Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Turn Your Old Swing Set into a Play Fort!

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Here is how I used a painter's drop cloth and craft felt to transform our old swing set into a play fort.
When we first purchased our swing set, it looked like this.

After a few years of neglect and abuse, it turned into this:




No one has played on our swing set this summer. When my kids have friends over they may swing for a few minutes, but basically I have been staring at the thing all of June and July wondering what I should replace it with that will encourage some outdoor play. We have a yard that is large by Chicago standards but still pretty tiny so they can't go play soccer out there, they need something to facilitate pretend play.  I purchased a large painter's drop cloth and lay it over the two large rectangle sides, securing it with duct tape. Then I cut the excess off and lay that around the two triangle sides. I used safety pins and tape again to make it tight. After that I just sewed it together using strong thread. I decorated it with some patches I sewed that have what I thought looked like Native American symbols and colors. (red, yellow, green and brown only.) I used craft felt for the patches. They are made from a synthetic material that I figure will be somewhat waterproof. I cut a door out and pinned some ribbon on so they can roll it up or have it hang down. It has survived one or two rainstorms so far withoout wrinkling or falling apart but of course this is an experimental project and I am not sure what winter will do to our little fort. 











9 comments:

  1. Very cute!! I may try this with our old swing set.

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  2. Awesome idea! come share at my party if you like or just drop by. Visiting from @DearCreatives I found you via Make & Takes post.

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  3. Sarah, cute idea to bring new excitement to the old swingset! How did it hold up?

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  4. It has had a hard winter since my husband decided to deposit all the snow he shoveled for the past 4 months against one of the sides but is still intact, unbelievably! I suspect when everything melts it will need some sprucing up. Thank you for your nice comment.

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  5. This is a great idea I think i would have taken down the drop cloth for the winter I hope it survived the rest of the winter

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  6. Great Article… I love to read your articles because your writing style is too good, its is very very helpful for all of us and I never get bored while reading your article because, they are becomes a more and more interesting from the starting lines until the end.

    Play Sets

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  7. Thank for sharing these creative ideas to get more out of my outdoor playset in my backyard.

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