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08/31/2003: "Gypsy Tent"
So, I do weddings. A LOT of weddings. Almost every weekend.
I have a lot of "stuff" left over.
Some of the things I have are props that I've had to fabricate for a particular event and that I have little use for after the event. Some things have been left behind and no longer wanted or needed by the wedding party and some of the items I've literally dumpster dived for, pulling out of the trash after the bridal party has gone and tossed things away. I have tons of this stuff around. A friend of mine calls my storage space the "wedding graveyard"
My weekend project this week is to make a gypsy tent/play house sort of thing for my kids with all the leftover things that I have lying around, and whatever else I can scrounge up.
I have a very empty corner of the yard where the tent will be. We have a huge old walnut tree that overhangs the yard and shades the majority of our yard, the neighbor's yards and the street behind our house. I can't get anything to grow beneath it because of Walnut toxicity
(walnut trees are very hostile to many other plants!)
So far for the project I have -
Frame left over from a wedding huppah (wedding canopy in a Jewish wedding ceremony)
6' wide, 3' deep and 7' tall
My husband fabricated the frame from metal conduit and pipe fittings. I then painted it and twined grapevines around it. In it's wedding incarnation, it was then covered with wild sweet pea vines, Polo roses and white casablanca lilies with green grapes for a vineayard wedding. For the gypsy tent, it just has it's grape vines left.
Fabric - yards and yards of a silkessence (poly) type fabric that was left over from a wedding where they were used as table runners. A few stains here and there rendered them unwanted by the bridal party, but for a kid playhouse, they're perfect!
I also have a batik piece of fabric with a batiked lace pattern in the same colors. Dark plum, celadon green and lavender.
Silk flower garlands - pulled out of the trash at a wedding site that I was catering at. I have no shame about dumpster diving!
Ribbon - I literally have a closet full. Almost 20 years of doing weddings and boy do I have a collection! The ribbon on the tent is a pale gold organza, recycled from the trash with the silk garlands.
Columns and plants - Left over from two separate weddings. Plaster pedestal columns and some semi-sad looking boston ferns that were shedding too much to have in the house any more.
Pots/huppah stands - two pots with concrete and pvc pipes that act as stands to hold the legs of the huppah. Left over from a wedding a year ago. I have two more that are acting as a base for a lattice screen in the front of my house.
Here is a photo of the tent so far.
Everything is just draped and tucked and tied with ribbon around the huppah base. This is definitely a seasonal/temporary project and I will take everything off the frame when the rains start (usually around the end of October or beginning of November here in Northern California)
I still need to put in a floor. My plans are to put down two recycled wood pallets, staple cardboard on top and then put down some sort of floor covering. Again, whatever I can scrounge up.
I think it looks pretty good so far and I can't wait for my children to come home from their dad's house on Wednesday and see it. I will definitely post more photos as the floor and other additions are made!
