A Whale of a Tepee!

I first got the idea for this project at the Philadelphia Flower Show last year. A vendor was selling play tepees for kids and I thought, "Oh, the nephews would love that!" I tucked it away and didn't think about it again until I started noticing other such tepees in children's catalogs like Land of Nod. I didn't know what else to give to our two nephews this year for Christmas, so I decided to take a stab at making one myself. I thought it would even be cheaper than buying one. Well, I was a little wrong. I say a "little" instead of "completely" because I let Mike design the tepee on AutoCad at work and he made it huge. Huge tepee=more materials=more cost. I also waited until the very last minute to buy supplies, so I didn't shop around. Regardless, I am quite proud of how it turned out. Best of all, the boys love it! They called us today from inside the tepee and it turns out the whole family was hanging out in there (2 grown adults + 1 five-year-old + 1 three-year-old). All that room has to be worth the extra trouble/cost.

I am sorry that I didn't take any progress pictures, but I was cramming to get it done before Christmas and didn't have time to stop and document. I will make another one in the future and take more pictures, I promise. The following was taken after Mike and I snuck into the backyard and set the tepee up on the back deck, and after the initial excitement died down. I have a bunch of other, more adorable pictures of the boys seeing it for the first time and then running in and out, but I am not sure how their parents feel about having their pictures on the web, so I will refrain from posting them.


For reference, the poles are eight feet long and the fabric pieces are just over seven feet in length. Based on Mike's plans, it should be about seven feet across at the bottom. For the next tepee, I will make the following changes:

1. Smaller! I am thinking six-foot poles instead.
2. Adjust the design so it opens more easily and bunches less
3. Sand the ends of the poles so they are rounded
4. Shop around for materials, especially the fabric.
5. Try different colors

Overall, it wasn't that hard to make and I think if it was smaller, it would be even easier to manage. I will know more after I try it again. If all goes well, perhaps I will try to sell some locally. My concerns about selling these on Etsy are the shipping costs and possible safety liabilities.