I cannot believe...

it has been almost two weeks since I have blogged!  In my defense, the first week I was gone about 4 days, so that was part of the reason.  Last week...I got nothing!

Seriously...I wanted to blog, but I really had nothing to share.  Having said that, it was a busy cookie week, so I will have a few things to share this week!

This post however, involves the bench I showed you a few weeks back that my niece gave me (thanks, Lisa and Brent!).  Remember...she was on her way to the Goodwill and she thought she should check with me first.  I am so glad she did!  This project is going towards the top of my list of all time favorite "afters".

Let's refresh your memory.  This is what the bench looked like before:

At first glance, I thought I was probably going to have to replace all the wood but after taking the entire bench apart, I decided it wasn't necessary.  Instead, I sanded each piece and because it had clearly sat in, probably years of sun, most of the "finish" was long since gone and it really did not take me that long at all.

So with a little elbow grease, a couple of cans of spray paint and stain, a handmade stencil (with my Silhouette) this is what she looks like now:

 

Please pardon my "staging"...this sucker is HEAVY, so I wasn't about lugging it back to the pool!  Having said that...we did haul it to our family photo site and used it in our pictures!

Another view:

I could not wait to get at this project...I had a vision from the get go...it included this:

 A few details...I used Rustoleum's, Seaside in Gloss, the stain is Minwax Special Walnut (my go-to stain these days!).  For the stenciling I just used craft paint that I had on hand.  I replaced all the screws and where they had cheap plastic screw cover thingy's, (yes, that is the technical name for them), I used wood ones.  I did several coats of satin polyurethane over all the wood to finish it off.  So for approximately $15, I think it is a "better than new" bench...what do you think?

Sadly, it is not going by my pool because I don't really have enough open space for it.  It is going to Kelli's...I think she is a pretty lucky girl!

One more peek:

 I have quite a few cookies to share, so be sure and stop back by soon!

Till then...

This post linked to:

House of Hepworth
My Repurposed Life
Finding Fabulous
Miss Mustard Seed