Piece of Mexico in the Backyard!

Last summer we decided to redeem our business expense card points(not to be confused with credit card-we are anti credit card) for a nice vacation with the whole family. After all the discussion about where to go and how long to stay we opted to bring a little bit of a vacation to our backyard instead. We figured it would be a nice investment into our home and much smarter to have a relaxing space that feels like a vacation in the comfort of our own home!

With our budget we learned that whatever we decided to do would have to be done ourselves. Hiring it out was not an option. I was so excited to be spending some quality time with my hubby building something together in the backyard and getting my hands dirty. I love making things out of nothing! Although I don't think my hubby shares the same passion.

We did some homework, and we decided to build a palapa in our backyard! I managed to find some easy to understand step by step instructions online to build a 12x12 palapa structure. We wrote out a budget for the building materials and borrowed a lot of tools that were needed with the exception of a few tools that I wanted to keep in our stash for future projects. We got to work 9 months ago and over spring break we finally finished!

I have to give credit where credit is due. Although I wanted to get my hands dirty and break a sweat I ended up holding a toddler in one arm and instruction manual in the other for the majority of the project. My hubby and dad worked most of the manual labor on this and for that I am truly grateful! I didn't complain one bit as the water runner, lunch fetcher, home depot runner, and project manager. Oh and before I forget I would like to thank www.instylelimo.org for making this project possible through it's financial contribution via expense card points! To clarify it didn't take us 9 months to build this thing but that's how much time passed us by before we could complete it. Last summer we spent a couple of days working in the back and then I had to go back to work. I learned that without a project manager a project will be at a standstill. During the winter you won't find me outside unless it's right next to a chimney or bonfire. So when spring break came along we had the perfect weather and time to finally finish! Here are some pics of our building process and the finished product!

This week we will be pouring concrete to expand our patio to the edge of the palapa and then hopefully get some patio furniture to add under it. I'll post some more pics once the concrete is done. Now if only I can convince my hubby to build our own furniture by telling him furniture building is not as hard as palapa building! I'am itching to tackle the furniture plans that the talented Ana White offers on her website. You've gotta check her stuff out by clicking http://www.ana-white.com! Luv her!