DIY Pirate Mast Decor

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Whether you’re planning a pirate party, a fun backyard pirate play area for the kids, or just want some fun pirate outdoor decor, building a pirate mast is a great option! For relatively low cost, the DIY pirate mast really creates a BIG impact (literally & figuratively). We made ours for the boys’ Jake and the Never Land Pirates birthday party and it was a huge hit! We’re keeping it for future use as I think  it would be the perfect decor/art piece to help turn our back­yard into a fun, trop­i­cal, pirate oasis! 😉 DIY Pirate Mast & SailSince we were doing a Jake and the Never Land Pirates party, we decided to make ours look like Bucky with blue-striped sails! But, you can certainly do any kind of sails you’d like. Once we had the basic design decided on, the building process really was fairly easy. As a Lowe’s Creative Ideas blogger, it was fabulous to be able to find everything we needed at Lowe’s! Gotta love one-stop shopping! To build your own mast, here’s what you’ll need:

Supplies

  • 1-3/8-in x 8-ft round dowel (1)
  • 3/4″-in x 48″-in round dowel (2)
  • 3/4″-in x 36″-in round dowel (1)
  • 1/4″-in twisted sisal rope
  • drill and 1/8″ drill bit (or smaller)
  • 3 small, long nails & hammer
  • measuring tape
  • approx. two yards of *fabric (*our original plan for the Bucky sails was to use drop cloth and blue painter’s tape. We even purchased it and had it ready to go. However, we happened upon the perfect clearanced-out blue-striped outdoor fabric at a craft store. So, we ended up buying getting that. But, I’m certain that to keep it a one-stop shop purchase, the drop cloth would work great for sails!) DIY Mast Supplies

Directions:

  1. Start by deciding where you want the cross beams to go. We placed the 3′ dowel about a foot down from the top and then had about 18″-24″ between the dowels.
  2. To secure everything together, we drilled a small hole through the smaller dowels and just into the large 8′ one. Then, we put in a nail. Since they’re round and roll on each other, that was easier than just trying to nail the two together without the pre-drilled hole. Nailing dowels together
  3. For added stability (and a more authentic look), we used some of the twisted sisal rope to lash the dowels together. Basically, we just did a criss-cross pattern around the dowels. At that point, you have a large mast! Building a mast
  4. A mast isn’t too exciting though if you don’t have sails! So, attaching the sail is the next step! Again, we used blue & white striped fabric to make it look like Bucky for our Jake party, but you could easily design whatever look you like with other fabric or drop cloth from Lowe’s.
  5. DIY Mast & SailsReally, you could attach the fabric any way that you want. Large gromets or rings would certainly look really great (and more authentic). But, that would have required more money and work that we didn’t feel like doing! So, we went with a much simpler method–just cutting and tying. About every six inches or so, we just cut the fabric a few inches up to make ties and then tied the fabric around the dowels.  DIY Pirate Sails
  6. Then, once you have the sails on the dowel, you can get a little more creative if you want. We decided to fringe the bottom of the top sail a bit. Then we cut some swoops between the ties at the top of the bottom sail. For the very bottom, we just turned the dowel a bit to rotate the ties and everything under. We thought it made it look a bit more “billowy” that way. Once that’s done, you can then stake it in the ground, in your table, or wherever you’d like to display your fun sail! DIY Bucky Mast & Sail

Definitely a fun piece of outdoor decor! I think it would look great out by the pool! 😉

For even more ideas, visit Lowes Cre­ative Ideas and fol­low along with Lowe’s on Pin­ter­est or on Insta­gram! You can also sign up to receive their free Cre­ative Ideas Mag­azine, which is full of all kinds of ideas & inspi­ra­tion! There’s also a mag­a­zine app so you can have inspi­ra­tion on the go!

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Dis­clo­sure:  I am a mem­ber of the Lowe’s Cre­ative Ideas Cre­ators & Influ­encers Net­work and receive a Lowe’s gift card to com­plete my projects. How­ever, all ideas, opin­ions, & expe­ri­ences are entirely my own.

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I’m Sara, a mom to three adorable boys living in the Arizona desert. As a former teacher, I love sharing my passions with others. So, have a look around for creative inspiration about cooking, creating, celebrating, traveling with kids, and more everyday mom endeavors!

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7 Responses

    1. Hi Stacey! We had an image of one that we used as a template and just cut it out of cardboard! Pretty easy! 🙂

    1. THanks, Amanda! It came with the Pirate decor from Minted. But, you could definitely try to DIY something similar with some cold card stock!

    1. We’ve done a few different things with the mast (we still have it) – propped it up & tied it to our patio beams, stuck it in the ground near a wall for a little extra support, tied it to the tree, etc.

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