Picnic Table Facelift

Quite a while back, my in-laws picked up this old picnic table that a neighbor was throwing out.  They knew that we might like it since we were new homeowners and were in need of patio furniture.  Well, she sat around on the porch in this sad state for a long time.

Well, I finally got around to reinforcing the wobbly legs (after my husband broke a bench by standing on it), and sanding her down a bit.  Then, for $15 she is good as new with a fresh coat of paint.

Not quite so embarrassing to show off on the front patio anymore.I think it goes pretty well with the porch swing, too. 

The next part of our makeover involves painting the trim of the house.  What a beast of a project!

Refurbished Porch Swing

I found this little beauty out at the curb with a whole bunch of other stuff ready for the trash.  But I knew we've been wanting a porch swing for a long time.  The frame was good - not even rusty -

 
but the fabric seat was trashed.

I thought, I could fix that!  So it was off to the fabric store to look for some new fabric.  I found the outdoor fabrics and then thought, Whoa!  $20 a yard that's like $100 in fabric alone.  Yikes.  Maybe the swing will go right back into the trash heap where I found it after all. As I was talking to the lady at the cutting table, telling her about my price tag problem, she told me to look in the red tag fabrics and see if there was any there.  She walked me back and pulled out 3 or 4 choices that had a much more reasonable $8 a yard price tag.  What a steal, right?  One fabric immediately stood out and I got it right away.  
Next, I needed the batting for the inside - again, I needed outdoor appropriate stuff and it is a little more expensive, but thanks to Joann's 40% off coupons, I had it covered.  I was able to use the batting (as seen above) for half of it, it just needed to be cleaned off a little. 
So for about $60 of $70 I was able to make this porch swing new again.  Pretty good deal considering we would have paid 3 or 4 times that for a new one. 

Here's the "new" swing!

I actually wanted to repaint the bars white, too, but Jared talked me out of it. I think it looks pretty good -especially for my first time covering a swing.  I'm excited to have a place to relax and read a book while the kids are playing outside or cuddle with my hubby on those warm summer nights.  Yay!

Toy Box Into Bench Makeover Part 2

So here is part 2 of my bench makeover. I made this little cushion to go on top.  This way it's not quite so hard when you sit on it.  I filled it with - 1 inch foam.  Dang that stuff is pricey (if it wasn't I would have gone a little thicker, but it will do).  Anyways, it adds nicely to the other touches of red I have in my front room.