Magpie Monday - Kid's Garden Table & Chairs, cable reel upcycle

I thought this week I'd share with you a little upcycle I did last summer, but it's one that is still getting lots of use.

We were given some old children's deck chairs which were found in the loft of a family property in France.  They are a perfect size for Ruby and her friends and cousins, but were not very inspiring to look at.

With a lick of garden paint, and re-covering the seats, now they are perfect for lazy summer days in the garden.

I bought a Gillian Kyle tea towel and used that, removing the original fabric and using it as a template.  Buying linen tea towels is a great way to get designer prints and fabrics at a fraction of the cost of buying it as  material by the metre.

For the table, I used a cable reel that was being chucked out from my brother-in-law's workplace.  You can pick these up often in skips, at the roadside or by covertly driving around industrial estates on a Sunday.  What? Oh come on.  We've all done that, surely?  They come in a great range of sizes and are perfect for tables.

The wooden top and bottom were painted in the same outdoor paint, and I covered the cardboard inner tube with hessian rope.  By far the cheapest way to buy a decent length of this sort of rope is to get window sash cord from the DIY store, otherwise it costs and arm and a leg.

What do you think?

Ruby loves to sit here to eat when we have barbecues, or will set the table up for tea parties for her dolls.  I'm on the hunt for a tiny glass to fit in the centre as a vase, and I think that will finish it off perfectly.

Have you salvaged anything lately, or bought something second-hand?  I'd love you to grab the badge and link up.



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