DIY Platform Swing/Glider

So I finally have a project to share with you all, yipee!!  I know, it's been awhile.  However I am really excited at how this turned out and hopefully will be helpful to some of you. 

I found a really neat platform/glider swing in a catalog that I wanted to buy for my oldest (well, all three kids actually).  But at over $300 I didn't want to spend that kind of money, so my Dad and I set out to make it ourselves.  Below is the finished project, let me give you a general idea of what we did, okie dokie?

Below is a picture of what we bought for the project.  We went to our local big box home improvement store, spent about $55 total.  We purchased the following:

• precut 3/4" plywood sheet, cut to 3'x4'
• two precut sections of 1" diameter pvc pipe, 2' long
• four pvc end caps
• 2 pieces foam insulation for wrapping exterior pipes, 4' long
• 2 sections of chain link, 6 links per section, rated to hold 350 lbs
• section of indoor/outdoor carpet to cover the plywood base
• truck rope, rated to hold 300+ lbs, can't remember exact length, probably 30 ft or so
• 2  lock loop/carabeeners to hold chain to swing set, but we didn't end up needing them

Here is a picture of the swing/glider that I found.  If you are interested, you can read more about it  here:

So a brief overview of what we did.  We took the chain link and looped it through the hooks on the swing set, those that you'd use to attach a swing.  We then ran the rope through the chain link, knotting it off at the bottom as you can see to keep the rope from moving around.

We didn't end up using the locking loops/carabeeners we originally purchased because as you can see the opening for the chain to attach to the hoop on the swing set is pretty small.  However if you had a swing set with a larger loop opening, or for extra peace of mind you could definitely use those locking loops to attach the chain to the loops on your swing set.

A view of the swing looking down.  The platform as you can see has rounded edges, we cut the edges with a sawz-all and then sanded them smooth and rounded them off.  The rope was strung through the handles, then through the top of the platform and was knotted off on the underside.

We stapled the carpet directly to the board, using a staple gun.  We split the pipe insulation along the pre-cut side and then wrapped it around the edges and then used the staple gun to affix it to the board as well. 

We used a drill to drill holes in the pvc pipe, then threaded the handles through the rope.  We knotted off above and below the handles to make them more stationary.

So, this little tutorial wasn't exactly in the order done.  But hopefully you get the general idea.  Please feel free to ask any questions necessary.  I didn't really take the time when I made this to write it all down, so I'm writing this from memory (which isn't the greatest!)

My kids have been having a blast on this thing.  They can stand and swing front to back or side to side.  They sit and play or read on it.  Two kids at a time can sit on it.  It also was made to grow with them, so we can adjust the height by simply moving the knots on the rope to raise or lower the swing.

Please click on "Linky Parties I Love" to see where I'll be sharing my newest project!

Bunny Cake and Silly Faces

The other day we had a chance to do one of our fun Easter traditions, make our famous, "Bunny Cake". This year we even did things a bit differently, and made it GFCF. It turned out great!

We used jelly beans and salt water taffy from Trader Joes and some cake decorations my Mom picked up awhile ago. To make the "whiskers", we just stuck white toothpicks in a piece of salt water taffy. The rest is pretty self explanitory. Cute, no?

The kids and I had a lot of fun, and it's fun to carry on traditions. My grandma, or "Nanny" as I called her used to make these cakes for us grandkids. Once she passed away, they stopped, but I'm happy to start up the tradition again with my own kids.

What family traditions do you do with your family for Easter?

Linking up our pictures at "Embrace the Camera", click here to see more!:

Shoebox Storybook Stage

My kiddos and I made this shoebox stage today for puppets. It was fairly easy, free and they had fun.

I don't think I need to go into step by step instruction here, it's pretty self explanatory. I will say that using a glue gun makes things easier and the construction should last longer.

We used a variety of things. Craft sticks, construction paper, markers (washable of course!), pencils/pens, cardboard and Mommy manned the hot glue gun. We even colored some chipboard from my scrapbooking stash and added them for extra flair.

I would say it took us about an hour to put it together. I'm hoping they'll play with it a lot longer, and so far so good!

Start holding onto shoeboxes, so you can join in on the fun!

Here's to creativity and hopefully a few less, "Mommy, I'm bored!".

Felted Wool Sweater Hat

I am in love with the sweater hat I just made for my daughter. It is the cutest thing, she looks so sweet in it. I took an old wool sweater of hers and felted it and came up with it off the top of my head.

Being that I just came up with it, I have no real "tutorial" so to speak. It was a somewhat random process, so it would be really hard for me to try and explain what I did after the fact.

If you would be interested in trying to make one yourself, let me know. If I get a lot of requests then I'll start looking for another sweater and will post my version of a "tute" (for what it's worth).

It wasn't hard to make, and it's no sew which is always a big plus for me, since the only "sewing" I do as of now is hand stitching and that is sketchy at best. I added the floral pin to just cute it up a bit, got it from a sweet blog friend, Emily.

I used some cute grosgrain ribbon to help made the tassel on top. I also used some scraps to help make the tassel too, very little of the original sweater went in the trash.

Pretty much the sides were just knotted together, similar to making one of those no-sew polar fleece blankets. Very simple.

Please click on "Linky Parties I Love" to see where I'll be linking up.

Cheap Thrills

Summertime is officially here. Lots of fun. Accompanied with lots of, "I'm bored", "There is nothing to do" and "He/She is bothering me". The solution, keep them busy! Sometimes easier said than done, especially when you don't want to spend a lot of money. However there are many great things to do that don't cost much (or are completely free) that don't necessarily require that you GO somewhere. Some oldies but goodies we enjoy are:

Painting $1 models from the craft store. Note that the paint DOES wash off of surfaces easily, but still have the kids wear playclothes!

Who doesn't love a good game of dress up?

Have fun eating a messy lunch, in this case, spaghetti.

Find a local petting zoo and feed the animals, $0.25 a handful!

By far our best investment all summer long is our $15 wading pool.

Eat your meals "alfresco" (thanks Fancy Nancy!)

Tire them out at the park! Have fun finding new parks in the area that you normally don't frequent.

We had a blast just hanging out at Bass Pro Shop a few weeks back. We rode ATV's and boats, and the place was a Taxidermist's paradise!

You can never go wrong with Kool-Aid playdough.

This is just a sample of things we like to do during the summertime that doesn't bust the bank. What do you like to do with the kids? I'm always up for new ideas, please join in and share your ideas!

Backyard Painting

One of my favorite things to do in the summertime is let the kids paint outside. They LOVE to paint pictures, but since they tend to be messy this is the way to go. It makes the budding Picasso's happy to paint and the Mommy happy to have an easier mess to clean up.

Many times I just throw them in the pool or hose them down to clean up the mess. See, told you it was easy! Plus I always use washable fingerpaints to make the clean up easier.

I usually just take white craft paper and thumbtack it directly to the fence boards. Easiest way I've figured out so far. Here I've just taken easel paper and unrolled it and we also make sure to paint on both sides of the paper to make it stretch as far as possible.

I've also recently discovered that solid wrapping paper makes great painting paper too. Black is awesome, it really makes the colors pop on the paper. You can easily find solid wrapping paper on sale (think after holiday sales).

I have the kids use paintbrushes, foam stamps, their fingers, whatever they like. Dollar stores and dollar bins are good places to find random painting supplies. I even take cheap kitchen sponges and cut them up into shapes sometimes.

Having fun!

For paint pans, I just use those cheap aluminum baking pans. They hold lots of paint and are easy to rinse out and reuse.

My daughter loves mixing up the colors and glopping on the paint.

Fun times! Have a backyard painting party. I guarantee your kids will love it and you'll love how it keeps them occupied and the mess is less!

Free Family Friendly Movies!

Regal Theatre Group is staring up their annual Free Family Film Festival this week! All across the country you have an opportunity to view free family friendly films, perfect for hot summer days and stir crazy kids!

Click here to find the listings for the city near you!

I'll be sharing my frugal family fun with the linky parties listed under "Linky Parties I Love", check out the right hand side of my page for the directory link.

Beaded Fab Flip Flops

Made these flip flops a few weeks ago with my Mom's group at church. They were fun to make, and pretty easy too. It's a great way to dress up cheap flip flops, or renew an older pair that you already have. Let me tell you what I did.


I took glass beads and wire (26 gauge I believe, straight out of the hardware department) and wrapped the plastic upper part of the flip flop. I tried to use the clear plastic cording that most people use when making beaded jewelry, but it was too hard to keep in place while wrapping the strap.

After wrapping the shoe with the beads/wire I took organza ribbon and wrapped the shoe with it, paying attention to cover as much of the exposed wire as I could. This is especially important on the underside of the strap, don't want that raw wire rubbing against your footie now! I also think it looks really cute, it finishes the look off nicely.

Doesn't that look great!?! So many possibilities. Plastic pony beads, buttons, glass beads, heck even just wrapping ribbon around the plastic upper strap would look cute.

To finish off the shoe I continued both the wire and ribbon all the way down to the bottom of the shoe, where the strap meets the foam bottom. I pushed up the bottom of the strap and slipped the wire and ribbon under it and wrapped it tightly a few times to secure.

I've even worn them a few times, they felt great. Now don't go jumping into the pool with these beauties on, but they will look great all summer long and you'll get lots of compliments on your cute shoes (I sure have). Fun craft to do with the kiddos too!

Click "Linky Parties I Love" on the right under "For Your Information" to see what fun parties I'll be linking up these fun flops to!

Footprint Fun Tees

So this is something I decided to make my in-laws for part of their birthday present this year. I think they turned out pretty cute. This is the first time I've ever painted on fabric before. It wasn't too tricky. There are some splatters here and there but all in all not bad, don't you think?

I took white acrylic paint and covered the bottom of each child's foot and make a print on the shirt. This was pretty tricky but the kids did well. I just kept baby wipes and an old towel handy for quick clean up when we were done.

To make the letters I just used a stencil and cut a piece of sponge to use for the paint application. I didn't have a stencil brush or I would have used that. To make it easier, I cut my stencil up into individual letters as opposed to trying to position an entire alphabet stencil. That was much easier. I kept baby wipes handy to wipe the back of each letter off when I was done using it so that the paint wouldn't transfer or smudge.

I wasn't going to do a border around the lettering originally, but I ended up making a few boo-boo's and needed to hide them. It doesn't really look bad, but hopefully as I practice doing this I'll get better and won't have to always do that. I have several more family members whom I'm sure would appreciate being "walked on". Doesn't hurt that it's a really inexpensive gift, especially if you wait for the t-shirts to go on sale. Mine were only $2 a piece!

Linking up to the following: