Mommy Vignettes: DIY No-Sew Tent Canopy Tutorial

Every child (in my opinion) needs their own little space, and a tent canopy like this one does the trick! It was pretty easy to make too. My daughter already has a smaller canopy hanging over her bed from Ikea, but they no longer sell the one she has.

I had also seen expensive options from Pottery Barn and Land of Nod like these ones:

source

With a price tag of $149 I thought no thank you. The tent canopy I made only cost $20. I got the idea for the look of my canopy here but changed several things about how I made my own.

SUPPLIES:
- 23" wooden embroidery hoop (bought mine at Hobby Lobby- use 40% off coupon)
- 4-5 sheer curtain panels (I got 2 for $7 on Amazon or Walmart had some cheap ones too)
- plastic drop cloths (you can buy a pair of 2 for $2 at Home Depot)
- fat round paint sponge (from Michael's or any craft store, mine was at least 2 3/4" diameter)
- Martha Stewart's gold acrylic paint
- Embellishments like ribbon, burlap, banners, etc. (See my easy Banner Tutorial at the end)

ASSEMBLE:

STEP 1:

Spread drop cloths out on flat surface and lay sheer curtain panels on top. Tape edges of curtain panel down to secure.

STEP 2:

Using gold paint and fat sponge brush, apply gold dots to sheer curtain panels. I simply eyeballed where I wanted the dots.

The paint will stick through the curtain onto the drop cloth, so make sure you let it dry all the way before removing the drop cloth underneath.

*Tip: wear socks while doing this so your feet don't stick to the drop cloth or curtain panel. Also, make sure you paint from top to bottom or side to side so you don't accidentally step on a dot you've just painted! I almost did that very thing.

Painting the dots was a little tedious and took some time, but I painted 4 curtain panels in about 2 hours while I watched Sherlock episodes on Netflix :) That's a win-win in my opinion.

STEP 3:
Once the panels are dry, slide them onto the embroidery hoop. I used 5 sheer curtain panels, 4 of which were painted (I left one plain).

STEP 4:
Add embellishments if you wish. I took pink and gold ribbon and tied them in between the curtain panels. I also whipped up an easy banner to hang from the top (see my easy Banner Tutorial at the end).

STEP 5:
You can hang the canopy to the ceiling a number of different ways, but we simply screwed in a heavy-duty screw into the ceiling first. Then I tied pieces of twine around 4 points of the embroidery hoop and tied all the ends together making a knot. I slipped the knot onto a carabeener and hooked the carabeener to the hook in the ceiling. That way we can remove the canopy easily if needed.

*Tip: the polka dot floor pillow is from TJMaxx. It's a pet pillow! It cost me less than $30. Floor pillows and floor poufs are usually over $50 so go to the pet isle and get a comfortable and cute pet pillow! No one will ever know (except you guys). The other pillow cases are from Ikea ($5 each) and the lace pillow is from a thrift store I bought a while back for $1.

I like using a large embroidery hoop like 23" because it creates a large space underneath big enough for several children or an adult and child.

The canopy is so cozy at night when we turn on a lamp. It instantly creates a little magical space.

View looking up from inside the canopy.

This canopy serves as a reading nook for my daughter, or a place to play or nap.

I like that we can spread the curtain panels open so my daughter can play with the dollhouse I made from Caravan Shoppe.

EASY NO-SEW BANNER TUTORIAL:

I whipped up this banner in about 15 minutes at midnight one night. The canopy needed a little something extra to hang from the top.

Supplies- extra fabric, twine or string, hot glue gun

Assembly- cut out pieces of scrap fabric any shape you want. Apply hot glue to a piece of twine or string in a long line, then apply the top of the fabric to the twine spaced apart how you want. That's it! I used fabric and burlap.

Then I simply draped the banner on the top of the canopy. I like that I can remove it though if I want to hang it on my mantle, across a door way, etc.

I'm in love with how this tent canopy turned out. It's something that will be used for years to come. We can even remove it and hang it outside if we want. There are so many uses for it.