Hey everyone! I’m Olivia from DIY Mother. I reached out to Cat sometime last month in hopes that a budget-friendly DIY project might lighten the load while she tended to the twins. I’m excited that she’s letting me share it with you guys today.
When I originally started on this project, I wanted it to be a baby swing, but the more I thought and planned, it didn’t really make much sense. I don’t have any large trees in my backyard or awnings to hang it from. So, instead, I decided to make an old fashioned rope swing to hang from my toddler’s swing set. After all, it’s more my style: cheap and simple.
And, when our trees finally grow some more and we hang it from one of them, I’ll always remember how old she was when I originally made it for her.
OK, enough of the corny stuff. Here’s the project.
What you’ll need:
*About 10 ft. of heavy duty rope
Wood (I got a disc from Joann for under 3 bucks, but free is best!)
Drill
Knot knowledge (via YouTube)
*You can cut pieces of cord from Home Depot. It’s much more cost-effective than buying the whole package.
1. I sanded my piece of wood to make it smooth for my toddler’s bum. Then, I used a super big drill bit to drill a hole in the center. The size drill bit you’ll need will depend on how thick your rope is. I tried to stain it, but it didn’t make much of a difference on the wood. Maybe it’s the stain, or the wood, but it only darkened the wood a few shades.
2. After you pull the rope through the hole, make a load-bearing knot. You can use a figure-8 knot (what I used) or a bowline knot.
Make some girthy knots for your kiddo to hold onto while he or she is swinging. Then, hang it from a fixed location. We used a carabiner to attach it to the swing set, but you can also use a knot. If you’re hanging it from a tree, you’ll need an eye bolt to drill into a branch. Yea, it’s all very complicated.
I think it turned out great, even if my little Mars (my toddler’s nickname) didn’t feel like jumping on. In a few months time, I think it will be lots of fun for her. I at least learned my lesson to not take pictures of her when she hasn’t had an afternoon nap.
Editor’s note: Little Mars is gorgeous! Thank you so much for sharing, Olivia. What projects have you been working on lately, dear readers?
What a fun ad cute idea =)
This is a great idea! My son is probably too big for a DIY rope swing but it would be perfect for little ones.
That’s a cool idea.
We used to make swings from old tires we used to find. I’m from Dominican Republic, there are old tires everywhere.
This looks like something I would find on Pinterest! I love it – although being child-less, I will save the idea for the future 🙂
This is great…my kids would love it. And we have an extra space on our swing set where something like this would work. Thanks for the creative idea Olivia!