Stage 1: Planning

Tac's parents went out of town for the weekend, leaving us with an entire house in which to fort. We began by examining real live blueprints to get an idea of how architects work.

Drawing Blueprints

Note the grumpy lion on the top right. This would become integral in later pillow fort construction.

Get the chair up the stairs

We started with the drawbridge, which we decided would be comprised of a mechanical chair that normally resides in the living room. Since we wanted the main entrance to be from the patio, we had to haul the huge leather, wood, and metal contraption up the stairs.

Through the doors

The door on the left won't open far enough to let the chair through. This is because there is a cabinet on the other side that keeps the door from opening all the way.

Moving ur dresser

Once the dresser was moved back far enough to let the chair through, Tac had to move it back to let the chair past.

Chair is in position.

Bedroom in process

The thing on the right is a spare set of bed springs from the bed in this room.

The Roof

The roof of the bedspring hallway is clipped on to assure sturdiness. This is a technique we used often.

Beautiful

Room complete.

Holes where too much light entered were covered by baby blankets.

This picture is pretty self explanatory

Closeup

The fringe is wrapped around the cymbal stand several times to prevent slippage.

The making of stained glass hallway

Both blankets are tucked over the top of the door.

BROKEN GLASS.

We used a jar of coins to anchor the two door blankets. A slight shift sent the jar tumbling crashing to the ground.

Picking up the Pieces

We spent a long time collecting coins and shards of glass.

Coin tub

You can't really see below the rubber balls, but that's Tac's coin collection.

Mmm, glass.

A Safer Alternative

We were finally able to stop fiddling with this hallways after we did this.

Panda Entrance

Tac was still very careful about entering the fort this way, though.

Stained glass hallway cont'd

Pamda affixes the blanket to the chair with clips.

The Domestic Argonauth

Two collectible Lord of the Rings statues and a metal frog anchor this blanket on the windowsill.

They work!

Overview

Overview 2

Making Alladin Hallway

These blankets have tassels that could be tied around the posts in the left side, and were simply draped over the railing on the right. When we cleaned up, Tac had to cut through the tassels because they wouldn't come untied.

Red and Blue Cushion's Final Home

When we made stained glass hallway, we moved the cushion up here to use as a support.

I have no idea how Pamda did this.

Still no idear.

Hallway Done

Things are Looking Up

Now They are Looking Down

The Atrium

For a few brief moments, the entire neighborhood could see us working. We shut the sheet into the two front doors and the door to the garage (on the left).

Work it!

Pump Up the Bass

This bass was left at the house several months ago and is finally useful.

The Budoir

Curtains were fashioned from two outdoor tablecloths.

So Pretty

Blanket Head Break

We are blanket monsters! This was the only photo I (Pamda) insisted on taking, since it was the most important facet of our fort building. Tac insisted on taking photos of us actually constructing things-good thing one of us knows how to prioritize.

Inflating the Mattress

Tac didn't have the whole inflatey mechanism, so he had to make a makeshift funnel out of a birthday card. It was slow going.

Storeroom Complete

The only problem with this setup is that the mattress leaked during the night and deflated slightly.

All Covered Over

MATERIALS

Transporting Materials

Getting blankets from the upstairs closet to the construction site became more difficult as the fort grew. We probably should have planned ahead.

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

The Ballroom

We made the walls by arranging a couch, a big comfy chair, an upended ottoman, and an upended coffee table in a rough circle around the room. Blankets were anchored on the couch using the couch's many cushions.

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Blankets were anchored on the coffee table with old books.

Pull It Together!

Tac tries to hold all of the blankets in place in order to get the other cymbal on top. This took us several tries to pull off.

Bam!

The blue thing is a curtain from Tac's bedroom.

Isn't she beautiful?

A Rudimentary Light Source

The cymbal has the added effect of reflecting any light shone on it into the rest of the room. We could illuminate the room pretty well by propping a flashlight up so that it cast its light directly onto the cymbal above.

In All It's Glory

Can't ... Look ... Away

Time for a party

Another childhood pastime: Cookies and milk. And Juice.

Yum!

Cookies and milk for everyone!

Tac Haberdash is a creepy looking guy.

But he has cookies so it's ok.

Yay!

Sitting and Sipping

Tac just barely fits in the ballroom.

Destroying the Fort

Destroying the fort is just as much a part of this childhood pastime as building it is. TAC WILL TEAR IT APART.