I originally planned this post as a DIY. Armed with a shower curtain, twine, 4 wooden polls and some safety pins, I was convinced I could craft a pretty cool outdoor play space for the kids. As it turns out, making a canopy is hard – especially in a treeless, perpetually windy backyard. My husband tried to rescue my project with a drill and stakes for reinforcement, but in the end, our canopy was droopy and not as nice to look at as I’d hoped.
Once Jason and Jenna took over the space, however, it somehow seemed perfect. Perfect for lounging, eating, and best of all, laughing. We have a couple of ideas for improving our canopy design and, if we land on a winner, I’ll be sure to share. In the meantime, here’s a reminder that summer is definitely not about making everything perfect:
Very cute! You’re right – once the kids are added to the mix, it somehow becomes perfect, because the kids don’t care if it’s not what you envisioned -they just see it as a fun spot.
It reminds me of the lean-to “play houses” I used to build when I was a kid – we lived in a brand new subdivision; we used to retrieve the building supplies that had been left for the trash, and we made our play houses from discarded drywall or whatever we could find.
It probably looked like we were white trash, but we didn’t care. We camped out in the backyard a few nights that summer, and that’s what it’s all about, right? Having fun!
How fun! J+J make indoor forts all the time. You’d think we’d have more access to building materials in our neighborhood, but I never see any. Maybe I need to scout out the new subdivision that just started development.
I was impressed it stayed up overnight.
Too cute! I loved building forts as a kid!!!
Very fun idea! Love it. I’ll be interested to see if you find a way to make it more sturdy…I can just picture my daughters wanting one of these canopies!