The Poppins Bench and other Life Lessons

This isn't really a project-project, but it turned out pretty cute and Lottie loves it. And there's a moral to the story.

What we did was silly simple. You see, we were working on our addition as that's usually what we do.. And I got a little side tracked when I saw Troy's mountainess pile of wood scraps and my mind started wandering. Our little Lottie (also called Poppins among several other names) loves dearly to sit anywhere where there is a bench like ledge at her height. See example below:

We no longer have this fridge, so she has for the most part been benchless. Let's return to the wood pile. Lottie and I spied the pieces then looked at each other with our eyes open wide and the excitement building. We immediately got to work.

We took some scrap 2 x 6 pieces and cut them down to the lengths that we wanted. Then assembled the pieces with 3 screws and 1 nail (I couldn't find a 4th screw anywhere...). Then we sanded it down. Editor's Note: When I say we, I don't really mean "we" more-so I mean "I" but in the end it really was a collaborative effort among Lottie and I, so I feel "we" is appropriate.

Then the bench needed some beautification. As Troy was going to the store anyways, he kindly picked us up a can of my favorite Lagoon colored spray paint which would be the base color of the bench.

Luckily, my interior paint scheme in the house is fairly circus themed, so I have a reserve of bright colored paints in the basement. Meaning the only supply that needed purchased was the spray paint. How resourceful of us really.. We got to painting.

This was our first end result. But you see, I have a pretty smart dad. And when I sent him this:

He thought it needed just a little bit more effort on Lottie's part. So, we put on our thinking caps and this is our second end result:

I also painted the year onto the back corner. There is a moral to this story. Never be afraid to steal just a couple moments to wander off and do something that wasn't on the agenda. In the end, even though we started our project just as something silly to do, it was fun to show Lottie how to turn nothing into something. And it's even more fun to watch her proudly pull up a seat on her bench when we sit to have coffe on the porch. As they say, it's the little things in life that keep us smiling! I think they say something like that.. If not they should!