Farmers Market Bench Makeover

Farmers' Market Bench Makeover by What's On My Porch

I find real pleasure in taking something unwanted and old and turning it into something beautiful and useful. This Farmers' Market Bench was no exception.

I found this bench in a thrift store. I knew as soon as I saw it that it would be perfect for an entry way: a place to store shoes or toss a bag or coat. It just needed a little updating.

First, I cleaned and primed the wood with Zinsser primer. This makes it ready to take on paint. You could also sand, but that takes a lot of work, and it's not necessary as long as you prime first. It's easy to think you can skip this step, but I don't recommend it. The paint just won't stick well without it.

Next, I measured the bench and found some cute fonts and printed the words "Farmers' Market" in large letters and taped them together. (Fonts: Mottona and Twiggy Pop).

I colored the backs of my words with willow charcoal and placed the words on my bench. Then I traced them onto the wood with a pencil. I removed the paper and outlined the tracing, again with pencil. Then I filled it in with black acrylic craft paint and a small paintbrush. I extended the "f" and "s" at the beginning and end of "Farmers'".

I love how it turned out! How about you?

 

Want MORE makeovers?
Check out this Antique Dresser Makeover!

 

Christmas at the Porch

Can you believe it's nearly Christmas? Where does the time go? I started decorating in early November. I used to wait until after Thanksgiving, but a month just isn't long enough for all the effort that goes into decorating, don't you think?

Here's a peek at Christmas at our lake house. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Christmas cubbies above my coffee bar.

Christmas coffee bar area

Christmas three-tiered tray.

Christmas three-tiered tray

Antique white and red truck with bottlebrush Christmas tree

Christmas centerpiece for the table

Our frosted Christmas tree

 

 

 

 

Want MORE Christmas decorating ideas?
Check out my blog post on how to decorate Christmas bookshelves!

Woodland Christmas Mantel

Lately, I'm obsessed with woodland décor. Maybe it's because we recently moved to a house near a lake. But there's something romantic and cozy about a fireplace, rustic logs, woodland creatures and buffalo check.

I recently painted the mantel above our fireplace. It was a kind of honey-colored wood and didn't really match. I thought a nice clean white would go better with my style. It also helps items to pop.

For my woodland-themed mantel, I used plain wood branches, painted white to give them more of a birch-feel. For the greenery, I cut up an inexpensive wire garland into "pine branches" and lightly spray painted them white for a frosted look.

The knit stockings are from Christmas Central (christmascentral.com) They were really inexpensive (less than $10 each) and are perfect for that "lodge" feeling. I added chalk tags with our names.

Stocking are probably our favorite part of Christmas morning. It's our tradition to let the kids wake up (but not before 6 AM!) and open their stockings first. It keeps them from waking up mom and dad. As they grew older, we added "making coffee" to the stocking tradition. So even if their giggles wake us up, at least there's coffee!

You'll notice a couple of little owls peeking out from the greenery as well as some other little touches like dollar-store snowflakes and a white feather. The glass hurricane jar is from a thrift store. I threw in a little fake snow and added a lantern ornament plus a few bottle brush trees. The red and white scarf is also a thrift store find. And the buffalo check wrapping paper was from the dollar store.

 

 

 

Decorate A Christmas Bookshelf:
See photos and get ideas HERE.

 

 

Need more décor? Get this Christmas printable from My Porch Prints on Etsy:

 

Decorate A Christmas Bookshelf

Decorate a beautiful Christmas bookshelf. From What's On My Porch.

I have a love-hate relationship with our built-in bookshelves. On the one hand, they provide tons of storage and decorating opportunities. On the other, they leave no space for any other pieces of furniture. I will always have bookshelves on my walls. I can't move them. Ever.

Plus, the shelves themselves are not adjustable, so I face major size restrictions when it comes to what will fit on them.

When we moved in, these shelves were brown wood. Ugly brown wood. They date back to the sixties, and it showed! Thankfully, my sweet firstborn daughter and her lovely friend were willing to paint them for me (for a sad twenty bucks apiece). Thanks girls! And I am just thrilled because nothing says "Christmas" like a snowy white backdrop.

And what goes great with snowy white? You got it, RED!

Decorating bookshelves for Christmas can be fun, easy and cheap as I'm about to tell you.

I recommend starting with a basic color scheme. My main colors here are white and red with some muted browns, greens and grays. You can incorporate the items you already have on your shelf, or go full-on Christmas. I decided to incorporate.

A great place for picking up inexpensive decor is the thrift store. It's where I get most of my smaller items, like the mini Christmas trees you see scattered around the shelves.

Here you can see my antique skate topped with tiny presents and a tiny tree.

Another inexpensive idea is to create your own chalkboard. I made this one with an old plank and chalkboard paint. They're so versatile for seasonal decorating. I think this one will stay on the shelf long after Christmas is over.

Ornaments aren't just for the tree! Like this little lantern which adds interest and also works with the red color scheme.

 This beautiful frosted tree was only $12 at Walmart. I picked it up on a whim and am so glad I did! It adds some nice dimension and texture!

An antique store find, this little red gumball machine works great as a snow globe. But you don't have to go antiquing to get your very own... they are sold in many places, including on Amazon.

 Buffalo check is big right now. It gives a nice, "lodge" feeling to your bookshelves. I wrapped empty boxes from my pantry (think cereal, mac-and-cheese, etc.). The paper is from a dollar store.

A bowl of dried pine cones with a scoop and ornament thrown in.

The greenery is actually a cheap Walmart garland, dusted with a light coat of white spray paint and clipped with wire cutters to make "branches" and wreaths.
I scattered these all over my bookshelf, so cute!

Want MORE Christmas ideas?
Check out this Woodland Christmas post. 

This printable design is for sale in my Etsy Shop.

This printable sign is available in my Etsy shop: My Porch Prints

Get this printable sign in Stephanie's Etsy Shop: My Porch Prints.

Looking for Christmas stocking ideas? 

Make your own Vintage Image Stockings.

New Year, New House, New Projects

Hey Porch Fans! I'm back! As some of you know, our family spent the last year in Wisconsin living in an apartment. Hubby's job needed him to work in the Badger State for a spell, so my home projects were put on hold. Also, due to some health issues, I've been unable to do much this year, but I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things in 2018!

 



Our old house.



 

The old porch where I worked on furniture projects.

  



Before our move to Wisconsin, we spent 10 years in Iowa raising our two girls in a rickety, old 2-story home built in 1894. It was a labor of love, constantly working to make the house a home. There was no room inside for my favorite work: furniture makeovers. So, I took my projects out onto our wrap-around front porch to sand and paint and stain. That was how "What's On My Porch" began. It was literally a blog about the projects on my porch. It was sad to see the old home get sold, but it has opened the door for new projects and new decorating endeavors!



I loved our old open staircase!

 

Currently, we live in a single story home on a beautiful lake in central Iowa. I never envisioned myself in a house like this. In fact, I used to hate everything about these kinds of homes. I thought they had no character or charm. But I'm starting to realize that charm is something you can add to ANY space. And while I miss our big, open staircase, I don't miss climbing those stairs ten times a day to get to the bathroom!

 

Our new lake house.

With our daughters both grown now, we don't need quite as much room as before, and health troubles with my feet make living in a one-story home a blessing. We've already done a little painting, and I hope to do LOTS more as the months and years go by, but we'll see what God allows. His timing is perfect, so I'll keep all plans flexible. :)

 



We have a fireplace!



 

 

 



Our new kitchen. Needs some love.



 



Our new living room with built in bookshelves and a window seat. This room needs love, too.





 

 



 







 



Can't beat the view!



Sunset on our lake.