A Bench For Dad

Here's my favorite project that I wrapped up over my super productive weekend...

I started this project back in April (the post is here where I got the bench from the shop), which is sad, I know. Months ago, my sweetie got back into golf, and he tried to play atleast a couple times a week. He would usually work all day, then play golf in the late afternoons, so he would not be home when I got there. I used a lot of that time at home "alone" (Daisy & Cosmo were still there to keep me company) to start and/or wrap up my craft projects that I  had in the works. You know, we really need to take advantage of this extra time while we can, and I keep reminding myself of that...(and of traveling, which, speaking of, we're really excited about our anniversary trip to Disney coming up SOON! Woohoo!)

So, Zach playing golf = crafting time for me.

Thus, I used one of these afternoons to finally finish repurposing the bench that I swiped from my granddad's wood shop forever ago. I had already painted this little bench blue months ago, and finally got around to stenciling & painting letters. I hate when I get excited about a project, start it,
then it sits on the back-burner for a while.
Oh well...it's done now!

 First off, I knew I wanted to paint the bench a solid color, then add text to the border of the bench seat in brown. I went with the Peekaboo Blue from Krylon. (I've posted these next two pics in this post once before)...

I went back & forth about quotes to put on the bench. I had several Bible verses that I love & wanted to use, but it is SO hard to narrow down a verse, since they're all so meaningful & poetic. I then found the quote that I used just by accident one day. It's a Winnie the Pooh quote, and so beautiful...

It reminds me of my dad.

As usual, I took a few pics here & there showing the steps I took to transform the plain little wooden bench into what is now one of my favorite things in our living room.

Some step-by-step pics...

I used two stencils with different letter sizes and penciled in the entire quote, so that I could make sure it was laid out how I wanted. I then went back & used a brown paint pen to finish the text.

I just used the penciled letters as a guide, and added a little flair to make it more like handwriting.

I went over the letters a second time with the paint pen, just to thicken them up a little.

You can see from this next pic that I was a little off from the original pencil mark, but the spacing still turned out great. I was glad that my perfectionist self did well on the lettering & spacing-
that could have turned really ugly.

I waited a day for it to dry, erased any pencil marks that showed through, then covered the top with several thin coats of Mod Podge for protection...

This bench will only be lightly used for seating, and I may even place a potted plant on it to prevent seating, if I see that it wears easily. Either way, it is so cute in our living room, and it really adds a pop of blue in the once-bare corner. I also distressed the edges for a more natural look. You know me-
I can't pass up an opportunity to distress!

At the end, as usual, I wondered why in the heck I waited so long to finish this up, because it didn't take long at all!

Now, here goes...the Before & After...

BEFORE



AFTER

It was a little difficult to get a full shot of the entire bench, but you get the idea. I'm excited about this being my third piece of furniture to paint...my first being my side table makeover, and the second being my rooster table re-do. I noticed from the former link that I painted my first real piece of furniture in June of last year, meaning I have been at this for a little over a year now. I'm happy about the experiences I have had with painting, and excited about some new ones that I'm already planning out. I am glad that I've had the opportunity to begin with small pieces, and I'm hoping to work my way up to bigger pieces of furniture very soon.

I've learned so much already!

I wanted to include these next two shots to give more of an idea of the color. It was a little hard to grasp the full effect in photos, but trust me, it's a cutie!

Hope you all enjoy your weekend!!