a small look outside.

so i promised i would be back some time soon with a project. i am making good on that promise right now. also i just now i realized i start a lot of sentences (and proably blog posts) with the word "so". i guess i feel like i'm just in the middle of a conversation and i'm bringing up a new subject.. who knows. well anyway, i have done a few projects around here and i have to say, it was hard to choose which one i should show first. well, since it's summer and all i have decided to show a little of the outside progress on our little balcony. first i must show this

my stump!

yep. i got a stump! i am sure you have seen the stumps popping up all over blog world. the nester inspired me awhile back with her stump table post. i was so inspired by this picture

which originally came from karen at the art of doing stuff in this post. i was also beyond inspired by this picture

from alicia's post over at thrifty and chic. i loooove the rustic stumps painted glossy white. i also love the stained version with the lovely legs and shine. well, luckily my stump is big enough so that i don't have to choose! i am making two tables out of that guy. one will be stained and finished to go outside, and the other will be painted white to come inside. i've had it for about a week or so and it was very nicely suggested that the stump stay outside for about a month to dry out. i've been peeling bark off in hopes it will dry faster, but mostly i just don't want bugs in the house. also it's so super hot here this week that i wouldn't mess with going outside to work on that stump anyway.

oh and i just realized i forgot to tell you the good story of how i got it! well last week men came to cut down trees around the apartment complex. the one in front of my bedroom window that was blocking all the sunlight from coming in was one of the unlucky few chosen. so after they chopped it i told my husband something like, "oh i wish i could have a stump from that tree..." and phil, being the greatest husband ever put his shoes on and went right down there to ask if they would cut us a piece off the tree. i am not even sure what kind of tree it was. i looked up trees with very peel-y bark (technical term, don't worry about it) and it looked like it might be a river birch. but who really knows. i don't care. it's pretty and it's gonna be even prettier once it's dry in a few weeks. yessss : )

so now onto an actual project. since i got this stump i thought, hmm maybe i should put some seating outside so i will have something next to my table. yah i did it backwards. so i took the coffee table-turned bench out of my bedroom. i was sooo happy to do this by the way. it was taking up like, gallons of space. i know, space isn't measured in gallons but it seemed the only appropriate way to describe it. but i mean, really look at this

this is an old picture taken around when we first moved in, so you'll have to get past that to see that this bench takes up all kinds of room. seriously. gallons. it just made the room feel smaller and too cramped. so i wanted to move it outside. but i wanted a different fabric for it so i thought i might have to wait until i can buy fabric. nope! thanks to my new shower cutain i now had a big piece of nice fabric. it's called the old shower curtain.

yep. this pretty blue one in the background : )

so here is what i did. i yanked my bench out of the bedroom (seriously. it's heavy and large and awkward) and pulled it outside to make sure i liked it there first. i did. so i brought it back in to cover it. i also found some ugly pillows that came with our sofa to cover and put with the bench to make it more homey.

seriously lane furniture? why, oh why would you put those hideous pillows on my gorgeous sofa? who gave you that advice? i would never listen to that person again. for real.



first i had to cute all the loop-y things off the pillows

i like to call these mexican crazy strings.

after that was all done i was left with quite the pile of strings



i didn't take any pictures of the process because it's pretty easy and there are about a gazillion tutorials to choose from, so i will spare you. basically i just laid the shower curtain on the bench, lined it up how i wanted, then i just went around stapling it to the under side of the table top. then i just cut off the excess fabric. super easy. it took me like, 10 minutes at the most. then i made covers for the pillows out of the extra that was cut off. at this stage i realized i didn't have enough fabric for two large pillows, so i went and got one of our smaller sized pillows and forgot to take a picture of it. anyway, awhile later i was left with a covered bench and 2 pillows.

tah-dah!! isn't it pretty? i like it waaayyy better now. and the shower curtain is pretty water resistant, so i think it'll do well outside. i'll let you know after a little while.

pretty! i just love it!

soon that stump will be cut down and turned into a lovely table next to that bench. yay!

i have done a couple things out here since, but it's not ready for that reveal yet. mostly because i've been peeling the bark off the stump and it's just all over the little balcony. so it's a mess. one i don't feel like cleaning up to take a picture. but soon i'm gonna add curtains and a few other things, then it'll be ready for the full reveal. 

in the mean time, does anybody feel like peeling the bark off my stump in the 100 degree weather? anyone? yah, me neither.