Outdoor Swing Re-do | Utah County Photographer

One of the best neighbors of all time gave my kids this hand-me-down swing when we lived in Tooele. It had been very loved and well used. It didn't take long for my kids to stand on the back bar and bend it, and tear through one of the seats. They used it so much that despite it's shape I couldn't bring myself to give it up. So I tried to get creative. Since I'd love to use this as a prop for child portraits (it already has plans to participate in a 2-year-old's session!), I thought I'd share my how-to here on the blog.

Torn, rusted, and faded. It did have buckles which was nice when my little boy was smaller, but I had to ditch them for my new so-called "design". 


My cute little handy-man helped me take it apart. He organized my screws in a nice pile- you're welcome to follow his lead if you'd like. ;)

Since it was rusted, I took steel wool and gave it a good rubbing. It kinda made the swing shine again. But it needed the upgrade, so on we went. 

I guess I'm a spray can hoarder because I didn't even need to purchase any for this! I used Dark Walnut Satin with primer. 





I've done projects with wood in the past, and have always used pine- it's perty and it's smooth. But I went a cheaper route this time and bought cedar wood posts. It was about half the price. I had to do lots of sanding, including the sides and corners. After all, this is a child swing, no splinters wanted!

I measured the width and cut my wood accordingly. Slapped on my favorite stain and I'm good to go.


My awesome husband had to use his big muscles to screw the wood to the metal swing. My muscles just wouldn't do it. I used self-taping screws (for metal). I only had to pre-drill the wood (again, because I'm made of muscle), and my hubby did the rest from there.

Since I rock at this whole DIY thing, I forgot to take pictures of the canopy process. I used the old canopy as my pattern, purchased a yard and a half of outdoor fabric, pinned the old to the new, and cut! I used double sided bias tape to finish off the edges. Really not complicated at all if you've ever done any sort-of sewing.

And here's the final product!



My goofball kids enjoying the swing before it was even finished. We're very happy with it! 




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