Target's Pillowfort Collection, and the Land of Nod.

I did a little bit of research and figured that there were definitely easy DIY ( read: no sewing, not a ton of tools or steps) options, and I really don't think you need to be extremely crafty for it, so I'm sharing how my own DIY experimental tee pee went. Obviously, mine is not the best, but it didn't take too long or require a lot of muscle or skill. That's what makes it doable!

I combined a few ideas, like this one from Julie Blanner and this one from Fawn Over Baby, but in general I just knew a few things I needed to acquire:

• 4-6 sticks of some sort (so I was considering bamboo, wooden dowels, or square cut poles, somewhere between 4-8 ft long each, depending on how tall you want your tee pee). I ended up with roughly 5 foot wooden dowel poles, since I found 4 of them pre-cut in the toss away section at Home Depot. I still paid around $35 for them, so to save money, you could certainly swap in the square cut poles. I preferred the rounded dowels because my son would certainly find a way to hit his head on a corner.
  
• Some rope or thick twine- this just depends on the look you want to go with. If you have all white errthang, stick with a light or white rope. I was worried about the thickness of the typical twine I saw being strong enough to hold my dowels together, so instead of what is pictured here, I got a thicker one for about $6... and I think the $3 one would have worked just fine, in hindsight, if I wrapped it enough. Plus, the thicker rope has an oily smell and was harder to tie. Thanks to my #navyskills I was able to do some fancy knots (this is a joke). 
  
• Fabric- I was banking on using some fabric I had leftover from when I padded Baby A.'s toy chest lid, but the tutorials I was following used canvas drop cloths to cut a hole in the center of them, then draped them over the tied poles, and cut or tucked any excess fabric. I bought a drop cloth for about $20 that I plan to return, which should put my total cost for this project at about $40. The drop cloth isn't a bad option, though, because it would be easy to decorate with fabric paint and looks a little rustic. Another option I considered was a flat bed sheet or even a large, thin throw blanket. I'm all for using things that won't cost you extra!!
• Tools-wise, I needed a drill to drill holes in my wood poles, a staple gun to tack the fabric how I wanted it, and I also used my sander because I drilled sloppily and my holes had some splintering around the dowels.

Alright, here are my steps:

1. Cross the poles before drilling to see where you want them to cross, based on how the poles rest most evenly against each other. If you are only using 4 poles like me, you will position those back two poles a bit closer to each other, giving you a trapezoidal floor plan inside of the tee pee. Some folks advised drilling at 12 inches below the top of each pole, but I marked each one at about where I wanted them to cross for a more "authentic" look. Obviously, I'm already super appropriating Native American home-building style, but I mean, at least I'm in the right region for it (Great Plains Native Americans built tee pees for a nomadic lifestyle). Then, I just drilled through my poles on my marks. 

2. Use your rope to thread through your holes, and tie a knot at the end of the rope once it's through all the holes. Arrange your poles again, and then wrap the rope over and under a few times, working to get it tight so the poles won't jostle. Then, wrap the rope around all the poles at their juncture as tightly as you can. If you loop the rope under itself a few times on your last few passes, it makes it easier to tie a knot. I cut the end of my rope as closely as I could and tucked the loose end under the last pass.

3. If you're using a drop cloth or flat sheet, this is where you can fold your sheet in half to find the center, and cut a hole to slip over your poles and rope knot. If you're using another kind of fabric that isn't square, it helps to drape from the back and try to tuck the excess you'll have along the tops of each pole. If you have enough fabric, cutting it into a semi-circle will help you get a tighter, more even drape. 

4. At this point, I stapled pieces of fabric in places along my poles when I felt the placement was good. I still ended up with a lot that needed to be tucked and I haven't committed to cutting those parts off, but you certainly can just cut away what you don't need. *This is why sewing abilities would be cool.* Right now, I still have parts folded between poles and outer fabric, and a whole corner of fabric at the bottom entrance that I think will become a front flap later on. Right now, having a permanently open front works for my son, who is just learning to walk still and would just yank on those flaps for balance. 

So, there you have it: our new tee pee. The fabric is extra loud and I have fabric I need to somehow neatly cut away and use, but for now, it is sturdy enough that when my son fell on a side, it didn't collapse, and the brightness of the fabric seem to attract his attention. I used the foam puzzle mats I had from when Baby A. was learning to sit up and crawl as the floor, because it is easy to pack up along with this tee pee when I don't want it in my dining room any more! 

Baby A. immediately crawled into it and took some toys in there, so I consider this a success. For now, he seems into it and a little less into it than Tallulah Bear's crate 😅

I'm all in for suggestions, tips, and your experiences making your own tee pees!!

-Big A. ⚓