Handmade Gift: Fort Making Kit

I had a hard time deciding what our boys should receive as gifts from us this Christmas. As you might recall, they want anything and everything! We knew that their Santa gifts would be the double lightsabers as that is what they told Santa. Knowing that my boys are outdoor fanatics and rarely play with the toys they have, I decided on a fort making kit.I found a fort kit tutorial online that was really easy.

My boys love to make forts- indoors and outdoors. In fact the day after I made their fort kits, we had the above fort in our living room. The boys were frustrated that the blankets kept slipping and they did not have clips. I was giddy with excitement as I know they will love their gift! A fort kit is really inexpensive to make and it will take you under an hour to put together. I made both an indoor and outdoor kit that way each boy could open a gift.

Supplies Needed:

Flat Sheet (For the outdoor kit I used a Neat Sheet for the water resistance. The flat sheet I got at the thrift store for $2).
Suction Cups (Dollar Tree)
Clothes Pins and Clips
Flash Light
Bungee Cords
Rope
Old T-shirt (For the ties)
Bag (For holding all of the fort supplies.)

The first thing I did was cut an old T-shirt into strips. The T-shirt strips are used to make ties on the sheet so it can easily be hung. The T-shirt material is stretchy making it easy for the ties to be manipulated.

I sewed 6-8 ties on each sheet. (Note that I am not great at sewing- in fact it has been YEARS since the sewing machine was out! My stiches are not straight but I got the job done!). Sew ties in each corner of the sheet as long as extra ties on the ling side of the sheet. You may also want a tie in the middle of the sheet.

The rest is easy peasy! Just gather all of the supplies and place in a bag. I found the little backpack at the thrift store and the other bag is a laundry bag from the Dollar Tree.

Make a tag for your kit so the child knows what the gift is.

Hubby and I tested out the suction cups and loops on our glass door. It worked out great!

Updated:

After Christmas, I took these pictures of the boys playing with their indoor fort kit!

They made a fort in our loft area. The t-shirt ties worked well for tying to the banister.

They ended up sleeping in their fort! So adorable!

For more homemade gift ideas, checkout my Hearfelt Holidays series!

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Renae Chiovaro

Renae is a married working mom of two handsome boys. She works as a registered dental hygienist by day and blogs here at How to Have it All by night. She enjoys cooking from scratch, working in her vegetable garden and functional training.