If you've ever thought making an outdoor movie theater experience in your backyard, check out our tutorial for how easily you can make your own outdoor movie screen!
This post was sponsored by TruGreen as part of Influencer Activation for Influence Central.
We LOVE SUMMER!! We love the lazy mornings, eating meals on the porch, discovering new parks, wearing sandals, running barefoot in the grass, barbecuing, camping, riding our bikes...all of it! There are way too many months in the New Hampshire calendar year that are just too darn cold to want to spend a minute of it outdoors, so when the temperatures approach something tolerable, we cannot wait to get out of the house and the summertime weather is almost too good to be true!
Sadly, children ages 8-18 spend an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes on entertainment media every day. Isn't that heartbreaking to hear? Especially when there are a million ways to enjoy living life outside, and it doesn't all have to be for play. You could eat your meals outside, read your books outside, exercise outside, and just be with your family outside! Try to spend more time in the grass than in the house and really enjoy that green carpet of healthy lawn while you can! TruGreen is on a mission to promote outdoor memory-making with loved ones by really enjoying the outdoors to its fullest this summer! Be sure to continue reading and find out below how to share your photos and videos of your favorite outdoor activities for chances to win weekly prizes!
One of our favorite summer activities is setting up a projector for outdoor movies. Just because the sun goes down doesn't mean we have to come in for the night! If you've ever thought making an outdoor movie theater experience in your backyard, check out our tutorial for how easily you can make your own outdoor movie screen!
The supplies will cost you under $50, and even less if you have some of these things on hand. And, did you know you can buy PVC pipe on Amazon?! So you might not even have to leave home - but you might have to buy more connectors due to the measurements we used below. I wanted to make sure I created an outdoor movie screen that required NO POWER TOOLS and was something that could be put together by yourself. I seriously assembled this entirely by myself (my husband was out of town) with three little kids "helping" practically every step of the way.
Your supplies will include:
- four 10' PVC pipes (two of them cut into a 7' and a 3' piece and two of them cut into a 6' and a 4' piece)
- two 2' PVC pipes
- two elbow connectors
- four T connectors
- one full size white sheet
I used 1.25" diameter pipes, and I probably would have used 1.5", had they not been too high for me to reach at the store! I wouldn't use anything smaller -- you want this screen to be pretty beefy.
The four 10" pipes will each need one cut. I was able to track down a crew member at Home Depot who sliced them up in a jiffy, but if you can't find help at the hardware store, you could also saw them with a hand saw. You'll end up with this: two pieces 7' long, two pieces 6' long, two pieces 4' long, two pieces 3' long, and two pieces 2' long.
Here are the connector pieces you need: two "elbows" and four "t's".
The layout looks like this:
Girlfriend was very excited to help!
Connect the 2', the 3', and the 4' pieces to make these bases. You could also trim the long ends to match the length of the shorter ones if you like symmetry!
Next, eyeball how much you'll need to turn under the fabric to make a casing for the pipes. I've found that there is a wide variety of sheet sizes, even among strictly the "full" size, but only differing by a few inches. For my sheet, I turned under 3" on each side, and was able to use the pre-sewn casing finished edge for one of them.
With the four sides sewn shut, you'll need to cut out a small square so that you can slide your pipes in.
Slide the pipes through and connect them with the elbows and T's, then hoist it up on your pre-assembled legs. Done! No power tools required, minimal assembly, and only super basic sewing skills required for this outdoor movie screen. When you're done with it, simply take it off the bases, slide out the horizontal pipes and roll the sheet up like wrapping paper on a tube.
Movie night was so much fun! We invited the neighbors over and brought out the popcorn, peanuts, and drinks. After a long day of playing outside, it was great to be able to keep the family fun going after dark. Our outdoor movie screen is going to get a lot more usage this summer!
What fun memories we're making!
Epson VS240 SVGA 3LCD Projector 3000 Lumens Color Brightness
Epson EX9200 Pro WUXGA 3LCD Projector Pro Wireless, Full HD, 3200Epson Home Cinema 2040 1080p 3D 3LCD Home Theater Projector
Thanks to TruGreen for helping us share this fun project!
Ashley says
Wow - what an awesome idea!
Amber Ludwig says
This is so neat!! It looks awesome and like its such a fun time!! Although to do this in Wisconsin we need like 5 gallons of bug spray lol!! Which type of projector do you use?? The picture is great!!
Linda Manns says
This is such a fun idea. I know my family would love this. It doesn't look to hard to do either. Thank you so much for sharing this great family time with us
Meredith says
This looks like such a fun project! I've seen some DIY projector projects so maybe this could be paired with one of those. I think my son would enjoy working on it together and my nieces would love watching a movie outdoors!
sharon bugar says
I think this is the coolest thing I have ever seen!
Linda Szymoniak says
My daughter uses a similar set-up to display her art for sale at anime and comic conventions. I just love these pipes. You can use them for SO many things.
Miranda Welle says
This would be such a hit with the family! What a simple way to make lasting memories. Thanks for sharing!
Emily Jane says
OMG this is an amazing idea! And so simple! I am sending this to my husband. This is a great idea for the family!!!
Mama Hippie says
How fun! ?This will definitely be my next project 🙂
Alicia C says
If only my backyard were big enough! Great idea to make the most of summer nights.
G K says
I love this idea! It's so easy too!
Sue E says
What a clever idea!! I would have never have thought of tthat for the outside!!
I know kids would love it! Especially with snacks and if it was nighttime!!
This is also a great way to meet neighbors.
Thanks for sharing!!
Julie says
This is so cool! This looks like such a fun way to watch a movie.
ellen beck says
Now this is fun! I could see movie nights and backyard camping. Combine a movie, some snacks and blankets and you have a bunch of happy campers!
Rosie says
What a great idea! Everyone loves watching movies outside in the summer, and it isn't that often where they are doing it, then who knows if everyone wants to see their movie. You can be the hit of the neighborhood, and so inexpensive!
Katie says
Hey I've wanted to do this for awhile now! Thanks for the awesome idea! What Kind of projector do u use??
Ruth V. says
Hi Katie, Epson is great (here's an affiliate link for Amazon to see one): http://amzn.to/2rluW3v
gloria patterson says
This is something that my niece needs! She just got aprojector and needs a screen. This really looks so easy to make
Sally Gearhart says
This is really a cool project and looks like so much fun! You did an amazing job and thanks so much for sharing. I can't wait to make memories too.
Rachel Sweeney says
Awesome! I love that you can just take it apart so you don't have to worry about finding somewhere to store it. Now if only I had a projector...
Lynne B says
I am loving your DIY posts. Both my husband and I love to figure out how we can make things instead of buying them. And this one comes apart for easy storage!! Points for that!
Tamra Phelps says
This would be a nice way to spend a family evening. It would be something kids would really get a kick out of.
Zoey says
This would definitely be an awesome way to enhance family movie nights!
Sapana V says
I needed this tutorial really bad! Thanks for posting it. Its so easy!!!!!