Canvas Awning how to....and a summertime word art.

Now that we have a wonderful deck I made great plans to enjoy family BBQ's on it every evening throughout the summer. My boys love Love LOVE eating outside. Great idea right?! Well, the kicker was dear hubby spends all day working in the desert sun. He said he didn't mind the heat but he just couldn't handle anymore sun. By the time he gets home he just wants to relax in the cool shade. I totally understood. We still need to finish the cross beams for the pergola but that won't really shade much. Our umbrella for the table bit the dust last fall and another umbrella was out of the budget. Instead I found inspiration in the paint section of Home Depot...

(Just a funny side note...pulling into Home Depot one day my sweet 5 year old lamented, "Mom, I don't want to go in that store!!" I asked why and he proceded to tell me, "Because I don't wanna do any crafts or projects!!" Oh, my dear son knows his mom so well. Home Depot is often worse than a craft store for me. Outa the mouth of babes right)

So back to my project (hehehe).....CANVAS!! Yep, canvas. You can get large drop clothes for a fraction of the cost of canvas at the craft store.

We found a large drop cloth (12x15) that I thought would work great. 

The plan was to use pipe to hold the canvas but YIKES that was expensive. It needed to be strong enough to hole the canvas over 15 ft....PVC was to light but conduit just might work. Only 1/3 the cost too.

 

 I had to use this connector to piece 2 sections.

 They were long!

 Then we used these brackets to screw into the beams.

 Now when I want to take it down in the fall I can just undo the brackets but I don't have to take it out of the beams. Perfect!

 Now I needed a way to hold the canvas to the rods. I had pictures several different ways but actually getting one of those ways to WORK was a whole other story. Remember I was trying to keep the cost down as well as be functional and versitile. I thought these curtain clips would work but nope. They weren't strong enough to hold up against the wind.

 I tried sewing a 3 inch seam to slide the bar through. That worked great until I needed to close the brackets holding the rod in the center. The center bracket on the middle rod was impossible to get the screw in the right spot. 

Back to plan A I went...large snap gromets.

By now I REALLY wanted this little project done. I was getting frustrated that I hadn't accomplished anything on our weekend off. Just when I was close to getting it figured out the heavens opened and DUMPED on us. 

I couldn't just let it go though. OH NO!
I was out their in the rain frantically trying to finish my little big project.

 Can you see the drops? They were huge! And came on with a vengeance that only a rain shower in the desert can do.

 Undaughnted I trudged on. I needed to get the holes for the grommets marked and cut. I am so thankful for a wonderful hubby and a son who is learning that mom just needs to "get it done" sometimes. They were out there like troopers helping me as I barked orders ahem, asked calmly. (I mean come ON! It was pouring rain!)

 In the end we did get it done and I LOVE IT!

 We can open and close it as we need and now I can easily take it down at the end of the season.

 Now dear dad will gladly go out on the shaded deck and BBQ juicy steaks for his family.

 I love sitting on the deck, just enjoying the fresh summer air. I love our time at the patio table as a family. The boys love it too.

Did you notice my pillow? We found that at Home Depot. I loved it but dear hubby didn't think it would match the new cushions. When we got them home I knew I needed it! By the time I got back to Home Depot the pillow was gone. Every day thereafter I would check to see if they had gotten another back in. Finally my patience paid off. My sweet hubby just laughed but knew exactly what I was doing. He gets this little twinkle in his eye that says "I knew it!" Yep, he's got my number all right. I love what it says:

Click the picture for the download.