Is it too wet or cold outside? Is boredom taking over? Then you need to take a look at the A to Z of Indoor Activities Blog Hop hosted by Crafty Kids At Home. The series covers play activities for each letter of the alphabet for those days when you are stuck inside. We have the difficult task of the letter Q. There are not many items that begin with the Q so we decided to create an activity around a quilt cover.
I have wanted to make an indoor teepee for some time. Adam has a wonderful teepee that his Nana made for him but as it is so large it is ideal for outdoor use. I have been put off making my own teepee because I am unable to sew and I do not trust myself with a hot glue gun. I therefore set myself a challenge to create a quilt cover teepee which would not require a sewing machine nor a hot glue gun.
First I needed a teepee frame. I used four bamboo canes to create a square base and secured the canes at the top with string. To stabilise the frame I attached three canes to the bottom. I added one small piece of bamboo cane at the front of the teepee to create a doorway. During the process I decided that I wanted to weave the quilt cover around the canes so I added an additional bamboo cane to the back of the teepee. Finally, I wrapped string around the ends of the canes because they could be sharp.
As I am hopeless at cutting in a straight line my quilt cover had to have lines on it for me to follow. I found an ideal quilt cover with stripes on which was coloured on both sides so I had lots of material to use. I cut the bottom off of the quilt cover and discarded the material. I then cut the quilt cover up following the stripes as a guide. I cut one end off of each strip to create a long piece of material.
I started weaving a strip of quilt cover at the top of the teepee. The five canes meant it was easy to weave the material in and out. The material doesn’t go very far. Once I had finished one strip I tied another piece of quilt cover to it and continued weaving. Once I got to the door frame I started work on the bottom of the teepee.
I secured the first strip of quilt cover in a knot to the bottom of the bamboo cane and weaved the material around and behind the second cane. I continued weaving the material in and out of the canes, straightening the quilt cover material out each time. Depending on how much material I had left, I either tied the quilt cover to the last bamboo cane, or tied an additional strip of material and continued weaving.
The process was time consuming. The weaving methods did leave several gaps but I feel this adds to the look of the quilt cover teepee. I tried to alternate the different patterns on the quilt cover. For the base of our teepee I used the two pillowcase covers that came in the duvet set. I placed the two pillows on the floor and they fitted perfectly.
A teepee wouldn’t be complete without some fairy lights. I wrapped battery operated fairy lights around the door frame and to the top of the teepee. The battery pack slotted neatly into the material.
Our quilt cover teepee was complete. Adam fell in love with it instantly. Straight away he took his teddy collection into the teepee along with a blanket and a selection of books. He was set for the rest of the morning.
Later that day we took our teepee to Nana’s house. Adam enjoyed some colouring whilst sitting inside the teepee.
That evening Adam fully experienced the effect of the fairy lights. I love that our quilt cover teepee can be used both during the day and at night. Indoor play has never been so fun!
Remember to take a look at more boredom busters over on A to Z of Indoor Activities main page!
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I really want to make one of these for my kids! Thanks for sharing on our A-Z of Indoor Activities.
Definitely go for a quilt cover with lines on – makes it easier to cut.
I absolutely love this! We have so many old dovets I am always cutting up for crafts but like you I am not a sewer, this has got to be tried, I think it would make a great one for us to do oat Activity Hour here on the farm. If you get a chance please join me for #Trash2Treasure my monthly upcycling linky. Stopping by today from #ToddlerApprovedTuesday
I can imagine a giant quilt cover teepee!
It looks fab! It shows you don’t need sewing or glue to make an amazing teepee. I want to make a teepee too, but my boys are quite destructive together, so worried it won’t last long! 🙂 x #Toddlerapprovedtuesday
Create a Mummy Only teepee 🙂
Super super cute, cosy little hideaway!
What a beautiful surprise for your little one 🙂
There was just enough room for the two of us!
This is awesome! Again! Thanks so much for linking up to #ToddlerApprovedTuesday
This is just amazing Emma. I also can’t sew and burn myself every time I use a hot glue gun! If I had room in my playroom I’d make one for it 🙂
I am glad I am not the only one who burns themselves!
This is such a great idea, I have often wanted to make my own too but has no idea where to start! I am sure he loved it be definitely looks very happy in it! ☺️ #ToddlerApprovedTuesday
I was exactly the same!
What a lovely idea and so easy to do. I’m pinning this 🙂 #letkidsbekids
and no gluing involved!
What a fab idea. Children love playing in dens and my kids would love this.
Thanks for sharing #LetKidsbeKids
Fond memories of playing in a den as a child!
What a beautiful teepee! We want to make it now, going to try this for our garden! #LetskidsBeKids
I bet it would look amazing in the garden!
This is so effective and very easy to do! My kids would this. I would need to make two as they can’t seem to share. haha Thanks for sharing. #letkidsbekids
Make that three so you can have one too 🙂
I love this! Such a FUN thing to do with the kids. They would love it and remember it forever! Great idea.
Thank you. Adam certainly got a lot of use out of it!
This project was just GENIUS! Amazing effort and great idea! I just had to pick it as my favorite on #ToddlerFunFriday this week. It’s featured here: http://kidzactivities.net/toddler-fun-friday-45/ 🙂
Thank you so much 🙂