Patio Furniture

The end of that week in late March brought more progress on the wall that will be in front of the pavilion.

This got us excited to start planning out the patio space a little.  Over the weekend we went to check out the pavilions.  While there, we stumbled on a sale on a patio set, so we went ahead and bought one that we liked.  It was going to take a few weeks to get it delivered, but that should be good timing!

It should go really well with the wrought iron pieces that I already have. 

Bus Stop Bench

Last summer, my mom & I were out yard sale-ing and saw this bench... for FREE!

I had a moment of hesitation... Did we really need this?

Mike already teases that I have an addiction to old chairs!

But then I thought about how we have all this property- we need a place to sit & enjoy it!  ...And the price was certainly right!!!!

So into the back of the car it went!

This was also the same yard sale that we picked up the ceiling medallion at.
A good day!  :)

Last weekend it was so nice out!  I took the opportunity to work on the bench.  Happily, we had already bought some white wood stain in anticipation of painting more of the picket fence... so I had all of the materials I needed on hand.

Once it was dry, we put it out at the end of our back driveway.

 This post has a photo of what it looked like last week.  It was taken after the little Leyland Cypress was planted, but before the bench was placed.

I dug around in the workshop and found a flower pot to put next to it... I still have to buy some plants for it!

With all of the nice warm days we had earlier this week, we've really enjoying sitting here while waiting for the school bus, instead of in the car!

Here's the Before/After shot:

Cushions for the yard

A few weeks ago, the boys got me a sewing machine for my birthday!
I am so excited to try all those sewing projects I pinned- but a little intimidated...


For my first project, I decided to make cushion covers for some of the outside wicker furniture- a love seat & chair that my mom picked up at a yard sale last year.  We thought it would make a cute little conversation area somewhere in the yard, but I wasn't crazy about the '80s floral print on the cushions.

Here's the before:

And here's the after:

The material has a think canvas-y feel.  It was only $3/yard at Walmart.
I like the tan, cranberry, salmon, black & green stripes- they kind of go with the colors of the house (without being too matchy-matchy)

I even did a little Velcro along the back, so I can remove & wash as needed.

I made the black pillow with some extra material I had laying around & added a little embellishments (a flower made from the scrap material from the cushion covers & some ribbon).
Mike thought our son made it... so maybe it isn't as cute as I thought! Ha Ha!

They're definitely not perfect, but not too bad for my first try at sewing!

Pumping Iron

These pieces of wrought iron were originally balcony railings! 

We were living in our old house at the time, and loved how they would look on our slate patio.  So we decided we to them into an outdoor table & buffet.  Mike removed the bottom bars off all three pieces, and then bolted two of the frames together to form the table.  The other frame we left single- to be the buffet.   

The big question was: What were we going to use for the tops? 
Mike's father came up with the idea of  concrete.  We figured these would hold up well outside, and they did!  Mike & his dad built molds & poured the concrete.  Everything turned out really nice!
  

Hard to see with the chairs in there!



The buffet in the background

One thing we didn't plan on was how we were going to move them (we weren't thinking that far ahead!)

They were HEAVY.  I mean HEAVY...

As in five strong men, a hand-truck & a dolly couldn't get them onto the moving truck!

Mike's brother had the quote of the day with "Only my brother would be trying to move cement!  And why do I have a feeling that my dad had something to do with this?" 

Needless to say, the table tops didn't make the move!

Let me pause here to say- we owe our friends & family BIG TIME for helping us with the move!  We had a seemingly endless amount of furniture & boxes... plus a baby grand piano... and in the pouring rain!


SO grateful for these guys! 
(Plus my brother- don't know where he went off to during the photo op!)

Now back to the yard furniture.

So, here we are left figuring out what to top them with... again. 

I'm hesitant to do another round of cement. 
Not that we're planning to move anytime soon- but I would like the option of moving it around to different spots in the yard without hiring an elephant!



I've considered glass, but worry about safety with the kiddos.  Perhaps we'll wait until we're selecting the stone for our new kitchen counters & see if we can get a deal for ordering it all together.  I love a good deal!
Any ideas are welcome!  Just keep in mind that it needs to be all-season (or at least able to be left outdoors for the spring & summer).



Before

After

In the meantime, as much as I liked the patina that was developing, I wanted a more crisp & clean look.  

Being topless (ahem- the tables) gave me the opportunity to re-painted the iron. 
I also touched up all of our other wrought iron yard furniture, while I had the black spray paint out.



So, another project stands half-complete.

I have dreams of hosting lawn parties (or more likely kids' parties) and creating brightly colored table skirts to go behind the iron.  Party planning- my second passion!