Is your precious little angel in need of a Time Out?

We all know it happens. That moment when time stands still and you, and your tired (and maybe a little cranky), toddler find yourselves at a standoff.  You think, "Ok, one of us definitely needs a time out." 

You can either park your little one in the Time Out chair for a gentle attitude adjustment, or you can run, not walk, out the back door and scream at the top of your lungs until it makes you feel better!

Total stress reliever.

Now that my kids are grown I can look back on those moments and smile a bit.  You know how that works - time softens the edges and now that I actually don't have to deal with "Toddler Negotiations", I can see a little humor in all those crazy, sleep deprived days. I have a great deal of respect for all you

young Moms out there!

So when I saw this little bench at one of the Barn Sales I went to last week, I couldn't

 resist bringing it home and giving it an update. The little rabbits (or sheep, maybe?) are cute, but not very fresh looking.  I feel like this bench may have been used at Grandma's house years ago.

So once again, I hosed and brushed the piece off; got it good and clean; and after it dried, I started sanding.  I think I've done more sanding in the past few weeks than I've done in the past few years!

After giving it a primer coat, and two coats of basic white, the idea of turning this little bench into

a Time Out chair was irresistible.

I used random stripes of turquoise and green and carried the design over to the back.

A basic, well built, solid wood bench ~ with a fresh new look.

Estate Sales are better than a trip to the French Riviera.

Estate sales, barn sales, moving sales, and antique auctions are better than a trip to the French Riviera for me.  Really, even if  Monte Carlo was an option, I'd rather go digging through an old barn for some overlooked treasure I can refresh and re purpose than fly half way across the world.

Crazy?  I think not!

While I was enjoying my favorite pastime of kicking around an old barn at an auction, I found this child size Deacon's Rocker hidden way back in a corner. It was covered with some old cardboard, cobwebs and what seemed like buckets of dust.  After I dug it out I was so pleased to see it was a solid, well made piece that some child had loved well, and gently used. I knew I had to have it.

At some point it had been painted a solid deep green color, but when I got it home and started to hose off some of the dirt and grime, I got another surprise.  The green paint began to peel off in some areas, and literally melt off in other areas.  What a mess! 

In the second  photo you can see some of the chunks of green paint lying beside the rocker after the first hosing down. I hadn't even begun to scrub it down yet - this was just from the water from the hose hitting it.

In this photo you can get a better idea of how the paint was melting off as soon as the water got under the thick layers of green paint. If I had to guess, I'd say someone painted green latex paint over the original white glossy finish - without any sanding or prep work in between.

After many hours peeling what green paint I could get off, I was beginning to wonder if this really was such a great find.  When I finally got the big gloopy pieces peeled off, it was time for the serious sanding {can I whine just a little here about it being 100+ degrees in Texas everyday that I was out in the yard sanding?}

No sympathy? OK ~ moving on....

After I finally got this wonderful little rocker sanded back down to the bare wood, I was beginning to love it again.  It was solid and seemed to be begging for me to give it life again! 

I gave it one more light sanding, and I then applied a coat of primer. 

After I saw the white primer on it, I decided to bring it back to the original white paint, and

I gave it two coats of white acrylic (again sanding between coats). 

Now it was ready for the final touches.  With a little effort, this rocker was again a great piece of well made furniture a child could enjoy for many years. It just needed to be finished with something fun.

I wanted to put a little smile on the face of any child who saw it, so this is what I decided on. 

The Lady Bug Rocker

First I painted the seat True Red with black trim.  After adding some stripes and polka dots randomly on the sides, I free handed the Lady Bug and painted it in acrylics. The whole project was more time consuming than I anticipated, but I love the end result.

After two coats of sealer, this little rocker is ready for years and years of fun for a little someone!