Cheap Seat

Last week when I showed you our new porch roof here, I mentioned that I had saved money by buying an unfinished swing.

This year for Mother's Day, I asked Chris if I could pick out my own gift.  After he did his happy dance, he agreed.  All I wanted for Mother's Day was a porch swing and flowers for my porch.  

So I started scouring the internet trying to find a swing and quickly realized that I could afford nothing.

I did find this one on Lowes.com for $119... but also found that the weight limit was 300lbs.  Well... we could sit on this thing by ourselves, but both Chris and I together and.... let's just say I'm not 100 lbs.

Most of the other swings were $300 and over (too rich for my blood).  So I went over to HomeDepot.com and found this one.

It's unfinished, so I knew I would have to either paint it or stain it, but I don't have a problem with a little elbow grease.  At $99 and with a weight limit of 500 lbs, this baby was calling my name.  And it was 5ft!  That's huge!

Before ordering, being the eternal cheapskate that I am.... I wanted to look around and see if I would find this same swing somewhere cheaper.  Lo and behold, Amazon came through again.  

I bought this little baby and after shipping and everything, my order came out to $74.  And it was delivered in 2 days!!!

It arrived in a box and Chris assembled it in about 10 minutes.  I slapped on a couple coats of outdoor paint and here she is.

I was a little nervous because it had some bad reviews.  Some where saying that it felt flimsy.  When both of us first sat on it together, it did make a creaking sound.  But, I think that was just from it being new and the first time weight was applied to it.  Since then it actually feels very sturdy and doesn't creak or crack :)  I'm happy with my purchase and my deal finding skills!  

-Brooke

The Front Porch is Done!

Chris has been working his booty off this Spring finishing our front porch.  

Last Spring he built the porch, but not the roof.  At the beginning of this year, it looked like this.

I do NOT miss that!  

So, about a month ago, Khloe and I went on a trip with my mom and when I came back Chris had put up the roof!  Since then he's been putting on the finishing touches and as of yesterday, it is complete!!  

We decided to go with rough-cut lumber on the inside roof.  We just got the lumber from our local saw mill. I love how it turned out.  

Chris installed LED can lights on the ceiling which provide a TON of light.  But we also have a light box in the center.  We're still trying to decide if we're going to do a chandelier or a fan there.

On one side of the porch, we have a table, chairs and the grill (probably should have taken the grill cover off for the pics...)  

On the other side is my new porch swing and Khloe's corner.

I'll do another post on this, but I bought an unfinished porch swing for WAY cheap and painted it.  I also made the pillows.  My favorite is the middle one with my baby's hand prints :)

We're loving spending time out here.  

The rest of the yard is looking great this year.  The grass has really come in well.  Here is the view from the road.  We purposely set our house back this far because we love the privacy it provides.

Here's the view as you come down our driveway.

So that's our yearly yard update :)

-Brooke

DIY Photo Canvas Collage

You know you need to update the pictures in your house when your 21 month old goes around pointing at all of the pictures of herself and saying "Baby Khloe".... I think it happens to all of us.  When the kids are first born, we're constantly updating the pictures in the house, but as time goes by... not so much.

I do have to say, I've been good at keeping up with taking pictures, just not printing them.  I still take monthly pictures of her for her yearly photo books.  I'll have to show you last year's photo book sometime.  

Anywho...  I needed to update the pictures in the house and I also wanted to update the wall above my piano.  I've been working the last couple months to finally make my living room into a place I love.  I painted the trim and made new curtains here and updated my entry table here and here.  I have a few more things to check off the list in this room before it feels right to me, but I'm getting there.

My piano area looked like this.

I would really really really love to re-do the piano some how... still thinking it through.

I had a bunch of blank canvases lying around the house, so I decided to do one of those fancy shmancy photo canvas collages that I've seen on Pinterest.

I've used 2 different methods in the past for making photo canvases.  In Khloe's nursery, I put my maternity photos on canvases using Mod Podge and they still look great about 2 years later.  

In our hallway, I used photo mounting spray.... epic fail.  The edges started peeling up not even a month after I made them.

So, we're going back to Mod Podge for this one.

I gathered all of my supplies-

• Photos
• Canvases
• Mod Podge
• Foam Brush
• Command Strips
• Level

I used (1) 16x20, (2) 8x10 and (6) 5x7 canvases.  I had my picture printed at Sam's Club for $12!!  They have great prices on enlargements.

I laid out my canvases to decide how I wanted to arrange my collage.

Then I started Mod Podging.  Put a pretty thick, even coat of Mod Podge on the canvas, put the picture down on top and smooth out any air pockets just using your hands.  Then flip the canvas over so the pressure is holding the picture in place.  For the biggest canvas, I put some books on the corners to hold put more pressure on it while it dried.

I let that dry while Khloe and I watched 1 episode of Sheriff Callie... 30 minutes.  :)

While I had them turned upside down, I went ahead and trimmed off any parts of the picture that over-hung the canvas.  

Once I did that, I flipped them over and put a coat of Mod Podge right on top of the picture and all over the sides.  This is basically sealing it to the canvas.  Your picture will look a little hazy when you first put on the Mod Podge, but no worries, it dries clear.  But still allows you to see the brushstrokes, making it look more like a real photo canvas.  I tried to capture it in this photo.

Let them sit until dry and then they're ready to hang.  When making a collage, a level will be your best friend.  Once I secured the middle picture, I just worked off of it to keep everything level.

5 down, 4 to go!

After they were all hung, my little climber had to sneak into a picture.

I hung them a bit too high over the piano, so there was a lot of open space between them and the piano.  So, I decided to make a quick pallet board sign to fill in.  I'm glad I did, it adds a little something that was lacking.

Happy Summering!!  

-Brooke