DIY tent + nap mat

A reader recently asked me how I created the A-frame tent in H's room from the house tour:part 2 post last month, so I'm going to share that along with the how-to on the matching nap mat. That's two..two..two tutorials in one (post)!

How the fabric for both came into our lives is a pretty interesting story. Remember the huge Missoni for Target craze? Well, some poor Dallasite must have gotten a bit carried away and bought a matching Missoni duvet, pillows, shams, and curtains. That's a whole lotta zigzag for one room. They obviously realized this and returned it all after the fad died out. I found it all on a clearance end cap, but with no bar code or price tag. The cashier couldn't find a price for it and asked, "would you take it for $10?"  Um, YES. A queen sized duvet for $10?! Perfect. I used one side for the tent and nap mat, and there was enough left over to make a sweet table runner. The back fabric will make it's debut appearance at Henry's third birthday party. Stay tuned. 

If there was no photographic evidence, I'd never believe Henry was ever that little. Or bald.

The tent came first as a gift for Henry's first birthday. How in the world was that 2 years ago?! I knew I wanted to make his present so it would be extra special, but good boy-crafts are hard to find. The tent totally fit the bill. 

I followed this tutorial from My Cakies with a couple of modifications (click here for full tutorial). I added dowel rods to the bottom instead of just at the pivot point on top. This gives the tent some extra stability. I decided today was a good day to wash the tent cover (you know, since I'd never done it before. Whoops) so here's a look at the framework without the cover. The top dowel is in a hole 4" down from the end of the wood. The ones at the bottom are 2" from the end to keep the cover nice and cozy near the floor.

Um, please excuse the mess in the playroom. This is my real life.

I just created curtain style pockets at each end. This makes it easy to slip off and wash (you know, ever two years when someone asks you to write a blog post and you realize you've never actually washed it). After 2 years of use, the dowels slide out of the holes pretty easily, causing the tent to collapse on unsuspecting toddlers, so it's probably time to add either washers or baker's twine to hold it together a bit more securely. 

Oh look, he finally got some hair.

The nap may came about 6 months later. His teacher at school (aka daycare. I called it school to ease the guilt) told me that, while it wasn't a requirement, Henry was the only kid in his class that slept with a blanket and not a nap mat. Some of the other moms made them and sold them if I was interested. AS IF. Challenge accepted. 

I found this tutorial from the lovely ladies over at Pretty Prudent and I was off. Click here for the full tutorial.

A word of warning. This tutorial is easy from a skill standpoint and ease of the instructions, but I found it to be a bear when actually doing it. It was actually physically tiring because at times I was literally shoving the fabric through the machine while my husband held it. Sewing through the layers of batting is challenging to say the least. I made one for Henry and vowed never to do it again. I broke that vow for my sweet friend Jill who let us live with her for 2 weeks when we were homeless between the sale of our first house and being able to move into our current one. That deserved a nap map in my opinion. I will likely break it one more time so Max can have one like his big brother. But that's IT! Probably. 

So there you have it. Two crafts that are perfect for little boys or girls. Any other great boy craft ideas out there? I'm feeling the urge to make Henry something for his 3rd birthday...which is unbelievably in 10 days!