I Wish This Was a Tutorial.....

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

UPDATE: I love trying to come up with unique dates for us, besides the typical dinner and a movie. If you want to check out some of our other anniversary dates, click here! Or by year: 2014 | 2015 | 2017


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I wish this was a tutorial, but it most definitely is not!

I did want to share a fun little project with you all though, because even though I'm not talented enough to tell you how to do it, I think anyone else could stumble through it just as well as I did! (And I'll share some tutorials from people who actually did know what they were doing.)

A couple of weeks ago, I had a brilliant idea!

The end of this month marks five years since Dane and I have been married. (Awww!) So I wanted to do something a little extra special, while still staying on a budget. I thought that I would try to make some sort of special night in for us.

Then I realized that I do a lot of "nights in" for us. It has become my standard anniversary/Valentine's deal. I light a bunch of candles, create a playlist, and make a fancy dinner. But how many times can I do that same old thing?

And for those of you wondering why he won't just take me out to dinner, well, we do that a lot too. When you don't have kids, you have the freedom to do date nights a lot! When everything you do is just the two of you, and there's nobody to need to get a break from, any sort of outing becomes a date night, and then even that can become less special. So a romantic night in is sometimes more fun!

This time though, I felt like I needed to up my game a little bit, and come up with something that would really wow him! Then it came to me. I would make an a-frame tent outside, and we would have a romantic camp-out in the backyard!

So I give you: Romantic Backyard Glam-ping!




I knew Dane would love something like this, because he's such an outdoorsy guy, and even if it was just camping in our backyard, he would really enjoy it! Plus, who doesn't love a good sheet/blanket fort?

I was so excited that I got started right away! I went to the store and bought all of my wood and supplies. I think I spent about twenty bucks on all of the stuff for the frame, which consisted of several lengths of 1x2 and 2x2 wood, some bolts, and a couple packages of rope. Everything else, like the lights and coverings, I already had. Most of my information came from a couple of tutorials, here and here.

Now, you can go as fancy or as simple as you want, and I went with very simple. My coverings just bed sheets, and they weren't really attached very well to my frame, just to each other (although that would have been helpful when the wind was blowing!). And I didn't use a dowel rod on the top like that first tutorial did, but in hind sight I think that was the way to go. Instead, I just used screws to attach one of my boards, and I ended up snapping one! It never fell down on us though, so I guess it worked just fine. Like I said, this is no tutorial. I am not a good enough craftsman for that! So, just refer to those links up there :)




For dinner I wanted to go with something light and easy, and I'm glad that I did! Setting up the tent took a lot time and energy, so when it came to the food, I didn't want to have to put a ton of work into it. I still wanted it to tasted good though, so I made some bruschetta with fresh tomatoes from the garden, basil, and fresh mozzarella! I also set out some pita chips and hummus, prosciutto, and a bag of assorted dark chocolates (because those are Dane's favorite!).








 So, besides the fact that I basically spilled the beans (twice! Both on the what and the when) Dane never knew exactly what I had up my sleeve, and he was very impressed with all that I did! We pretty much just hung out and did our usual thing, talking and watching netflix (because what's glam-ping without internet access?) but it was all the more special, because everything is better with twinkle lights!






So there you have it! A fun and magical night in, that doesn't break the bank! The best part, is that these ideas are all so versatile. You could build a fort inside, if the weather wasn't cooperating, or just string up some lights where ever you wanted a little mood lighting. Or, instead of using this for an anniversary, you could do like the tutorials above and make one for your kids to enjoy. Forts make the best reading nooks and hang out spots!

If you do decide to make one, I wish you the best of luck! (Although if I can do it, anyone can.) Now, I'm off to work on something else that Dane enjoys. Clean laundry! Have a great rest of your Tuesday, and thanks for stopping by!

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1 comments

  1. Oh I absolutely love this! I've had such a hankering to go camping lately, but it's just been too hot. We live in an apartment complex, so I don't think the neighbors would appreciate the whole glamping set up, but it would be fun to shove the couch out of the way and do something similar indoors. Thanks for the inspiration!

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