Reading Teepee

Toby will soon move into his new room! We turned our guest room into a 'big' boy room. One thing I was determined to make was a reading teepee. He really enjoys reading books, and I thought it would be a good place for him to 'get away'. I thought I took lots of pictures and notes while making it, but it turns out I didn't or just can't locate them. Here is a short tutorial of what I did.

Supplies Needed:

9 x 12 canvas drop cloth (bought at Home Depot for ~$25)

6 - 1 x 2 8 ft cedar boards

Rope

4-5 yards of fabric

Drill

Sewing machine

Tape measure

- I started by having my very helpful husband :) drill holes in each cedar board 12 inches down. Then we strung the rope loosely through and stood the teepee up in the room so I could space it out and measure the distance between each board.

- I wanted the teepee to be large enough for adults to comfortably fit inside, but not cover up the window that it would sit near. The measurements I went with were 32" between each board except for the entrance. I made the entrance 43". 

- We cut out five giant triangles from the canvas. The base was 34" and the top was 4". To measure the top, I drew a dot at the half way point - 17", then drew a dots 2" on either side of the dot and used a measuring tape to draw a straight line from each base corner to the corresponding dot.
- I cut the opening triangle the same way, using the 45" base. Once the triangle was cut, I cut off a few feet of the base to replace with two pieces of fabric for the door.

- Next, I sewed the six pieces of canvas together with a 1/2" seam allowance.
- I didn't measure the gray fabric for the doors, although I should have though because I had to add some extra green pieces to one side and the bottom. The two pieces still don't quite touch. I folded the fabric twice over and sewed to make a clean edge,then sewed those to the short triangle and the two adjacent sides. I pinned the rope ties to the canvas before sewing gray fabric on to make a tie to hold the 'door' open.
- Once we slide the finished canvas over the boards, we weaved the rope several times between and around the boards to make it secure.

It was a lot of work, but well worth it. He LOVES to play with his favorite toys in his 'tent'. 

Truman James

We have a new member of our family, and we couldn't be happier about the delivery and this sweet addition! He arrived on May 26 at 12:44am in a smooth and speedy fashion.

Birth Story
After having mild contractions the evening of May 25, we officially started timing them around 9:00pm. By 10:30pm we were certain he would be here soon, and we called the birth center. Our friend came over to stay with Toby, and Matt and I left our home arriving at the birth center at 11:40pm. After taking me inside and talking with the midwife, Matt rushed to unload the car. He came inside to help me through a few contractions before I got into the very warm bath (which immediately took the edge off the pain). About 10 minutes in, I felt the urge to push, and within 10-20 minutes he was born in the water. The midwives were so helpful and encouraging, and the water made it so much more pleasant. He came out at 20.5 inches and 7 lbs  11 oz. We stayed at the birth center just long enough for the midwives to perform their routine checks and received permission to leave around 3:00am. I really wanted to fall asleep in our own bed and be able to be there when Toby woke up!

Andy and Michelle drove down that afternoon and helped us during the first few days. We were so grateful for their help!