Julia Anastasopoulos is a South African internet star with a YouTube show called “Suzelle DIY.” She refers to it as “A Bitesize Do-It-Yourself Webseries.” (She also started her own show, “Ridiculousness with Suzelle DIY,” on Comedy Central.)
Produced by Sketchbook Studios, Anastasopoulos stars as Suzelle and creates funny and clever DIY videos with her best friend Marianne, who never speaks.
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DIY pallet swing
In a video viewed over a quarter of a million times, the pair shows viewers how to make an outdoor swing out of spare pallets.
This is in honor of Garden Day, a day designed to help you celebrate your garden (in case you’re having a hard time understanding her accent).
The video, which commenters called “Absolutely palatable!!!” suggests we gather all the tools:
“You will need a pallet, some rope, and finally — a tree! Remember to get rid of any splinters!”
The tree might be hard to procure, but the rest is quite simple. (You will actually need a hand sander, carabiners, and a drill as well.)
Getting to work
Now, pallets aren’t made to be comfortable for us to sit on, so while decorating your swing at the end is up to you (and should probably involve a cushion), the first step is to sand off any rough edges so you don’t immediately have to climb down from your swing in search of Band-Aids.
Just be sure to wipe off the sawdust after you’re done!
Next, you’ll drill six holes on the slats nearest to the edge – and you’ll do this on both sides of the pallet so that the holes line up and you can thread the rope through them.
Once again, be sure to sand the holes so that you don’t catch yourself on any splinters.
Rope tricks
Suzelle has a trick for cutting the rope. She wraps some tape around it first to prevent it from fraying at the new edges, then cuts through it, and then singes the ends, so they stay put. (Actually, she has Marianne do this.)
The next step is to tie a knot to secure the rope to the pallet. You’ll also need to connect one on the other end, and it’s best to use what Suzelle called a figure-8 or “infinity” knot.
Then, thread the rope from top to bottom across each edge of the swing.
You really have to see a photo to get a feel for it:
In the end, you’ll be able to grab ahold of the rope loops.
Again, it’s easier to see it in action:
Tie the knots
Since the loops are closed, clipping on the carabiner is simple.
Marianne is put in charge of making the special knots for the rope pieces that will loop around the tree and through which the carabiners will also hook onto in order to hang the swing.
You’ll have to watch the video for details since the knots are more complex and very important to get right. You can see it by the look on Marianne’s face.
Suzelle warns us that the knots need to be secure AND level with one another after wrapping them around a tree limb. You don’t want your swing to be crooked – or fall to the ground with you on it, for that matter!
You’ll undoubtedly need a ladder to make this happen.
Hook it up
After hooking the swing’s carabiners onto the loops from the knots on the tree ropes, you’re ready to stand back and admire your work!
Once it’s hanging tough, you can fancy it up with cushions, pillows, or whatever suits your fancy.
This is the extra-girly version.
Serious swinging
While the delivery is comedic, the instructions are no joke – you really can end up with a pallet swing, and many commenters were inspired to try it!
“I was looking for a way to put these pallets left in my new home to use, and also use them for something that benefited the kids and this popped up…OMG I LAUGHED SO HARD I LEGIT had tears…stoked I found the channel, new subbie, you two are great..love it! (P.s….probably the best and fastest way Iv ever seen anything done w a pallet..right to the point and not much hardware needed to make a sturdy/nice pallet swing at all! Wonderful job!)”
Of course, our instructions aren’t complete, so you’ll have to check out the video below to get a complete look at this fabulous outdoor DIY project. It’s quite entertaining!
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