Pirate FORT

I have wanted all summer to get Espen a fort for the back yard.  We are broke and just have not been able to afford the expense of a fort (hence the reason I write this hear & not on my sensational kid blog).  I am super frugal and super creative so I started searching craigslist for free or cheap forts.  After a few unsuccessful attempts to get one I decided we could BUILD a pallet fort.  I could find pallets FREE and they don't need a lot of cutting!  So we drew out some plans and I started getting searching craigslist for FREE wood!  Espen was my helper and we ventured into interesting areas for pallets. 

I needed paint.  Locally we have a location that takes and distributes "hazardous household" items.  I went there and picked up 4 gallons of exterior paint.  FREE. 

The fort became a pirate ship.  And a ship needs a wheel and a pole.  I found them.  I asked for them.  The wheel was listed and never sold so I texted the man and told him why I wanted it.  I ended up with the steering wheel from a semi.  It is awesome.  The pole was from a neighbor who was tearing down their playground and just wanted the stuff gone. 

Our ship/fort has an 8 foot rock wall.  I purchased the 'rocks' for this for both safety and because of the COOL factor.  The fort also has a phone.  I had to purchase this too from a thrift store.  The hinges and nails we either had in the garage or I got from the ReStore Store. 

The giant fantastic structure is a new favorite at our house.  And in all honesty we spent $67.00 on it (the rocks for the most part!).  The entire structure could have been built entirely free and with recycled materials.  What a budget friendly project.  Espen got to have a huge say in the end result.  Doug got to build something.  And I got to hunt up stuff.  The thrill of finding cool stuff was exciting for me! 

Now if we move all the hardware goes with us... the rocks, the wheel, the pole, the phone... the wood stays!!

I have been teasing Doug all along that I want this to have ONE MILLION HITS on all the media sites...