Playful Pacific Patio

A little background. It all started when my neighbor moved out and gave us this...... a mini trampoline.

Now, we live in a tiny space....where on earth was I going to put this thing? I surely wasn't going to deprive my girls of the oodles of fun they could have on such a contraption. So, I took a look at my over grown, waste of space garden area and thought "what can I do to make this more kid friendly?"
Here is my only pic of the garden before. Bonus you get to see my smilin' girlie.

So, I ripped everything out while seriously underestimating the root system of the fern, then headed to Home Depot.

I knew I wanted to put in a sand box of some kind so I walked around Home Depot to find some inspiration for a divider. Hmm, these tree rings will do. I spray painted them to fit the ocean theme I was going for, then placed them in a wavy fashion across the dirt. (FYI, I used broken pieces at the ends that they gave me for free).

I dug down about 3 inches then laid trash bags on the dirt. Before laying the trash bags, I cut holes in them for drainage. I taped the trash bags together then poured bags of sand (also found at Home Depot) in to fill the space.

Next, I laid about 2 rolls of sod (only $4 a roll) on the other side of the divider to soften the area and secure the dividers. Then I created a little raised flower garden in the corner.

To add a tad more fun, I found this piece of potential tossed out by my recycling bins. How could someone get rid of such a treasure?

I sanded and spray painted with a wave stencil.

Glued a metal welcome sign to the table that I taped off and painted 9 squares on.

Then glued magnets to some wooden cuties to create a magnetic tic-tac-toe board.

My next project, the interpretive, magnetic story board. I used more of those metal welcome signs from the dollar store and mod podged sea landscapes on them. I simply tore paper into desired shapes and glued them on.

Then, I had this cute outdoor place mat and sewed the sides up to make a pocket for holding all of the magnets for the story board (Excuse my beautiful toes:) I was just trying to add to the downward perspective).

I just used the glue gun to stick magnets on these wooden cuties and wah-lah...an interpretive magnetic story board. (Also works as patio art).

Last but not least,

I had to save SOME space for me.

I took baby food jars, spray painted the lids, punched a hole through them and threaded ribbon through the hole. Then I secured it with multiple knots, nailed it to the fence and attached the jars to the lids.

Now some of our tiny seashore treasures have a special place protected from the elements. (I found the sea glass on clearance at Michael's Craft and just thought it was pretty).

Before hanging the baby food jars, I dipped the end's of the ribbon that the nail's were going through into clear nail polish. This allowed a more secure fastening and the ribbon will be less likely to fray at the end.

That completes my Playful Pacific Patio makeover. We have already done picnic's and play date's galore out there. I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner. Both my children and I are MUCH happier now that they have an outdoor space to play in while we are home.

We are linking this post to Kimbas DIY party, check it out for some inspiration!