Bunkbed Pirate Fort

Last weekend at our Easter party my aunt, "F.A.J." (that's short for Favorite Aunt Judi!) gave me a whole bunch of great pirate themed fabric she'd been saving in her stash for awhile. Once I got home and opened up the yardage, I was super excited to discover that there was enough to make a pirate hideout for the boys' bunk bed!

At first Sutton wasn't sure if the skull and crossbones motif was super cool or if it might look a bit too scary at night time, but a closer look at those skulls revealed that they have hearts for eyes...naturally, that isn't scary at all!

I measured how wide the bed was between the post and the side of the ladder, and then doubled that number to give the curtain some ruffle. I kept the fabric at its 44" width and sewed a 3" casing along one edge. I slipped an adjustable shower curtain rod through the casing, and it was ready to be hung up and turned into a pirate fort. We also added some fun party lights to his back wall (also courtesy of Aunt Judi).

Yep, those are parrot lights! Amazingly, these little lights have kept Sutton quietly in bed at bedtime for the past four nights! After months of non-stop talking and an in-and-out-of-bed dance routine every night, I'm calling it a miracle! Who knew that plastic parrots would be my sanity saver!?!

I used the 10-minute pillowcase tutorial from Little Bit Funky to make the big boys each their own pirate pillowcase with trim that matches their new fort. I might truly be the world's slowest seamstress (all that fabric cutting and ironing takes time!), so it actually took me about 30 minutes per pillow. I didn't even realize that I had cut the pattern on the blue pillow sideways until I was slipping Sutton's pillow into it. Oops.

This kiddo loves his new pirate bunkbed, and he thinks that his pillow is "super awesome...even with the trees going sideways! It's really cool!" That's all the approval I need ♥

Posted in: Bedroom, DIY, Fort, Kids, Pillow, Pillowcase, Sewing