Make a Camping Tent with Flora & Max!
This blog post will show you how to craft a beginner-friendly doll-size tent!
One January afternoon, Flora Fox was tending her herb garden and appreciating the sweet, brisk smell of the air when she had an idea. Wouldn’t it be lovely to do some winter camping? But first, of course, she would need a tent.
Flora scurried across the path and knocked on Max Raccoon’s door. (It took him a moment to answer because he was in the middle of organizing some recent additions to his trinket collection.) When Max opened his door, Flora wasted no time. “Max,” she asked, “Will you please help me make a tent for a winter camping adventure?”
Max said of course he would, and ran to grab a jar of pickles for energy. Flora quickly sketched up some plans while Max ate pickles and offered suggestions about camping-friendly trinket storage. Then the friends set off to gather their materials.
First they visited Ella Toad, who gave them some of the canvas she keeps on deck in case her houseboat’s sails need mending. Ella also let them poke through her fabric stash and choose some pretty scraps to make a bunting string.
Next they ventured into the woods behind Gwendolyn Raccoon’s cottage, where the best sticks can be found. They gathered all the fallen branches they would need to build the tent frame.
Flora and Max carried their supplies to the Tinkering Yard and got to work building their tent. It took them a while, but they gave each other lots of encouragement and remembered to take breaks. When the tent was done, they were pleased as punch with the result!
As they admired their work, the friends noticed that night was falling and realized that they felt rather ready to get out of the chilly air.
“Maybe we could camp inside tonight?” Max suggested. Flora agreed. They carried the new tent into the Lodge and set it up near the crackling hearth. Each scampered back home to change into pajamas, and returned carrying their pillows and blankets. Flora also brought a puzzle she’d been wanting to do, and Max brought his favorite card game.
Thus followed a perfectly delightful evening, with much eating of snacks and much talk of grand plans for a snowy camping expedition next week.
To make a tent like this one, here's what you will need:
- Sticks
- Hot glue
- A ruler
- A pencil
- Scissors
- Fabric
- Embroidery floss (or other thin string)
- An embroidery needle
You might consider upcycling an old pillowcase or a canvas tote bag. Most any fabric will do, but it's best if it is not too delicate or prone to fraying. If you enjoy a bigger sewing project, you can choose any fabric you’d like and add a rolled hem or a binding to finish the edges.
For a no-sew version of the tent cover, you can use paper instead of fabric and just glue or tape it together. A grocery bag or some newspaper would do nicely!
Step 1: Stick Foraging
Go to your best stick foraging spot. This may be a local park, a forest trail, or your backyard – anyplace where you commonly see twigs or branches on the ground. Bring along a ruler and/or a Hazel Village animal to help you measure.
You will need to gather 9 sticks in total. Try to look for ones that are fairly straight and about the same thickness – not too thick, or they will be harder to snap/cut into the proper lengths. When you get your sticks home, be sure to rinse off any dirt and let them dry before you begin building your tent.
This tent is big enough for two Hazel Village animals to sleep in lying down, or for up to four Hazel Village animals to sit in together. Here are the measurements we used:
- Three 18 inch sticks
- Four 16 inch sticks
- Two 12 inch sticks
It should be noted that precise measurements aren't too important for this project. You could certainly make a smaller tent than ours if you wish, and the sticks you use do not need to be exactly even in length.
Step 2: Building the Tent Frame
To make the base of the tent frame, create a rectangle using two 12” sticks and two 18” sticks.
The ends of the longer sticks should sit on top of the ends of the shorter sticks, as shown below. Attach with hot glue.
To make the tent front, take two 16” sticks and place the bottom ends aligned with the short side of your rectangle. (Don’t glue them to the rectangle – this setup is just for spacing purposes.)
Cross the top ends of the 16" sticks, and attach with hot glue. Allow to dry.
Repeat with the other two 16” sticks to make the tent back.
We recommend asking a friend for help with this next step, as it's much easier with a second set of hands:
Hold the tent front vertically with its criss-crossed ends at the top, and glue the bottom ends into the inside corners of the rectangle. Repeat with the tent back.
Settle the final 18” stick on top and hot glue in place.
Once all the glue is dry, wrap a piece of string or embroidery floss in a criss-cross around each join. Tie off tightly with a double knot. This will help reinforce the stability of your tent frame.
Step 3: Making the Tent Cover
First, use a ruler to draw a right angle that is 15" on one side and 7.5" on the other side. Then draw a line connecting the two end points. Repeat three more times, and cut out each triangle.
Next, cut out a rectangle that is big enough to fully drape over your tent frame. Ours measured 18 by 32.5 inches.
Place two triangles on top of the rectangle with their longest sides along the edge, as shown below. The outside corners of the triangles should align with the outside corners of the rectangle. The tips of the triangles may slightly overlap in the middle.
With your ruler and pencil, draw a straight line about 1 cm from the edge. Sew along this line with a running stitch.
Repeat to attach the remaining three triangles in the same fashion. If you have any sewing pins or safety pins, use them to hold the fabric in place while you sew.
Once all four triangles are sewn on, flip the tent cover over. Using your hands, a heavy book, or an iron if you have one, give the seams a quick press to flatten them out.
Drap the tent cover over the tent frame and use a small drop of hot glue to secure it at either end.
Hot glue the bottom edges of the tent cover to the frame along the sides. Do not glue the flaps! Also, take care not to accidentally affix your tent to your tabletop.
Thread two pieces of string through each tent flap, near the top and the bottom. Tie knots on both ends so that they will not come unthreaded. Tie the flaps shut to secure your animals' tent from the elements.
To keep the flaps open, thread one long piece of string through each side of the tent near its opening. Then bunch up the flaps and tie the string around them.
If you wish to decorate your tent, you can make bunting by cutting small triangles out of decorative fabric and sewing them on a long piece of thread.
Now your tent is done! Good job, friend!
Thank you for reading! If you try this craft, please feel free to send us a photo or tag us on social media @hazelvillage. For questions, send us an email at hello@hazelvillage.com.
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