Last week, I posted a lovely little A-Frame Play Tent that was decorated with a fabric fan garland. I found the tutorial for this adorable string of fans at Blooms and Bugs. I really loved the outcome, however there are a few things that I would probably do different if I were to make it again. I think it looks better when hung vertically (pictured below) as opposed to horizontally (shown in the tutorial). If you want a horizontal garland, here are a few suggestions:

• When I made my fans, I used scraps of fabric and cut them into squares ranging from 4" - 9". The top tends to flop if you cut the squares more than about 5" - 6". 4" seems to be pretty perfect, though.
  
• Thicker, sturdier fabrics work better because they don't flop as much.
• If you have kids around, keep the garland out of reach. (My toddler broke mine pretty quick...)

I grew up building forts using blankets, stools, chairs or whatever looked useful, so when I saw how simple and inexpensive it is to build an A-frame play tent I knew it had to happen. I ended up making one for my daughter and my niece. Seriously, it cost less than $10 total and took all of an afternoon to make. The best tutorial I found for this creation came from Twirl for a Rainy Day Tent. I contemplated redoing the tutorial with the few tweaks I made, but I have had a few too many projects on my plate in preparation for Christmas. So, instead, I am providing you with a link to the tutorial I used and a list of my little tips.

Tips:
* Watch out for bowing and large blemishes when picking up your furring strips
* If you aren't down with buying thrift store sheets and/or you don't want to do any sewing, look for curtain panels instead of a flat sheet
* When drilling your holes, do two of the furring strips at once so that the holes line up and mark them, then paint the ends of the pairs different colors
* I sanded my furring strips because they are pretty rough just from the store

By the way, I will be posting about the fabric fan garland next week.