Best big kid gift ever!

Part of my efforts to be involved in my girls' schools and get to know the parents includes attending their classmate's birthday parties. I am perpetually in search of fun kid birthday gifts... preferably something easily handmade that inspires creative play and works for both boys and girls.  That's a tall order, but this gift meets all that criteria and doesn't cost a million dollars. Meet my official go to kid birthday gift, the fort building kit:

I found some inexpensive fabric shower curtains.  They worked great for this project because they have grommets along one side, which is useful for hooking/hanging the fort to things or using the bungee cords to attach it places.  I picked up most of the rest of the kit supplies at the dollar store:

a package of suction cup hooks

small bungee cords

a flash light (don't forget batteries!)

a package of plastic clips

glow bracelets

a length of rope (I found really cute woven pink rope at Jo-Anns in the trim section but they have rope at the dollar store too)

There's only a little bit of sewing involved in this project.  I cut 12" lengths of ribbon, heat sealed the ends, and sewed a little loop with long tails to each corner of the shower curtain.  The loops provide a way to hang the curtain over a bed post for example or you can use the tails to tie it to something like the rung of a chair.  I also put one loop in the center of the curtain that you can use to thread the rope through to keep the center of your fort aloft.

Lastly I sewed a quick easy draw string bag to keep it all in and made a tag so the birthday kiddo knows what this bag of crazy items is for.

Now my only worry is that I won't remember who we've made a kit for since I'm making them for everyone!