better together

We are in the process of revamping our backyard. There are quite a few outdoor projects that we have slowly been working on every Saturday. All projects(minus the one that I am showing you today) are about 50% done. None would make it to being 100% done, if we hadn’t built this first…

The previous owners of our home had built a special place to put their patio furniture.It was a 7 ft by 7 ft box. We thought it was kind of strange. It was something that really had no use to us. We felt it was just taking up space in the back yard. We wanted to do something with it that would benefit us. So we asked ourselves, what could we do with this space? And the answer… an awesome sandbox!

We started by taking all of the stone off and temporarily relocating it to other parts of the yard.

Next we dug out most of the dirt and relocated that to other parts of the yard.

Then we dug deep holes to hold our pvc pipe.

Then we rolled out the landscaping fabric, cut it to size, and secured it to the ground with landscaping staples.

Then we poured in the sand!

And of course, our son just patiently waited till this was done :) More like tried to crawl out of his swing.

Next step was to paint the pvc pipe. We sprayed it with a plastic primmer first. I recommend that you paint the pipes before putting them in the ground. I am not entirely sure why we put the pipes in before we painted them.

The last piece to this back yard beach was the awning. The awning and the pennant banner were made from duck cloth. Because of it’s size, I had to purchase two 2 1/2 yards of the navy duck cloth. Each piece was 60 x 90 inches. I needed an 80 x 80 inch piece. I had to cut the cloth down to a 60 x 80 inch piece and a 60 x 20 inch piece. Then I sewed those together. For the ties, I just hot glued pieces of twine to the end of the cloth. Then I just tied the twine around the pvc pipe. I was worried that it would slide down the pipe, but it doesn’t. It stays!

It is my sons favorite place to play. Yesterday, while I went to go get his swimsuit, he escaped out the back door to go play. Oh to be 14 months old, with not a care in the world, and the only thing required for playtime is a diaper and some crocs.

This has been a dream. I could not get any of my other outdoor projects done if it wasn’t for this backyard beach.

It’s my sons place to just lounge and read a book while taking a nice relaxing soak in the pool, or while reclining back in his perfectly pint sized chair.

The genius part about this being a sandbox/pool is that I can just hose him down before he comes inside. That way no sand gets inside my house.

This has been the perfect place to play. Although, my son better watch out for the zucchini growing behind him. It has already over taken the carrots. Hopefully it doesn’t overtake the sandbox too ;)