Two parents in Northamptonshire have turned their back garden into a swashbuckling adventure playground for their kids, having created a massive pirate ship climbing frame for under £25.
With summer coming up, Stacey Addis and her partner Darryl Spicer wanted to treat their children - Tainen, four, and Nylah Rose, 22 months - to a new play area in the garden.
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Keen to do things on a bit of a budget, Stacey and Darryl realised they could use materials that locals were getting rid of, with many of the residents in their village throwing out wood and pallets that would be perfect for the project.
With everything they needed to create the frame, Stacey also got herself online to buy all of the smaller details, including a steering wheel, an anchor and pirate flag for the ship.
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Stacey told LADbible: "Our lovely budget pirate ship was all handmade by myself and my partner Darryl Spicer.
"All of the wood and pallets we used to build the ship were all free that people in our village were throwing away.
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"We discussed buying the kids a climbing frame then we thought 'Why don't we put all of the wood people are getting rid of to good use and build our own, as it would be cheaper'.
"Never did we imagine we would manage to make something to incredible on such a tiny budget."
The couple have been building the ship gradually over the past few weeks, having been adding in all of those all-important finishing touches like a crow's nest, huge skull and cross bones flag and rope around the edge of the ship.
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Stacey continued: "The slide was second-hand and cost £6, the pirate flag was £2.89 and the steering wheel and telescope were £12 together both from eBay and the skull and cross bones were £2 from Facebook Marketplace.
"Everything else was free! The netting, rope and parrot were all donated to us, and the grey paint and map we already had laying around in the shed.
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"The tunnel we made ourselves from an old water butt!"
Stacey told us that not only are she and Darryl delighted with the results, most importantly, so are the kids - who have been getting stuck in already.
She added: "We never thought it would be possible to build a climbing frame under £25 it's amazing what you can achieve if you hunt around for bargains.
"The kids love it and never want to come off it! We are all so chuffed with the results of our finished pirate ship."
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