Rainbow Bridge Garden Bench To Remember Our Beloved Pets

My husband and I are pet people, primarily dogs, but we have had a few cats during our marriage, unplanned, of course, as it seems that cats choose their owners more than the other way around. 

The loss of a beloved pet is never easy.  

This is a project I actually started last Fall after losing our Staffordshire Pit Bull, Shiloh. He was a rescue dog that we got from a local shelter just a few months after I lost my dad and right after we lost Buster, another rescue dog. Six weeks before we got Shiloh, I left a toxic work environment that left me emotionally bruised and battered. I was mourning my dad and Buster, and I guess God knew I needed an energy-filled, fur-covered distraction.

Over the years, Shiloh had some medical issues, and by the time he was three, we collaborated with the UT Vet School, which provided a grant, to have his hips replaced.  I was his caregiver, his taxi driver to therapy sessions, his nurse to make sure he got his nine-plus pills a day, and his constant companion for many years.    Last summer, at eleven years old, his legs couldn’t carry him anymore, and we made the tough decision to let him go. 

Around that same time, I was contemplating a makeover for a repurposed garden bench that I had accidentally damaged with spray paint. This is a post about the new painted design on this bench and the inspiration behind the design.

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THIS POST IS PART OF THE ‘DO IT OVER’ DESIGNERS LINK PARTY.  A GROUP OF DESIGNERS WHO TAKE SOMETHING OLD AND/OR UNUSED AND ‘DO IT OVER’ INTO SOMETHING NEW. THESE ITEMS CAN BE FOUND IN CLOSETS, BARNS, GARAGES, YARD SALES, THRIFT STORES, YOU NAME IT!

Repainting a repurposed bench

While my daughter was in high school, she was involved in the band, Color Guard, and Winter Guard sports. In her junior year, the band parents built custom wood benches for their halftime show, which was also repurposed for the winter program.  For a full school year, I watched my daughter dance around this bench or stand on it while tossing a flag or sword in the air. It was her bench, and at the end of the school year, I purchased it from the band and brought it home as a keepsake.  I painted it blue and have used it often inside the sunroom or in the backyard.

Unfortunately, one day, I got spray paint overspray on it when I used it as a workbench for another project, giving me a reason to plan a new makeover and purpose for the bench. After losing Shiloh, I was inspired to cover up the spray paint mistake with a hand-painted version of the Rainbow Bridge, creating a garden memorial to him and our other beloved pets who have passed before him.  

Design inspired by a Christmas ornament.

I got the idea and vision for this project from a Christmas ornament of all things. A beautiful Jim Shore ornament featuring the Rainbow Bridge.

With a vision in front of me, I hand-sketched an outline of the bridge and clouds in chalk on the back rails of the bench. I used acrylic paints to create the design, made a few mistakes with the rainbow effect along the way, and repainted it a couple of times until the scale looked more balanced. Far from perfect, but I finally achieved a design I was happy with.

To protect the design from the elements, I applied two coats of polyacrylic in satin over the painted surface. The final addition to the bench are the paw prints I created in Cricut Design Space and cut them out of permanent black vinyl.

 “Dogs have a way of finding the people who need them, and filling an emptiness we didn’t even know we had.” -Thom Jones

Plans to add the bench to the garden next summer.

The bench is not yet ready for the garden because I realized during this process that the bench legs have some water damage and will need to be replaced before we put it back in the yard.  We are still very slowly working on the landscaping of the entire property, so for now, the bench is being kept safe from the weather in our sunroom until the planned garden bed is ready for it. 

Thanks for taking the time to read through what is probably a more emotionally driven project than I have shared before. I know I could have easily sanded down the bench and given it a simple paint job, but this version holds so much more meaning for me. I hope you like it. 

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Please visit the other talented bloggers who are participating in the ‘Do It Over’ challenge this month, listed below.

Sum of Their Stories

Color Me Thrifty

Vintage Style Gal

The Apple Street Cottage

Birdz of a Feather

Exquisitely Unremarkable

Modern on Monticello

Pandora’s Box

Purple Hues & Me

Unique Creations by Anita

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