by Cyndee Kromminga

Created on: March 13, 2008

Kids love tents! In their youthful dreams they become houses, castles, caves, space ships, boats and secret hideaways to name a few. Give a child a tent and let his imagination go wild. My own children not only loved to play in tents, but also to sleep in them and I was also apt to find them with a good book enjoying some alone time.

I have two favorite kinds of tents for kids, one is a card table tent and the other is a tepee. These are very easy to construct yourself with simple sewing techniques and can also be quite inexpensive if you use old sheets. Sheets have so many different designs and styles, that it's a good bet you already have a couple that your kids will adore, like, High School Musical or Harry Potter. You will probably need a couple of sheets to make each tent, depending on the size of the sheets you have and whether or not you need to cut around stains and/or tears.

Card table tent- Measure the top and sides of a standard card table (or the one you will be using). Add 1" to the width and length of each measurement. This will allow for sewing seams and hem allowance. Cut one top and three side pieces from the sheets. Add one more inch to the width of the side pattern and cut one more side from the sheet. Cut this piece lengthwise down the center to create the door flaps.

Using a generous 1/4" seam allowance, sew side pieces together starting with one door flap and ending with one door flap. Do not sew door flaps together. Hem exposed sides of door flaps by folding over 1/4" and pressing and folding over 1/4" and pressing again. Sew hem. Matching connecting seams with the corners of the top piece, sew top of tent to the sides. Pin top of door flaps to top of tent and sew flaps in place. Hem around the bottom of the tent in the same way as you hemmed the door flaps.

The basic construction of your tent is complete. Now comes the fun part. Embellish with ribbons, lace, and fabric to give your tent personality. Create windows, curtains, flowers, skulls, crossbones, and anchors. Whatever you can conceive, because your kids are going to love it.

Tepee- A tepee is made with four 1x2's that are 5' long. Drill a 1/4" hole in each pole, 1" down from one end. Set the poles aside for later. From the sheets, cut four triangles with a 43" bottom edge. Find the center of the bottom edge and make a measurement 43" tall. At the top of this measurement, measure 4" on both sides. This will give you a top totaling 8" across. The sides of your triangle are then

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