Our "New" Glider Swing

We picked up this canopy swing for **free** one day on my mom's street.  I'm not sure what possessed us...the need for a creative project or the desire to keep this thing out of a landfill?  Who knows.  But we carted it down the street to my mom's house (It's not heavy, but it sure is awkward!), and then wondered what we had done...

The canopy was in tatters and infested with yucky spiders.  The cushion support had a big tear.  The cushions were in good shape, though; that was the good news.

The following week when the boys were at daycare, my mom and I went to Home Depot to buy supplies.  I bought a wire brush attachment for the drill, sandpaper, and Rustoleum oil rubbed bronze paint.  My mom and I sanded the swing down, and then we left for Mexico.  When we came back, I arranged to borrow a friend's truck (Thanks, Nick!!) to transport it to our house.  Then I finished sanding it, and my mom helped me start the painting.  After a few coats of paint, (mostly because the light was bad and we kept missing spots) it looked like this.  Not too shabby?!

I had to order a replacement canopy and 2 sling swings (yes, that's what it's called) to support the cushions.  I spent WAY more money on our **free** swing than it was worth.  I could have bought a new one for the same price (or perhaps cheaper...)  It was a good lesson in taking free things, but I'm glad we took it.  I enjoyed the project.  And it FELT good to see the end result.  I don't have that much time for this stuff, but it was also a nice project to do with my mother.  That made it worth it in itself.

Here's the end result.  It still looks a little wonky due to my poor photography skills and the fact that I'm still missing one of the sling swings that I ordered.  But you get the idea.  I'm not happy with the canopy top.  The quality is poor and the overhang is too short.  But that's all I could find that would fit the swing.  Oh well.  At least it's comfortable.

Best part of the story?  The swing doesn't fit in our porch or in our garage (too tall)!  So it's destined to get all rusty and crappy all over again this winter.  I guess I'll strip it down to the frame and then cover it well with a tarp.  Bummer.