Melanie Lord Upcycles £1 Poundland Bags into Incredible DISNEY Teepee

18 September 2019 at 10:00 am

Woman creates amazing Disney teepee using Poundland tote bags on a budget

Melanie Lord, 30, found an ingenious and cheap way to make her daughter a Disney teepee
The craft project cost a fraction of what a teepee would usually cost
Her daughter Jessica loves her new hangout spot

If we bought everything our kids demanded, we wouldn’t have much money left over every month. But one mum came up with a way to create her daughter’s dream tent on a serious budget.

Melanie Lord’s daughter Jessica, two, was desperate for a Disney teepee, but with a price tag of up to £40, Melanie was keen to see how she could create the look for less.

The craft-loving mum of two, who runs a small online shop called Butterbean Bizarre making home decor items, came up with the genius idea of crafting the teepee using Poundland tote bags.

Melanie, 30, from Lowestoft, Suffolk, told LatestDeals.co.uk: “My little girl loves Disney, and loves reading books. She always loved going into tents and teepees at playgroup. 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.

See price comparison of Disney Teepees here

"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. 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.”

Melanie spent £7 on seven tote bags from Poundland and £16 on three dowels and got to work.

“I opened the tote bags up and stitched them in a row, two bags high,” Melanie explains. “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 wooden dowels can be purchased from any hardware shop. I used six tote bags to go around the dowels and one at the top.

“I added the bags around the teepee, and used the handles of the bags to attach to the dowels. 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. The best thing is it is easily transported from place to place as the dowels can be gathered together due to the tripod layout.”

Melanie says that if you want to create a teepee just like hers, you should just enjoy it and not worry too much about making it perfect.

"Just have fun creating it,” Melanie adds. "There is a perfect creation in every handmade item especially when it’s made from the heart.

“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.

“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!

Tom Church, co-founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, says: “Melanie’s creation is so inventive and fun, and just shows that with a bit of imagination, you can save tons on normal high street prices by crafting things yourself. This teepee was made with just Poundland tote bags and dowels - not only is it cheap, but lucky Jessica will be the only person in the world with this type of teepee. For inspiration, search Pinterest, Google and Instagram for easy craft ideas to get you started and feeling more confident with arty projects.”

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