DIY Outdoor Canopies for Kids

This is an easy and inexpensive way to make a canopy or tent.  My niece Aliki and I were looking at a toy store and saw a beautiful canopy and wanted to buy it.  We took one look at the price tag, $229, and both said, "Hey, we can make that!"  And make it we did.  


No, ours does not have all the frilly ribbon and the colors don't match.  We wanted to use the canopy outside, so we didn't worry about matching or expensive fabric.  


Materials: 
Four flat sheets (can be various sizes)  *We used two twin and two full/queen flat sheets.
15 feet of cotton or other small gauge utility rope (found in our garage)
A hula hoop (free) or 4 - 1/2" x 2' PVC pipes and 4 - 90 degree PVC elbow joints  ($5 at Home Depot)
Sewing machine
Popsicle sticks
Scissors
Pruners
Duct tape
A tree that has branches 8-10 feet off the ground


Sheets - fold the tops of the sheets over by 3" and sew straight across to make a casing.  Leave the ends open.
   *Aliki wanted her sheets sewn on the sides.  .  Match up the sides, right sides facing
   each other and sew.  Be care to not sew your casing shut.

*When threading the sheets on, we alternated twin, full/queen, twin,
full/queen to make a larger tent.

Hula Hoop Version- use pruning shears to clip the hoop open.  Open the casing and thread the sheets onto the hoop.  To secure the hoop back together, use two Popsicle sticks, one on top & one one bottom and secure with duct tape.  Take the other two Popsicle sticks and put them on either side (you now have four sides with Popsicle sticks) and duct tape. *We used two pieces of duct tape on each set of Popsicle sticks.
PVC Version - put a joint on each end of PVC pipe.  Thread a sheet on (remember to alternate sizes). Attached another side of PVC pipe and joint.  Repeat until all four sheets are on and all pipes are attached.
Utility Rope - Hula Hoop and PVC - In between two sheets, tie a piece of rope across (in between the other two sheets) and secure using a square knot (or another non-slip knot).  Tie another piece across so you have divided the square or hoop into fourths.  We tied the rope at the corners of the PVC pipes.  Tape each rope piece with duct tape to secure in place.
Tree - Now, the fun part.  Tie the end of your left over rope to something that will fly through the air and weighs enough to come down.  Let's say rocks, concrete, and sharp objects won't work.  We used our plastic sprinkler.  Pick a branch that you CAN throw the rope over.  Once the rope is over, tie the end the the middle of the two ropes attached to the hula hoop or PVC.  Pull the rope up to your desired height and tie off (we used our outside umbrella stand.  
Set up - More Popsicle sticks!  Once the canopy is up, fan the sheets out overlapping the ends by a few inches.  Snip holes in the sheets and use a Popsicle stick to secure (like a tent stake).  Repeat all the way around, leaving one side open.

Voile! You have an outdoor canopy / tent.

**July 6 As a side note - the Popsicle sticks didn't hold for too long.  We have purchased so many items from IKEA that we have tons of spare allen wrenches.  So, I used those as 'stakes' and they even worked better!