Bob & Elizabeth's Excellent Adventure: Fun in the Sun!

Our old patios tables were trashed back in New Smyrna Beach this past spring so time for some new ones. I wanted some sort of folding table so it fits in the storage flat for travel. I also planned on painting the tables a bright, tropical orange so I didn't want anything fancy nor did I want to pay top dollar. Bob and I looked through a flea market, thrift stores, Walmart, Big Lots etc but did not see anything that would suit us. The need for tables was strong - we needed a place for our guests to place their glasses during our upcoming Happy Hour next week. So we finally decided to go to Walmart Monday afternoon and buy the wooden tray tables we had previously dismissed. Luckily, Monday morning Bob and I were out biking prior to the shopping expedition and, lo and behold, what did we see - a woman carrying two perfectly good wicker patio tables out to the trash! Bob asked her if we could take them and she said we were welcome to these gems. We took them home and discovered, to our delight, that the legs pull off and everything stacks flat for travel. What could be better than FREE patio tables that stack for travel??? Why, orange free patio tables that stack for travel, of course! Today was the big paint party. Armed with a can of pumpkin orange gloss spray paint and a can of flamingo pink we turned our patio into a tropical delight! I started out giving the tables a good scrubbing. Next they dried in the sun. Bob then primed them and applied 3 thin coats of the orange paint. While he transformed the tables I worked on three formerly navy blue luminaries which my Auntie M gave for for Christmas a few years back and a terra cotta flower pot my mom gave me this summer. The luminaries first got a coat of pink on the outside and then a coat of orange on the inside. The pot was sprayed pink with the plant still in it. Poor plant, I was trying to save time being a little lazy. After the tables dried we assembled them and set them in place with a pink rubberized placemat on each. A potted plant in the center of each table compliments the tropical theme. Luminaries are scattered around the seating area. The flamingo tablecloth covering the picnic table sets off the tiki umbrella. Two foam parrots dangle from the twinkle lights wrapped around the awning arms. The gazing ball I made in AZ two years ago sits on a newly painted stand. Cassandra, lantana and salvia vie for attention in my flamingo planter. Ixora, croton and bird of paradise add to the tropical ambiance. A deplandia is crawling up the 'Welcome to the Beach' sign. Well, gotta go - my patio is calling me!

For some reason, the rest of my patio photos won't upload to this entry. However, they did upload to the photo gallery. So check out the rest of our patio there.