I found this old antique sewing desk, and I thought it would be perfect if I could strip it, put new hardware on the drawers, and repaint it for my nephew as a desk.

So my questions..

It has this horrible wood stain on it, it's all uneven, it was done horribly, so I'm going to strip that off.

I want to paint it a light blue color..which kind of paint would you guys suggest? It's a wood desk, I'm not sure what type, but should I use acrylic? Keep in mind that a 2 year old is going to use this for many years, so I want the paint to hold up. Should I put a glaze overtop of it?

Next, I wanted to use a stencil of some sort to put an image on the top of the desk. Does anybody know of any free sites where I could print out stencils? (like racecars, cars, trucks..etc.) And I'd assume that once I paint that stencil on I'd want some sort of sealant or glaze overtop of it so it doesn't come off.

Like I said, I'm new to this, and I just wanted to refurbish this for my nephew for Christmas. Any and all suggestions would be very much appreciated!