#DIY #Porch #Swing #Fabric #Pad #Cover Use what you've got & save #money

                                                         Do you have a porch?
                                                  
          Front or back porch, it doesn't matter because it's a place to relax & watch life go by!
      Here is eastern Tennessee, we have always enjoyed a porch to sit on and the peace it brings.
         Almost every home I ever recall living in as a child, had a porch to enjoy whether it was big, small, open, closed in etc.
           And the good thing about porches are that they can be enjoyed on any type home, be it a fancy one, or just a plain ole country home.
          They really reflect a persons personality I think.  I love looking at porches as I pass by homes.
                     The ideas you can gain by how they decorate them, is just numerous.
            Some of the most peaceful times can be spent sitting on a porch watching the birds flutter by or whistling their tune, the sound of the rain hitting the tin roof (that's my favorite) or watching the cars go by, the kids playing in the yard, wind-chimes dinging, the scent of the honeysuckle as the breeze blows by etc.
                 We have a tiny opened front porch that is peaceful to enjoy the view from it of the beautiful mountains.                                                         

And no matter what season it is, I can enjoy viewing colored leaves, blooming flower trees & even lovely snow covered everything as this is my view seen from that tiny open front porch.                               

         And one day back in April while sitting on that porch, I seen & captured God's pretty hummingbird feeding on my feeders

           My hubby is about to go surgery for colon cancer & his re-coop time will be a lenghty one.
And while I am more of an outdoor porch sitter than he is, I know he will appreciate all these beautiful things the eye can enjoy while lounging on a porch.
            With Summer here, I just love knowing that I can enjoy either of my porches to stay still, stay positive, stay in prayer & stay in peace that just a few minutes outside on them can provide.
             I have made new fabric covers for just about all of my outside items such as chair cushions, table clothes, even umbrella fabric draped over to hide the faded umbrella that's not that attractive any more.   I did a western matching theme here for my front porch for red bandanna designed fabric.  I just clip the umbrella circled fabric cover over it and use clothes pins to hold it on. That way I can remove it as well as the table cover & cushion and wash it as needed. The only thing missing here is a Big Ole Country Wooden Rocker ;)

And from here not only can I see the mountain peaks line backdrop, I can enjoy God's beauty found in a birds nest build within my dwarf Indian Blood peach tree that I planted years ago in honor of my mom.

                             My beautiful pink rose bush

                 I've actually made two porch sitting areas and two patio areas on each of the sides of the house.   And I'd love to add a new rolled out attached house side wall awning to our open patio area and a new fire-pit to our other side wall open ground area for enjoyment.                         

           But for now I will direct you  to my back porch, which is my favorite place/porch to enjoy. Because it is screened in and I don't have to worry about flies, gnats, misquotes, wasps etc. bothering me. When I do see an occasional one I use my handy dandy fly swat for that! Every porch needs a fly swat :) But I'd like to find a small bug sapper for that spot as well.
            I've had this metal porch swing for a long time. My daughter tossed it out when the cushions & awning dry rotten from the lengthy sun espoused.
            I knew I could recover it, which I have done so twice now. The first time in a rust stretchy fabric & now I have taken that off and made me a country rooster theme fabric coverings for it.

            And here is where my #DIY  comes in to encourage you to make a new cover for yours too in the awning cover & the chair pad cover/feel soft pad. By using things you already have and not have to spend extra money on fabrics.
          What did I use?  Well, I took old table clothes, fabric panel squares, old curtains, and Remnant fabric pieces, old fiberfill stuffing from a body pillow, along with a child's comforter & made my complete set with even matching pillows.
              I first took my tape measure, pen & paper & went outside & measured my awning, then the width & length of my swing seat. I allowed extra inches for the hang over of the awning.
                             Lets start with the awning cover first.........
                I took an old table cloth that was cotton in a checkered pattern & some old brown curtains & ripped them apart and placed them together to match my awning size & sewed them together.  I made sure my brown fabric was long enough to create an over hang when lapped it over the bar frame. I sewed fabric ties to it's under neath side so I could tie it on my awning bars. 
                                     

 

For the Pad for the swing seat, I took pieces of the same checkered table cloth, my 2 fabric panel squares & some matching rooster fabric remnants & sewn it all together in the size I had measured for earlier. I added a solid color brown fabric piece to it's back side. 

And then I left one end open (like a pillow case) so I can add my soft inside layer to it.

                       What did I use for the inside as a stuffing / padding?  Well, batting is expensive so to save money, I took an old child's toddler bed comforter that I had and just placed it inside my cover I had just made.It fit it perfectly! I used Velcro sewn strips to the bottom so I can remove it and wash it if needed. But you can sew on fabric ties if you like.
                        For the pillows, I used 2 more fabric panel squares & red rooster fabric remnants for the back side, left one end open so I can stuff in my poly fill.
                         Again, poly fill batting whether it is the filling kind or the flat piece kind, is somewhat costly depending on how much you need. So I, took an old body pillow, tore-off the cover to it & cut as much as I needed to stuff within my 2 tiny pillows. The filling inside was solid, a bit messy looking, but it was clean from where I had washed & dried my body pillow. So I cut what I needed across & it was much like thick sheep skin sheering but you just cut the amount you need & stuff it in your pillows. Then close shut by sewing the open end by hand, by machine etc. I used the machine.

               
                          When all completed, I love my country theme look for my screened in back porch.

            

               I opened my screen door and took a picture for you to see my cozy spot better :)

 

We put indoor outdoor carpet on the floor of it so all those pestful insects can't find there way through the cracks. But If I sit right there in that swinging porch seat & look forward about 20 feet, I can spot what you see below in my picture taken a couple of years ago. When a doe deer mother & her two fawns lingered and played there on my bank at the woods edge for almost 30 minutes. 

     I snapped that picture through the screen so that's why it's not good quality.

                 So, if your porch swing needs a new fabric cover or the awning has lost its appeal then just use what you've got already & make a new one to enjoy for the summer. It's easy and will let your porch sitting be comfy & pretty.
                    Now my next  idea is to get me some string lights out there to enjoy in the late evenings for Summer :)
                                                                   Y'all enjoy your summer ~
                   I know that hubby will be comfy on our porches as he rest to re-cooperate.
Well, that's my thinking as I made it comfy for him to enjoy. A few things I plan on adding to the area are potted plants, a small water fall potted item, maybe some wind twirlers or chimes to the outside over hang. Those are the summer products that give you enjoyment in the sight & sound they create while resting on your comfy porch. So be sure to come back soon because I'll add those projects to share with you as well & give you some Summer outdoors inspiration.
                                    

#DIY Summer Scented @Purex #Crystals Lighted Jar Terrarium

   Remember when I told you a while back in my Purex Crystals coupon giveaways,  that I'd find other enjoyed uses for the product besides just adding it to your laundry wash load? And I told you that I'd be sure and come back with a #DIY post and share those ideas for the Crystals & those cute lids on the containers they come.
    Well, that's what I'm about to show & share with you below. So start saving up those glass jars in different sizes,  their lids, that you would otherwise through out and make yourself or someone else a pretty summer lighted jar terrarium to enjoy. One that smells great too! With the help of Purex Crystals.

Here are the items I used but use your imagination and try other things as well to make it your own.


 My items were:
   *Large & small glass jars. One was a large pickle jar w/lid & the other a glass jelly jar w/just the cap from a Purex Crystals Container that's used for measuring the Crystals that it comes with.
  *Fake silk flowers that you love (you will be using the flowers & stems
   *Scissors for cutting the silk flowers
   *Tiny battery lights that you find for $1 at the Dollar tree, Fiber optic insect battery light in dragon fly also purchased at the Dollar Tree for $1 each
    * some clear tape
    *Purex Crystals
    *Craft paint in choice of colors, craft brushes, (optional for painting a scene or clip art on the outside off the jars)
     *Wall paper wallies (optional for decoupaging into the inside wall of the glass jar) "you could also use magazine clip art cut out that matches your theme)
     *Burlap of any type fabric if you want to cap the jars lid for decoration & ribbon
            Here we go ~~with lots of step by step photo's.
                   Make sure your glass jar is clean & dry inside & out. Then pour the amount of Purex Crystals into the bottom of the jar that you desire. Just enough to act as a base to house the things you will place inside it so they wont move around. So, sort of nestle your items onto and pushed down in to your Purex Crystals.


                  First I took the tiny battery light choices, and I cut the vein out of a fake silk leaf at the back in a V shape. Then you slide that cut part into and around the bulb of the battery light. Then, sort of overlap the leaves back side two pieces and use some clear tape to tape it onto your battery light.
 
See it lite up inside? Its so pretty at night :)
 
 Now, if you choose to paint on the outside front to add dimension (optional) then just use a tiny dab of craft paints.

                 Then, pick you a long stemmed fake silk flower & tape that stem to the back of your battery light as well. This will act as a lifter each time you need to reach in & lift up the battery light turn turn it on & off from displaying the light inside.
                Place your items however you like them inside your glass jar. If you like to do as I did, you can decoupage on your magazine clip art, old post card or greeting card clip art, photos of your loved one etc. to the inside of the jars wall. I used some wallies pastables  that I got here from this web site of wallies.com  They are hummingbirds.
               Then, I used craft paint and just hand painted some flowers that matched my chosen silk flowers inside my jar, to the outside front of my jar near the bottom.
            For the lids, on the big glass jar I screwed my tin lid on first then capped it with a square shaped pieces of burlap fabric. I over lapped that with a rubber band & tied a green silk ribbon abound it.
            For the small glass jars top, I used the cap from the Purex Crystals container. I drilled tiny holes in the cap, tied twin string around the jars top lip then ran that string through the back of the doomed cap and tied it in a bow. This method lets it stay on top loose to just lift off and on yet lets the aroma of the Purex Crystals, come through to enjoy.
          I wish I had some tiny fake insects like honey bees, lady bugs, etc. to put inside my jar to have them of the leaves.
          In the big jar, my sister gave me the prettiest dragon fly battery operated light. The dragonfly is fiber optic and its so pretty. She said she got it at the Dollar tree for $1.00. I must go in search for more!  I think they would look lovely sitting on-top of a tiny piece of drift wood within a big glass jar.
  Here are both my jars I did
                             

               
          I hope you'll try out this fun summer #DIY project too and let the lovely scents of Purex Crystal be something you enjoy somewheres besides just the wash! :)
          Don't forget to go  here and get your entry in to win my Purex Crystals coupon giveaway!
          The Purex Crystals comes in Soooooo many wonderful scents!
       And as a purex insider, I get the fun privilege at trying out the newest scents and then introducing you to them & host a giveaway for free coupons to go try them yourselves.
          The scents I used in my jars were the Fresh Mountain Breeze & the Fabulously Fresh Scent.
 
See those pretty caps on the containers? Just perfect for so many craft ideas!
               So before you leave here today, try to win one of my 3 free product coupons for the Fabulously Fresh scent 
found  here Or my Purex No Sort Color Detergent Giveaway found Here
      I have other giveaways too :) found on my side bar.
And don't forget to watch out for both blogs as Tracy & I both host our exciting
Mother's Day Gift Guide Event that will unfold on April 26th for a weeks worth of daily introduction to some awesome companies who are sponsoring us both in duo reviews and giveaway prizes that we know you'll love learning about and having the chance to win.
    So visit ~ Tracy   too even before then, because she has some great giveaways and she's always sharing the coolest #DIY projects over at Cotton Pickin Cute
                I hope each of you folks enjoy your  Easter weekend ahead & enjoy good food, good company & good blessings that come your way. ~ Take Good Care ~ Julie