Mum turns £1 Poundland bags into amazing Disney teepee for her daughter

18 November 2023 , 10:00

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Melanie runs a small online shop called Butterbean Bizarre making home decor items

A savvy mum has made her daughter's dream of having a Disney teepee in her bedroom without splashing out on the £40 price tag for an official one - by using bags from £1 Poundland instead.

Melanie Lord's daughter Jessica was desperate for a Disney-branded teepee after spending time in tents at her playgroup, where she used the cosy space to read books. But after looking them up online, Melanie found that many of the official ones were between £30 and £40, and often only centred around one character or film. So, instead of splashing out on something that wasn't exactly what Jessica wanted, the mum took matters into her own hands - and made her own.

Step one - get the bags ready

Speaking to Latest Deals, she said: "My little girl loves Disney and loves reading books. She always loved going into tents and teepees at playgroups. I had looked into buying a Disney teepee for her birthday, but you were limited to only one character or film, and that’s not mentioning the £30 or £40 price tag - most of the Disney teepees on sale weren't even fabric, but cheap plastic ones."

Melanie, who made her daughter's DIY teepee in 2019, said inspiration struck her to make the small tent herself when she went into Poundland and saw they were selling Disney tote bags for £1 each. She snapped up seven of the bags for a total of £7, and also bought three dowels to hold the fabric together.

"I saw that Poundland had released new Disney tote bags, and I’d previously used them for other crafts in her room, such as canvases and pillows," Melanie said. "So decided to see if I could make a teepee using them to match the theme. I wanted her to have all her favourite characters on it, and she didn't like any teepees that the doors fully closed on so I wanted to make it special to her.”

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The mum from Lowestoft, Suffolk, added: "I opened the tote bags up and stitched them in a row, two bags high. I bought three dowels and made a tripod with them and tied them at the top. I cut the handle of the bag in half to use to attach it to the wooden dowels."

The finished teepee

Melanie used £5 dowels from a hardware store, but if you've already got poles at home - or even some old broom handles - you can save more cash. The dowels may be more expensive now in 2023, but alternatively, you can pick up a 10-pack of 6-foot bamboo canes from B&M for £5.49.

"I added the bags around the teepee, and used the handles of the bags to attach to the dowels," Melanie explained. "I also used one tote bag and cut it at the bottom and placed it over the top of the teepee and then hand-stitched it to the rest of the teepee."

"To neaten up any overhang from the bags, I used a staple gun from Poundland to attach it to the dowels to keep it secure," she said. "The best thing is it is easily transported from place to place as the dowels can be gathered together due to the tripod layout."

And her daughter, who was two at the time, is a big fan. "Jessica absolutely loves her teepee especially as I added battery-powered lights to it. And she reads her books and snuggles her teddies in there," Melanie said. "It's wonderful to see my little girl play with something I have lovingly created for her, especially when it was so cost-effective to make!"

The mum also had encouraging words for other enterprising parents worried theirs might not be as neat. "Just have fun creating it," she said, "There is a perfect creation in every handmade item especially when it’s made from the heart."

Zahna Eklund