Home Improvement

Summer is right around the corner, so it’s officially time to get your backyard in order. These ideas will make your outdoor space a true oasis. You’ll want to spend every spare second sipping lemonade and relaxing in your yard after implementing them!

1. Adorable cinderblock bench

All You Need:

• 12 cinderblocks (6 for each side)
• 4 pieces of 4″ x 4″ x 10 ft. lumber
• concrete adhesive (to keep the cinderblocks grouped together)
• cushions
• Paint for the cinderblocks

(Credit: Buzzfeed)

2. Buried pot garden

All You Need:

• Ceramic pots with a wide brim
• Your choice of plants
• Mulch, gravel or stones to fill in the space between pots
• Rosemary to edge the garden

(Credit: Apartment Therapy)

3. Glow-in-the-dark planters

All You Need:

• Planters of your choice
• Glow-in-the-dark spray paint (you’ll want to do two coats of this)

(Credit: Buzzfeed)

4. Outdoor waterbed

All You Need:

• Painter’s plastic (10×20)
• Ironing board and iron
• Parchment paper
• Duct tape

Directions:

• Turn your iron on to its hottest setting.
• Roll out the plastic and fold it in half.
• Take a two-feet long piece of parchment paper. Fold it in half, length-wise and draw a line about 2-inches out from the fold. This will be your guide of how far into iron. Begin with the edge of plastic opposite of its fold, starting at the corner. Open up your parchment and place your plastic inside, aligning it to the fold of the parchment. Then, fold the parchment back over.
• Use the iron to melt the plastic together by running the iron across the line of your parchment. The iron should not touch the bare plastic.
• Let cool for a few seconds before removing the parchment.
• Continue to seal all of the edges, overlapping a few inches to make sure there are no holes. After sealing the end opposite of the fold, work from the sealed edge toward the fold. Everything will align perfectly! Now, carefully cut a small slit in the folded end of the plastic, near the corner.
• Place the hose in a few feet, and prop the corner up so that the water does not spill out while you fill your water blob.
• Seal off with duct tape.

(Credit: Homemade Toast)

5. Wine Bottle Tiki Torch

All You Need:

• 1 empty and cleaned wine bottle
• 1 Tiki Torch wick refill (thick)
• Tiki Torch citronella lamp oil
• 3/8″ diameter metal washer (or adjust washer size if bottle opening is larger/smaller)
• Decorative glass rocks or beads of your choice

Directions:

• Place the decorative rocks/beads in the bottle.
• Feed the wick through the opening of the washer, leaving about a 1/4-inch of the wick sticking out of the top.
• Pour the oil into a bottle, using a funnel, enough to cover half of the wick.
• Feed the longer side of wick into the bottle.

(Credit: When the Pigs Fly)

6. Inflatable pool fountain

All You Need:

• Measuring tape
•  String
•  Battery operated floating pool fountain
•  Scissors
• Waterproof vinyl adhesive or pool sealant
• Towels
• Batteries
• Water

Directions:

• Measure the fill depth of the baby pool by extending a measuring tape to the interior base from 2 inches below the rim.
• Tie a string to the base of the floating pool fountain and extend it out to the measured fill depth plus one inch before cutting it off.
• Glue the last inch of the string to the center of a dry baby pool using a waterproof adhesive. Allow the adhesive to fully dry according to the individual product instructions.
• Place towels around the perimeter of the fountain prop to catch any over spray from the fountain. Load new batteries into the floating fountain.
• Place the floating pool fountain in the center of the pool and pour in water until the string is almost fully extended. Turn the floating fountain on and adjust the height of the spray so the majority of the water falls into the baby pool.

(Credit: eHow)

7. Fire pit

All You Need:

• Concrete mix
• One extra-large bowl for exterior mold (ours was 17″ diameter)
• One large bowl for interior mold (ours was 15″ diameter)
• Non-stick cooking spray, or vegetable oil and paint brush
• Large bucket for mixing
• Medium-duty masonry trowel
• Heavy objects such as exercise weights (or you can use the rocks below)
• Sandpaper or sanding pad in coarse and fine grits
• Gel fireplace fuel canisters
• Replacement grill grate (ours was 14 1/2″ diameter)
• Fire safe decorative stones

Directions:

This one’s a little more complicated! Find the step-by-step directions, plus handy advice on ManMade.