I can hardly believe that it has been month since Violet's last day of First grade...and two since Henry's last day of pre-k!
We have been so busy these past four weeks that the kids and I haven't been home for an entire week since school ended! We've been having loads of fun flitting from city to woods to farmlands to beach but are happy to back at home too. Because, while it is fun to be away and adventuring there is something to be said about...
Earlier, in the Spring we acquired a few items either extremely cheap or totally free and those few things have helped our backyard to continue to "grow" with us and really make it a place we love to be.
The two items that started the backyard updates were a free garden cart and a $3 piece of reclaimed lumber...
The garden cart was a boring brown/black plastic but then received a coat of turquoise spray paint to add a pop of color to our backyard...
And the reclaimed board? I put a few coats of polyurethane on the board and then we simply plunked it atop a few cinder blocks (which we already had in our yard) and, so that it wouldn't shift, bought two c-clamps to clamp the board to the cinder blocks...Simple as that, a new rustic bench...This is, without a doubt, my favorite place to sit on our deck. It just makes me happy.
That being said, I also love to sit on our new comfy outdoor cushions...
These news cushion covers have been a long time coming. The original ones were dirty and gross from several summers, but really, who wants to spend their time making outdoor cushions? The most difficult part of this project was deciding a color. I didn't want a bold floral or geometric because that's just not my style, after days in and out of stores and online we finally decided on a bright solid turquoise. I may have lied a tiny bit, because while the making of the cushions wasn't difficult, it was time consuming. I picked the stitches out of the old ones to that I could simply use them as a pattern and so that I could reuse the piping (no sense wasting perfectly good outdoor piping!). In the end, I love the brown/turquoise combo and huge pop of color the cushions bring to the back yard!
Plus, bonus...I happened to have this wonderful blue/brown/turquoise print in my stash from a "freecycler" that made for perfect accent pillows!
There were a few bits of turquoise fabric scraps leftover from making these cushions so rather than throw them away, why not use them as "curtains" for our new "tree house"!
The kids had long passed fitting into their old freebie Fisher Price playhouse and more often than not were on top of it instead... We had been trying to come up with a plan for an inexpensive tree house to put in it's place when lucky us, someone in our neighborhood happened to be giving away a free playhouse!
The timing wasn't at all perfect, but thanks to a playground building brother-in-law and his truck and trusty assistant...we passed along the old plastic house to a neighbor and moved this wooden one in!
We are amazed at how perfectly it fits right up into the bows of our beloved cherry (fairy) tree, it's like the two were destined to be a match. This tree house has truly been a labor of love. It arrived in a pretty bare bones state. We added handles and wooden ladders and a window just to keep everyone safe, and use our old (too small) slide as an "escape route"...
But aside from the "nuts and bolts" kind of stuff...we've also been adding little bits and pieces and odds and ends to make it just right!
From small purchases of buckets, pulleys, steering wheels, lanterns, lights, telescopes, horns, and a fairy leaf roof...
To repurposed odds and ends from our house and my mom's garage, horseshoes, welcome signs, hanging baskets (suitable for stuffed animal swinging), chimes, dinner bells and a scrappy flag...
The space also has a new table and chairs for school, restaurant, or art play...
A peg board for "tools" underneath...
The "drum set" still lives!
And, just because I thought it was cute (and useful) a little bird storage seat...
All of it nestled among flower boxes, fairy gardens, drying mint, and flowers for butterflies and hummingbirds...
This is our summertime happy place. The place where we retreat to throughout the day. The place where we eat, relax, entertain, celebrate, play, tell stories, put on plays, watch wildlife and oh so much more...
Violet and Henry couldn't stop thanking me for all of the finishing touches put into their new tree house, and those thank yous...well they make this new space even better!
Happy summertime!