In the hearts of all peoples lies the burning desire to create. This great calling manifested itself in the souls of four college students on a fateful Tuesday night, and led to the creation of something much larger than anyone will ever truly understand. Come FORTh and behold one of the most magnificent structures your wanting eyes will ever gaze upon. Watch, listen, feel, live. Or in other words, yayyyyy we made a fort!!!!

Step 1:

Step 1: Grab some buddies! Preferably tall (so you can borrow their height), bored, and easily enticed by the chance to win fabulous prizes. A pair of adult twins will help keep you amused throughout the building process.

Step 2:

Step 2: Gather your materials. Our method involved emptying the linen closet onto the floor, organization not really needed (only for the picture), its a fort not a thesis statement.

Materials for the structure:
We refused to go out to buy anything not only because we're broke, but that would ruin the spirit of fort making. Luckily I had bought a plastic clothes line and clothes pins the week before from the dollar store because paying to go to the laundromat is expensive!

Plastic clothes line
Clothes pins (FORTy would be ideal)
Binder clips (We didn't have enough clothes pins)
Christmas lights
Thin sheets, blankets, sleeping bag, towel, sarongs, foam mattress topper.

(We found that a bunch of random and clashing patterns really made the fort unique)

Step 3:

Step 3: Brainstorm! Make a game plan that you will argue about for at least 15 minutes and not end up using at all.

Step 4:

Step 4: To our good FORTune, we discovered two hooks in the living room that were buff enough to hold the fort up (Please make sure the hooks will hold the load of the fort!). We tied our clothes line to both of the hooks that were on opposite sides of the room. To create a much needed third corner of the fort we closed a portion of the clothes line into a sliding glass door, locked the door, and tied the remainder of the line to the first hook.

We then made a ceiling by zig-zagging Christmas lights to create a place for the sheets to lay.

We chose the corner that the couch was in and also put two other chairs under the clothes line.

*Please, please, please be careful on where you attach the clothes line for the skeleton of the fort. The main point is to attach it in three sturdy areas, and if attaching it in a door make sure to lock it so no one comes in to a fort collapsing.

Step 5:

Step 5: Add your materials! We started with the lighter bigger sheets for the ceiling hanging it over the Christmas lights. We used the clothes pins to attach the sarongs, sheets and towel to the clothes line and to one another. We also tucked them into the couch and other seating cushions. Some of the sarongs were too short so we covered the spaces with the foam mattress topper, my roomie’s big comforter and a sleeping bag. We didn't want any open space in our fort!!

Step 6:

Step 6: Make that house a home! Once you have your foundation, walls, and ceilings up start looking to the inside your fort, and soul. Add all the little things that will make your fort a comfortable and transformative living space for you and your buddies.

For us these items included..
A leg lamp
A flashing disco ball
A small mushroom light
A hammock (Don't sit in it!!!) It is reserved for a small stuffed animal whale shark
A lantern
Bubbles
Music
A few hanging and standing candles (Don't use fire like we did. That's got bad news written all over it)
Extension chords
A big fan (This is most important because it gets hot in there!)
Floor/regular pillows