How to Make a Super Awesome and Portable Tent

When I saw these living room tents on Pinterest, I knew I wanted to make them for Joseph's birthday party. I also knew they'd get me out of the theme he was building: enter the party through the TARDIS into the world of Minecraft meets Plants vs. Zombies but in LEGO!!!

Uh. No.

After pricing them out, I realized these not-so-little tents would make brilliant party favors for practically the same price as a traditional favor bag.

Pondering the pictures on the site and wishing there was a way we could make these unconventional party favors easily transportable for the unsuspecting parents picking their children up from the party, Steve came up with a rather brilliant idea.

Pup Tent Tutorial

First off, for each tent you will need:

4 - 1" x 2" x 48"  fir strips (those are boards for the construction challenged)
3 - 3/4" x 60" PVC pipes
6 - 3/4" PVC pipe end caps
1 - twin sheet
Drill
Saw (If you don't have one, most places will cut your wood for you for a small charge.)
Sewing Machine (If you don't have one and don't want to hand sew these puppies, then I'd suggest using adhesive Velcro or maybe some heavy duty iron on hem tape. REALLY heavy duty.)

Step 1: 
If you haven't already done so, cut your wood to 48" and your PVC to 60" lengths.

Step 2:
Drill a 1 1/16" hole 2" from the top and 2" from the bottom of each length of wood. Now this is the only bit that is a little tricky. Because the pipe is 3/4" and the hole is 1 1/16" you may not be able to find a drill bit to match. If that's the case, you might have to jiggle a 1" drill bit around a little to make the hole big enough for the pipe to fit but not so big the pipe doesn't fit firmly.

Step 3:
When you unfold your sheet, the top end will already have a deep cuff sewn in. Simply cut the cuff to make an opening on each side of the sheet.

Step 4:
Sew a 4" seam along the bottom of the sheet.

And with that you're done with tent prep!

Assembly:

Assembly is so easy, the kids were able to do it with only a little direction. And a lot of supervision. Poles + Boards + 8-year-olds = Anarchy.  It took a lot to get an encampment like this organized.

To assemble the tents, simply run a PVC pipe through the top holes of two boards and cap with an end cap. Repeat with the other end of the PVC pipe and the remaining two boards.

Spread the boards out to form "legs".

Insert a PVC pipe through the pocket on one end of the sheet.

Insert the PVC pipe into the holes at the bottom of the board and cap the ends.

Toss the sheet over the tent ridge and insert the final PVC pipe through the remaining pockets and secure in the final two holes, capping with the end caps.

Adjust the tent as needed and get ready to toast a marshmallow.