Painting the Brick and an Awesome Tree Swing!

Remember the weekend that Papa Pea and Sweet Pea went away?  Well, I spent that weekend painting the brick on our house.

One beautiful sunny morning, I got the primer on.

And I ran out with this much left to go.  Rats!!!  I had to quit for the day due to other commitments.  Went to the hardware store on my way home and finished the next day.  Then, I put the paint on and finished that before Papa Pea and Sweet Pea came home.  (Don't tell anyone, but it's amazing how much more quickly I can get things like this done when they are gone!)

I stood back.  Didn't like the color.  It was too light and too yellow.  Dang it!  The swatch perfectly matched the house.

Back to the paint store for more swatches and a new can of paint.

Then, when Papa Pea and Sweet Pea came home, they both helped me with the final coat.

Ta dah!  It's still not the perfect color, but it's close enough!  (Sorry this is a little blurry...)

As a reminder, this was the before.

This is much fresher, I think.  Of course, then we noticed that the shutters were REALLY faded.  And so was the trim.  (And so it begins....)  So, Papa Pea gave them a fresh coat of paint, too.  I think it brightens up the entryway a lot.  (Oh, man...lots of hornets' nests behind those shutters!  Not fun!)

We still have to paint the shutters on the garage.  Maybe you can tell the difference with how faded those are.  Today, Papa Pea is working on getting forms for the sidewalk built and getting that all graded.  We decided the dirt was too high up on the foundation by the garage with how high they had the sidewalk before.  So, we're going to add a step up to the front porch and lower the rest of the sidewalk a bit.  That will get the dirt a foot below the siding, like it's supposed to be.

We are still trying to figure out what to do for a front door.  It is so dark inside that foyer.  I want a full sidelight and a door that is 3/4 window.  We are looking at some.  Also trying to decide what color the door should be.  Now that the brick is tan, I think it could handle an accent color.  Maybe sage green or blue?  I'm going to upload the photo to Sherwin Williams and see if I can try some door colors.  I'm very happy with how this is shaping up.

On the lighter side, we have been promising Sweet Pea a swingset forever and a day.  We haven't been able to find one we're happy with.  So, in the meantime, Papa Pea said, "Let's build you a tree swing!"

They went out to the workshop and cut out this flower-shaped piece of wood.  They sanded all the edges.  Sweet Pea was out there with her safety glasses on and everything.  (Oh, see the John Deere stuff behind them?  We sold it for what we wanted to get!  Yay!  Paid 2/3 the cost of the new mower and cleared up the shed!)

With her dad, she painted the seat purple.  (These are all paints left over from painting her room and our kitchen.)  Next, she wanted to paint some pink petals and a yellow center.  I offered to pencil in some lines for her, and she did the painting.  She painted the edges of the petals, too.

She was quite blissful while doing this.

She wanted to do polka dots on it, too.  So, I gave her one of my sponge daubers from my scrapbooking days.  She's just like her mama.  She had to sort of measure out and plan where she wanted each color of dot to go.

Eventually, she gave that up and just let loose with a little.  It was fun to watch her do this.

We had this rope laying around.  My dad had given it to us some years back.  It was perfect.  Wrap it around the branch....

Thread it through a hole in the seat and tie some good knots.

Give it a try to see if the height is good.

Practice getting on!  We had to teach her this strategy...it's too hard to climb onto it like a regular swing.

And start pumping!  (Don't you just love the outfits she picks out for herself?!)

Of course, it's much more fun when Mom or Dad is willing to push you!

Oh, yeah.  There was some squealing going on here!  (We've since trimmed off that low hanging branch!)

She likes how this one will spin her around as she swings.

It's one happy kid!  When she stopped, she said, "I'm so glad I didn't get a swing set.  This is WAY funner!"  LOL.

As I left for work this morning, she was already dressed and ready to go out for some more swinging.  It was not too difficult a project, and she loved the fact that she did so much of it herself, too.  A nice father-daughter project!

I'll be back with more quilty stuff tomorrow.  Friday Night Sew In photos from last week!  And I actually have a small finish to report!  Woo hoo!

Have a wonderful day!

Untill next time,

Mama Pea

 

Comments

[Doris]

This is so sweet... I love that they made this together!

[Donna]

Love the swing and I know Papa Pea and Sweet Pea will always remember making the swing together ... great memories!
The house looks so much better. I am with you the door needs to "pop"!
Hugs,
Donna

[Myra]

The paint on the house looks great! It is amazing how much you get done when alone! LOVE the swing too! How fun!

[Allie]

Your house looks wonderful, Stephanie! And that swing is brilliant - Sweet Pea did a marvelous job, it's so pretty!

[sisLH]

Love the swing; Love the yard; Love the fresh look of the shutters (and yes, we had zillions of hornets, and BATS behind ours); Like the freshness of the painted bricks but sorry -you know I still like the original bricks best.When I saw the last little bit by your door, I said "Goodbye pretty brick."

[Lynn]

My sister and I had a swing like that when we were little. It was green and we called it the pickle swing because it looked like a sliced pickle.

The house looks so good!!! And I know what you mean about getting more done by yourself. I have some radiator covers to paint but I've been waiting for school to start. I'll need help getting them to the garage, but I plan to paint them while the family is gone to work/school so I can just do it and be done with it. Otherwise I get interrupted too much which just makes me cranky.

[Maggie Szafranski]

The house is looking great! Our front door has an oval decorative glass with decorative leading, plus two sidelights that really brighten up our foyer! And love the swing!

[Linda]

This was like my most favorite post EVER!!! I love seeing the swing progress and then how much Sweet Pea loved swinging on it!! So cute!!

House is looking good!!! Wonderful improvement!!

[Keely Thomas-Moore]

I agree with you...the brick paint does make your house look a lot fresher and more pulled together. How long did it take you all together? I feel like there looks like a LOT of brick on your home. But I think you did a great job (even with running out of the primer at the beginning).

[Robert Johannesburg]

I think the swing is great, and I like how you got the whole family involved in the process. But more than that, I like the project you did with the brick paint. I think it makes your house look much bigger and more modern. Did you let know "Papa Pea" know that you were going to paint it before he left? That would have been a BIG surprise to come home to unprepared. ( http://San-marcousa.com )