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A Quick, $7 DIY Rope Swing

  June 17

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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And, when our trees finally grow some more and we hang it from one of them, I’ll always remember how old she was when I originally made it for her.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.

materials

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.

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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.

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Editor’s note: Little Mars is gorgeous! Thank you so much for sharing, Olivia. What projects have you been working on lately, dear readers?

Make This Quick DIY Rope Swing for only $7.00! Frugal Baby Saving Money https://www.momsgotmoney.com/2014/06/17/diy-rope-swing/

5 responses to “A Quick, $7 DIY Rope Swing

  1. 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.

  2. 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!

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