Not Just For Camping

     Anyone who knows me at all knows that I am not a rough-it-in-a-tent kind of girl. I appreciate the beauty of nature, but I'd rather admire it from afar. Like in a climate controlled hotel room with a great view.
     That being said, I do love a good tent. A direction tent, that is. I like to have a set of directions at every center, so that my munchkins can refer to them and not interrupt my small group if they have a question. Does it always work? Um, no. But a girl can try. I used to just print my direction tent on cardstock and place it at the center, but the humidity in my room turns most paper into mush and the tent looks less like a tent and more like a blanket. So, as they say, necessity is the mother of invention and voila - the folded folder direction tent was born!
     First, enter my craft room. Awesome, right? Big love to my husband who created this amazing space for me. Love you, honey!

     Now, do not be alarmed. The mess behind these next photos is the direct result of creativity, not a break-in. Actually, it doesn't look so bad since I cropped the photos. Someday when we know each other better, I'll let you see the full reality of the craft room on a normal, not ready for pictures kind of day. It ain't pretty folks.
     Back to the direction tent. I reuse old file folders as the base of my direction tents. It's very Earth Day Chic. Feel free to brag to your friends about how environmentally aware you are. First, take a folder and lay it flat open. Then, fold each side to the middle and open it back up:

The fold in the middle will become the top point on the tent. Just fold the two sides in to make a triangle (triangular prism, if you want to get technical) and fold the two end flaps over each other. Now staple the overlapping flaps and stand up. (Can my hand look any bigger in this picture?? Great, another body part to hide from the camera...)

Almost there:

See the tab? Fold that up and it becomes a little stopper to hold the directions in place. I have to admit that was just a happy accident, but it is pretty cool. Here's the finished product:

Ta-Da! A set of eye-catching, obvious directions that should keep your kids from interrupting your small groups -but probably won't.