Glamping Set Up Ideas: Our Favorite Picks
I borrowed a canvas bell tent off my buddy Theo last September. The plan was simple. Drive out to Horsethief Reservoir, set it up Thursday afternoon, have it looking like one of those dreamy Pinterest interiors by dark.
Reality. The tent poles fought me for an hour. A pole. Then the wind picked up around 4pm and one of my fairy light strands blew off the rope I’d strung and landed in the dirt. Twice. I sat on a cooler and ate a granola bar and reconsidered the whole thing.
But the setup did come together, and the part that pulled the most weight was the cheap stuff. Cardstock signs, a couple of decals, a tumbler that matched nothing and somehow tied the corner together anyway. Most of those I printed or cut from files off an indie design shop, and if you grab any through the links here it kicks a little back to me at no extra cost to you.
The Soft Pink Art I Hung Over The Cot
I printed this one on matte photo paper at the Staples near my place, 8×10, and clipped it to the tent rope with two wooden pegs right above the cot. It softened the whole left side of the tent, which was honestly just a folding cot and a sleeping bag before that.
The pink reads warm under string lights, which I didn’t expect. Looked a touch washed-out in flat daylight. Under the lanterns at night it glowed.
One nitpick. The PNG has a transparent background so if you print it on bright white paper you get a hard edge around the art. I cut close with scissors and it disappeared. Took maybe three minutes a print.
A Little Pink Trailer For The Welcome Spot
This tiny trailer graphic went on a folded tent card by the entrance flap, the kind of thing that says you actually thought about the setup. I made it on a 4×6 card, two per page, and stood it up against a mason jar of wildflowers Theo’s daughter picked.
It’s cute without being childish, which is a narrow target. The pink trailer matched the coquette print over the cot so the two corners talked to each other.
Watch the resolution if you blow it up big. I tried it at 11×14 for a sign and the little trailer went soft. Kept it small after that and it was crisp.
The Clean Badge That Made The Whole Thing Look Planned
Black line art on a kraft tag. I ran a sheet of these through the printer on brown cardstock and hung one off the tent zipper pull and another off the cooler handle. Instant ‘this was on purpose’ energy.
Line art prints clean on basically anything, which is why I keep coming back to it. No color to muddy up, no background to trim. Just ink.
The one snag, my home printer streaked the first pass because the cartridge was low. Swapped it and the second sheet was sharp. If your lines look gray instead of black, that’s the cartridge, not the file.
A Tipi Scene I Turned Into A Backdrop Sign
I wanted something on the table inside the tent that wasn’t food. This tipi landscape went into a $4 frame from the thrift store in McCall and sat propped against the canvas wall behind the little snack tray.
The scene has depth, trees and a sky, so it doesn’t look flat in a frame the way a single object would. Read well from across the tent.
Color came out slightly darker on my printer than on screen. If you’ve got a print shop nearby, this is the one I’d send out rather than do at home. The sky deserves it.
Boho Tent Art For The Reading Corner
I set up a little corner with a rug and two floor pillows, and this print needed to anchor it. Printed it 8×10, leaned it against a stack of paperbacks on an upturned crate.
The boho palette, warm tans and a dusty rose, matched the rug I’d hauled out from home almost exactly. Felt intentional even though it was luck.
It’s busy, lots going on in the art, so it fights with a patterned background. I put a plain cream pillowcase behind it as a backdrop and then it sang. Against the tent’s own seams it got noisy.
The ‘Queen Of The Camper’ Print By The Mirror
I hung a small camping mirror inside the tent flap for the morning, and this print went right next to it on a clip frame. First thing you see fixing your hair at 7am. Made me laugh every time.
It’s text-forward, so it reads from a distance, which is what you want for a sign and not a photo. Printed fine at 5×7.
The lettering has thin serifs and my first print at small size lost the thinnest strokes. Bumped it to 5×7 from 4×6 and they came back. Don’t go smaller than that with this one.
Mountain Tents Art For The Chillier End Of The Trip
We got a cold snap the second night and I’d already packed a few of these. The winter mountain scene fit the mood better than the pink stuff once everyone was in flannel. I swapped the cot print for this one after sundown.
It’s a vector, so it scaled up clean for a bigger sign without going fuzzy, which the trailer graphic could not do. Made a nice 11×14 of it.
The blues run cool, almost icy, so on warm-toned kraft paper it looked off. White paper or a cool gray is the move. Learned that after wasting two kraft sheets.
A Starry Sky Print For After The Lights Came Down
Once the fairy lights were on and the lanterns were low, this one belonged on the little side table. Dark scene, lots of stars. It disappears in daylight and comes alive at night, which sounds like a flaw but worked for an evening setup.
Vector again, so I sized it however I wanted. I did a 6×8 and stood it in a clear acrylic frame so the dark edges floated.
Dark files eat ink. My first print came out blotchy because I had the printer on draft mode to save toner. Bumped to normal quality and the sky smoothed right out.
A Tumbler Wrap That Matched The Boho Corner
I’m not a tumbler-wrap pro, but the boho corner needed a drink to match and a plain steel cup looked sad next to that rug. This wrap went on a 20oz tumbler I already owned. Sublimation, which a friend with a press did for me.
The pattern wraps without an obvious seam line if you trim to the cut marks, which the file includes. Mine had a hair of overlap at the back. Hidden by the handle.
If you don’t have a press, this isn’t a same-day thing. I’d skip it unless you’ve got someone who does sublimation, otherwise it sits unused. Mine almost did.
A Watercolor Fail Sticker For The Cooler Lid
After the fairy lights blew off twice, this sticker felt earned. I cut it on my Silhouette as a print-and-cut and stuck it on the cooler lid where everyone sets their drink. Got a real laugh out of Theo.
The watercolor texture stays soft when you print it on glossy sticker paper. On matte it went a little flat. Glossy is worth it here.
Print-and-cut needs the registration marks to line up, and my printer fed the sheet a hair crooked the first go, so the cut missed the edge. Fed it straight the second time and it was clean.
The Sarcastic Fail Ornament I Hung In The Tent
Not just a tree thing. I printed this ornament design double-sided, punched a hole, ran a bit of twine through it, and hung it off the tent’s center pole as a goofy little flag. Caught the light when it spun.
The sarcasm matched the trip, which by then included a collapsed pole and cold beans. PNG printed crisp on cardstock at ornament size.
Double-siding means lining up front and back, and mine drifted maybe an eighth of an inch. You see it if you stare. From across the tent, nobody did.
The Glamping Queen Cup I Kept For Myself
This was the matching-but-bolder cup. Where the boho wrap was soft, this 20oz design is loud and I loved it, so I kept this one and gave the boho one to Theo’s daughter. Same sublimation setup, same friend with the press.
The text holds up at full wrap size and reads from across the campsite. No squinting.
The design runs edge to edge, so any wrap gap shows as a white line. We left a sliver too much room and there’s a pale seam at the back. Live with it, or trim tighter than feels right. I’d trim tighter next time.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a glamping party?
Honestly? It’s camping where you actually want to take a photo of where you slept. A camp mom at Horsethief asked me this and I said, picture a normal tent night but with a rug, real pillows, string lights, and a sign or two so it looks planned.
Nobody’s roughing it. You’ve got coffee in a nice cup and art clipped to the tent rope. That’s the whole idea.
Can I print these at home?
Most of them, yep. The art prints, the signs, the tags, I did those on my home inkjet on cardstock and photo paper. The starry-night and tipi scenes I’d send to a print shop because dark, detailed files look better off a good printer than mine.
The tumbler wraps are the exception. Those need a sublimation press, so unless you have one or a friend who does, those aren’t a home job.
What file formats do these designs come in?
Mix of PNG and vector, depending on the design. The pink art and the ornament came as PNG, which printed fine for me at the sizes I used. The mountain tents and the starry sky were vector, which is why I could blow those up to 11×14 without them going soft.
If you plan to print big, look for the vector ones. I found that out the hard way when the little trailer PNG went fuzzy at sign size.
Do I need a Cricut or Silhouette to use these?
Not for the printables. The signs, the framed scenes, the tags, you just print and clip them up, no machine needed.
The stickers are where a cutter helps. I ran the watercolor fail sticker through my Silhouette as a print-and-cut. You could cut it by hand with scissors if you’re patient, but a machine makes the edge clean. The wraps are a press job, separate from any of that.
Before You Pack Up
The tent never looked exactly like the Pinterest photo I saved. The wind made sure of that, and so did the cold snap and the granola-bar afternoon where I almost quit.
But the corner with the rug and the boho print and the matching cup, people kept sitting in that corner. That’s the part I’d redo first next time. Maybe more clips, fewer fairy lights I have to fight.
More Camping Ideas We Love
Heads up: some links in this post are affiliate links. If you grab a file we love, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only feature designs we would happily pack on our own trip.
