How about a movie night? If the weather's fine, what could be more fun than a movie outdoors? Make it into a real event by decorating the lawn with rugs and garden furniture. And of course, lay on the snacks! We showed our flick using a digital projector with built-in speakers. All you have to do is connect a dvd player (or, for a family slideshow, you could use a USB stick). Connect external speakers if you like for that real cinema surround-sound experience. For the screen we used a king-size white bedsheet hung from a length of dowel. Simply tie the dowel to upright stakes, to a clothesline, or hang from a tree branch. It's movie time!

Aye aye captain!

We used a few simple decorations to turn our treehouse into an imaginative space. Add a pirate flag and it becomes a ghostly ship! The orange safety-flag wire we used is a great standby to keep in the garage and will also come in handy for decorating the garden for barbecues and other gatherings. You could make a temporary cubby using large cardboard boxes.

There are more fun ideas in the April 2011 issue of real living.