Painting Patio Cushions And What I Learned

My patio chair cushions needed to be refreshed. After sitting in the shed for three years, they were kind of grungy. I tried washing them but they were stained from all the dirt and pollen.

So I decided  I'd try painting them. I figured I had nothing to lose even if it didn't work out - I gathered my supplies...off white homemade chalky paint, black paint, water, paint brush. I dampened the one side of the cushion and then painted on a thin, watered down coat of paint. Let it dry then painted a second coat. The flower pattern was still showing through. It took two more coats of paint.

I liked the way it was going, so the other three cushions got their first two coats painted on too.

After two more coats, I let them all dry before tackling the black stripes I wanted to paint on. A light sanding then I tried to stick tape on the first cushion to mark off my stripes. The first "disaster". The tape wouldn't stick so holding in place, I painted the first stripe followed by the others. Ugh, it was awful looking and I messed up the spacing. Maybe if I added horizontal stripes? Oh, no, I should have left well enough alone! "Disaster #2"!  I didn't want to have to paint over it and try to hide the black. Time for plan B.

Two hours later I had this: four cushions with these pretty new covers.

Yep, I bought fabric and recovered each cushion.  I figure the paint will just make the them more waterproof. Fortunately, the fabric was half off and sewing them didn't take long.

What did I learn? I did learn I could paint fabric but I need a better plan for adding pattern. Stencil perhaps? And painting fabric takes a lot of patience since you have to keep the coats thin which means it takes several coats to cover. Plus you have to let them dry in between coats. Kind of annoying for a two sided cushion you want done quickly.

So next time? I'll probably just get fabric for such a small project.

In other news, yard sprucing up continues. The pups left our test grass alone so Bruce ordered 2 pallets of grass to put down.

Because I'm still taking it easy with my back, I had our son come over and help (bribed him with supper- ha). He and Bruce had it all done in a couple of hours.

I can't tell you how strange it is to walk out and see green grass. After three years, it's a beautiful sight to see.

Now all I have left to do is to repaint the table and chairs, add plants and BBQ art, and spruce up this find from Canton!

It's going to make the perfect barbecue accessory cart.

Hope your week is going well!
Hugs,
Cecilia

Patio Refresh Ideas

We built our barbecue patio about 7 years ago. I moved our table and chairs there and later worked on a flowerbed around it.

In the beginning...clearing out the grass

shortly after it was completed

It was a great spot to barbecue and eat dinner or to sit out in the evening and relax. But what with Buddy and Herbie's destructive puppy stage, things got rather neglected. Now that they are past that stage, I decided it was time to refresh it.

We're so sweet though

I began by cleaning it and moving things around. Then I assessed the umbrella and chair cushions. The umbrella needed to be replaced and the cushions had gotten black stuff on them from the trees and then sitting in the shed for three years. I washed them but they were stained. So, I'll have to do something to them to refreshen them up.

Add more plants to this area and mulch:

Buy a new umbrella - done! I went with lime green. It's my happy color.

Try painting the cushions. I figure I have nothing to loose and just maybe they'll turn out. I'm going to paint them off white and then add a black pattern to them. Fingers crossed! I love the stripe and the one on the left:

Get Bruce to move the boat that's against the shed. It needs to go up to the farm. Once that's done, I want to get a metal shelf or something to place next to the bbq pit so we'll have somewhere to place the meat tray. Something like this:

Add decorative accents to the fence. I have a large metal lizard and will probably use him and then add things as I find them.

My lizard looks a lot like this one only very colorful 

Perhaps a wooden sign like this one

Rustic metal letters perhaps

Or wooden arrows and other wood signs

Solar lights for the umbrella. We don't have an electrical plug out there so these would be ideal. They are from Wal-Mart. I'll have to go check them out.

 Large flower pots planted with mosquito repelling plants. It would not only keep the bugs down but would also soften the area. Here's a few:

Mosquito Plant

Citronella Grass

Catnip

So that's my plan. Here's my idea board:

I'll keep you up to date as I complete each project. I'm so looking forward to Summer and cooking and relaxing outside!

Random Things You Find in Canton

Canton is always a blast to visit and especially fun when my family decides to come too. Bruce and I along with our son, drove up Thursday night to the farm. Then Jay and I got up early Friday morning and headed to Canton.

The weather was very iffy but fortunately the rain held off until after lunch. Jay and I hit the jackpot right off the bat. Love when that happens! However, I will share those in another post.

Today I want to share some of the odd things we saw.

Like these giant metal dinosaurs:

 Jay offered the T-Rex his food. I love the expression on the little boy's face in the background:

Then there was this really creepy doll head. Echoes of "Toy Story" mangled toys:

 Frogs on bicycles:

Mannequin heads from a beauty school - again slightly creepy:

 Painted deer head (yes, it was real):

A pedal wienermobile:

And a yellow food bus:

Saturday, our daughter Megan, her boyfriend, and Bruce also joined Jay and I in Canton. As they shopped and looked, I snapped more random things.

Metal flying pig, anyone?

How about this "Jaws" memorabilia?

Or metal mermaids...

Perhaps you need a unique clock:

Or these Baileys cups:

This large batman doll would be perfect for your own superhero:

Too funny. We did see some more normal things.

Like this pile of antlers:

 Pulleys:

Rusty doorknobs:

 A pile of wood stools:

Parts of windmills (thanks to Fixer Upper, very expensive):

And the front of a car. I think this would be awesome in a man cave. The man assured me the lights would work.

It's always a blast to walk around out in the flea market area of Canton. You just never know what you'll find. And that is all the fun!

Hope you enjoyed my tour of the odd and fun things in Canton.

Linking up here:
Thoughts of Home on Thursday #13