Budget/Renter Friendly "Screened" Porch

 Hello Readers. Spring and summer is a beautiful time to be outside and enjoy some fresh air. But when you do.... the bugs will attack. Mosquitos, bees, wasps, gnats... they're coming for you. What would help is a screened porch but if you are renting that might not even be possible. I have a budget friendly and renter friendly idea.

Before and after.

 

This is my daughters apartment. Its very pretty. It has a beautiful little garden space. The second story porch is large enough to sit on and shielded from the rain or hot sun. But it's not protected from the bugs.

 

The most budget friendly screen we could find was a canopy style mosquito net for a bed. It was the right shape for the porch, I needed something rectangular to fit the porch well. The dimensions do not need to match exactly because the net material is so flexible. The net we chose was a little bigger than the porch itself. There are a lot of options for beds and for camping that can work for this project. The one we chose had loops at the top to hang it from. 

Here is a look at the roof of the porch. It has beams and posts that we are going to use to hang the net. We couldn't drill holes so we had a different plan.

 

My daughter got these Command hooks to hang the net from. They won't damage the posts if/when they are taken down. 

 

These hooks are very easy to use. There is the hook piece and 2 sticky pads. The sticky pads are labeled so you know what side goes on the wall and what side goes on the hook.
 

We stuck the hooks on the posts and beams. We made sure the places where the hooks were going was dirt and dust free. The canopy would be easy to hang on the hooks. We placed to hooks at the 4 corners where the loops were.

 

We made sure to press the sticky side of the hooks to the wood as firmly as possible.

 

We hung the net up at the four corners using the hooks. Easy-peasy right?

 

To add more support and make sure the canopy would never come down. We added some string ties to the seam at the top of the canopy. (Our area can get some strong summer storms.) We used some narrow string that came with the canopy to hang the net from the rafters. We attached the string to the top of the net along the seam line. We used a needle and thread to sew the string to the seam line. We sewed the thread through the seam at the top of the screen and through the string so they were connected and then tied a double knot.

 

The net also had loops in the center of the 2 longer sides. My daughter put a hook up on the beams  in the center of the long sides for those loops. Because we were a little concerned about storms, we tied the net to the beams in between each hook with the string.

 

It is difficult to see the white ties on the white beams. I edited this pic to make it more clear. The arrows are Command hooks that hold the loops. The pink bows are where the string is tied around the ceiling beams.
 

We hung the curtain so it would pool on the floor. We thought that would keep bugs from flying under. 

The dog loves it out there.

And its a great place to sit with morning coffee and work from home without the mosquitos and gnats  attacking.

Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

***Year End Update- The curtains kept the bugs out all summer. It made sitting outside so much nicer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Decorating the Front Porch for Fall with Stuff you Already Have

 Hello Readers. That's right, it's fall, and you want to make the front porch look festive... Like you are in the spirit... Like you cared and tried just a little. But you don't want to spend your whole paycheck at Home Depot to buy more "stuff"? I completely understand. I spruced up my front porch with a bunch of stuff I already had. Read on and I will show you.

 

Fall decor ready!

 

My front porch was tired and dried out from summer and needed a lift.

Summer heat can be rough. The kids destroy stuff. Life happens. Let's get in the fall spirit. What can we use to decorate? Let's start with old clothes.

Go get the sweater vest Grandma Joyce gave you. You never wear it. It's just what we need. If you don't have a festive holiday sweater, try any shirt or sweater in a fall color.

You are not going to wear the sweater. You are going to put the sweater on a big basket. A large flower pot or even a cardboard box will work. Wrap the sweater around the basket and button it up the front. 

Tuck the excess sweater down into your container. You have an instant fall planter. 

 

You can put a new plant in or use something that survived the summer heat. It doesn't really matter, the decorated planter will make a fun fall decor piece.

Next we need some pumpkins. You can buy some or you can make some. That's right, you can make some. If you have kids, his is a fun project for them. You need a shirt. I had this orange shirt so I went with that.

The toilet paper is going to get wrapped with the shirt. You can stuff the excess down in the center and you get a pumpkin shape. 

If you need to, use a pencil or a stick to push the fabric down in the center.

You can make a stem for your pumpkin from brown paper. Let the kids help if you want.

Now really, which is cuter? The real pumpkin or the one we made?

This blue plaid rug was on my back porch but I realized it went better here. The doormat is from summer but it has some orange on it that matched the pumpkin we made. Can it work for fall? I think so. I did buy the giant mum because I saw a lady selling them from the back of a truck. And I like to support the local economy.

 

The final look.

Putting it all together. Happy Fall Y'all.

*Year End Note From Chickie- Total honesty, I forgot to water those mums and they died. Like, quickly too. It was sad.

Hammock Pillow

Hello Readers. How have you been doing lately? I have been trying to relax and pretend I am in the middle of a surprise stay-cation. I am not being restricted to my house, I am just chilling out at home watching "Lady and the Tramp" with my 5 year old everyday. 

(His movie review -"The dogs talk!" And yes, now he wants another dog.)

I found this dress at a clothes swap a while back. I thought it was a strange dress because it looked like it was made of burlap. Who makes a ladies dress of burlap? It had such pretty embroidery on it but burlap, really? You can see the hem was higher than the lining. After further investigation I think the dress is linen but it shrunk and the weave got tighter and lumpy. It looked rough like burlap but it wasn't actually made from an animal feed sack.

After a lot of ironing this is what the fabric looked like. It just didn't look like clothing fabric to me. It looked like outdoor decorating fabric to me. So.....

I made a pillow. I know it's not very ambitious or exciting but it matched my backyard hammock. I can use it to lounge by the sandbox and enjoy the nice spring weather.

Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

Do You Want to Build a Snowman?

Hello Readers. You might be out shopping today since it is Black Friday here in the U.S. I avoid shopping in crowds so I am home decorating for Christmas. Here is an easy craft for you and maybe your kids to make.

Its a snowman!

 This snowman started as a white knit poncho. It became a little ghost at Halloween. I had him out on my front porch.

When I looked at him I thought he could be a cute little snowman. I left the head as it was. It is stuffed with plastic bags. 

I stuffed another section with plastic bags to make a round little snow belly. I tied the bottom closed with a big rubber band. I tucked the fringe up in the back so it didn't show.

I used my hot glue gun and added buttons down the belly. And I added a button nose. 

(Be careful it's HOT glue!)

 I used a scrap of fleece to make a tiny scarf for my snowman.

Here is my finished snowman. He is on my front porch ready to welcome visitors.

Thanks for reading along now go make something fun for yourself.

The Easter Basket Sweater

Hello Readers. It is almost Easter. I found this Easter themed sweater at a clothes swap a few months ago and thought it was perfect for the holiday. The only problem was I didn't like anything about this sweater.

This sweater with the little bunny is way too cute. Like overly cute. Like too sweet cute. It was also VERY heavy. It was heavy as in thick and warm. And it was literally heavy. The material and the appliques and all the beading made this feel like 15 pounds of cute.

It's OK, I had a plan.

I started with this wire basket from my bike. I just unhooked it and put it on the front porch. It is sturdy but that's it. It isn't very attractive.

I put the sweater over the basket and tucked the top of the sweater and the sleeves inside. I didn't cut or alter it, I just tucked it in. It's the easiest project ever!

I put some purple tulips inside. They are in little containers. They matched the purple tulips on the sweater. When they really wilt, I can plant them in my yard.

The sweater basket helped brighten up m porch. I love flowers. I like to put them on the front porch so I can see them when I come in and out. I don't think you can ever have too many. Until I get some more flowers this sweater is a cute addition to my porch.

Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.
 And a very happy Passover and Easter, if you celebrate those holidays.

 *Year end update-I saved the sweater to display next Easter. I hope I never have to wear it again.

Cheap Porch Decor

Hello Readers. How is your Autumn going? It is cooler and finally feels like "sweater-weather" where I live. I like to decorate my front porch to reflect whatever the current season is. I was excited to get ready for Fall. I did something different this time, I used a pallet and a cable spool on the porch this year. They were free. You can't get cheaper than that.

 

I also use some really old paint that has been sitting in my basement for who knows how long. But that made it free. (Does everyone else have a lot of old stuff down in the basement?) I choose white because I like it and it will go with anything. Yes, I spilled some in the garage.

I remember dragging this pallet home from my neighbors driveway. It was heavy and I had to carry it uphill. They put it out for trash and you know what that means. It is up for grabs, so I took it.

 I painted the pallet white all over with my old white paint. It was going to be on the porch, so I didn't worry about being too perfect. I just tried to cover all the surface.

    

Here is my cable spool. I dragged this home from a different neighbors driveway. They were moving and were giving a lot of stuff away.

The spool also got a couple of coats of that old white paint.

Here is my porch. The horizontal slats made the pallet a great plant stand and the spool is a great little table. I am planning a white winter/snow/snowman porch coming in Winter and these will look good then too.

 All of these white flowers came from a third neighbor who had too many and gave some away. Yep, that's right. For free.

*****     BONUS TRACK     *****

One more idea for cheap outdoor/porch decor. Cinder blocks are great for outdoor projects. Cheap and durable. This plant stand was made by my friend Patti. I love how she painted the blocks and the wooden shelves different colors. It is so fun and eye-catching.

Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

*Year end update- The pallet and the spool are still on my porch. White was a great choice.