Building a Blanket Fort by Tegan Seymour

Do you know what was fun when you were a kid, and are still fun now?? Blanket Forts! They’re a magical place where you can feel toasty and warm and free from all of life's responsibilities.

It has been many years since I’ve actually attempted to build any form of blanket fort, so here is a quick and easy guide for those of you who aren’t exactly experts in the field of blanket construction.

What You Will Need:

Blankets! Lots of them! Sheets, throws, duvets, whatever you can find! You will need them all.  Pillows! Raid the living room, your bedroom, everyone else’s bedroom. Bring in your pet’s favourite snooze cushion. The more pillows you have, the squishier and more enjoyable your fort will be.

Stuff to hold the fort up. This one’s a doozy. Anything that you can find around the house that is solid and can probably support a blanket and your entire fort is best. Chairs, spinning ones from the study, or dining chairs will work fine. Tables! You can use the dining table for a very solid fort, or smaller tables to hold up other areas. Brooms, or large sticks. A hockey stick maybe?

Come on use your imagination! I used an indoor clothesline to help hold up one side of my fort, which brings me to the next item on the list. Pegs! Use these nifty pegs to clip your fort to anything you can find! They’re very handy I promise.

Finally you want your fort to be very special and welcoming. I brought in my giant unicorn lamp, for the perfect light glow, as well as my baby unicorn lamp, so he didn’t miss out. Fairy lights are also a great idea! I even brought in a little plant. But it’s not real, so I don’t worry about spilling dirt on all the blankets. That wouldn’t be very good.

Let’s Get Building

I used my largest blanket for the main part of the blanket fort.

I tied two ends of it to the blinds on the windows which was very handy.

I also decided to build my blanket fort over the top of a pull out sofa bed.

So the floor to my blanket fort is extra soft.

I brought in a clothes airer that has wheels and stood it up next to the fort, pegging the blanket to it. Finally I brought in an officer chair and lifted it up on the sofa, pulling the blanket over it, so that there was plenty of space underneath!

The blanket also hung low at the front so I can tuck it up to get in easily, or pull it down if I don’t want anyone to bother me while i’m chilling out in my fort. I got out my fairy lights and threaded them all the way across my fort, back and forth, making sure it wasn’t too heavy. I put them on the outside and also a bit on the inside of the fort.

The last step is to make it cosy! First I laid down a knitted blanket and then I brought in sooo many pillows! There was almost no room for me because there was so many cushions in there! I then grabbed my Giant Uni lamp and set him up in the fort. I put his setting on white light, so that there was plenty of light in my fort too!

Now your fort is ready to enjoy! With whatever you want to do! You can watch movies, read a book, do some colouring in. Even have a little nap. It was tough work building that fort, and it is filled with pillows…

Have fun!

Get your Giant Unicorn Lamp here!