Keeping it Real!

A few weeks back in a post, I lamented about my frustrations in not being a "good" bloggger and posting on a regular basis. I haven't progressed much since then, but I am happy to report that I have been doing my devotions every morning (which is much more important than blogging, afterall).

But I did think about how I might be a more consistent blogger and thought that if each day of the week was roughly set aside for a certain topic it might help. So I thought about different things I like on other blogs and I went from there and compiled my schedule -- and there it sat.
So today I decided to be just a day late and do my Tuesday Tool School post. I took a bunch of pictures and NONE of them turned out decent! So, of course, I took that as a sign (I'm a big believer in signs) and decided to do my Wednesday post (since it is Wednesday).

I was stalling on the Wednesday post because I have designated my Wednesday's topic as "Keeping it Real". I'm much more comfortable talking about tools and projects than about myself and my life. However, I so appreciate bloggers who are able and willing to share themselves with their readers -- the good and the bad (of themselves, not readers!). So on Wednesdays I will try to share a little more of myself. Here goes...

Well, I already covered my daily devotion progress -- check.
But something I haven't mentioned is that another area of my life that needed work was my weight/health. My profile picture must have just been a lucky one for me, because it really doesn't give away that I AM OVERWEIGHT -- A LOT! (There....I said it...and I guess that wasn't so bad.) I didn't think it was the appropriate time to deal with it because I already have enough going on in my life and I didn't want to take on "another projct". But we had an interesting development around our dinner table 3 weeks ago. All 6 of us are overweight and don't eat the healthiest and were discussing it. Then my daughter Becky (22) said "Hey, why don't we all hold our own family Biggest Loser". So that is what is happening in my family's life right now. Everyone is doing the method that works best for them. And we are to encourage each other. We would like to collectively lose 250 pounds by the end of the year! (I TOLD you we are all heavy). And as an extra incentive we are working on plans for a family vacation if we make our goal. So, how is it going? Well some are doing good, some are struggling, some are rebelling. But my plan is to go steadily and in common sense method -- less food, better food, and more exercise. So far I'm doing okay. And I've probably lost about 5#, so I'm about on track, I just have to stay serious about it.

Anyway, I did have another topic to share but it will definitely be wordy and I've already shared enough for now, so I will save that for next Wednesday. But here's a little hint: I love to re-use things... well... even my house is recycled!

So...the topic I have designated for Thursday is projects. So look for a project post tomorrow. And Friday is all about Junk Fun (I just don't know what that means yet, but I'm working on it -- please share if you have an inspiration).

Peace out.
Midge

Come and knock off my doors..I've been waiting for you

I LOVE OLD DOORS! So you can imagine my glee when Donna @ Funky Junk Interiors announced that her next Saturday Night Special link up would feature projects from old doors. I thought I would raid my pile of old dirty mangled doors and get busy creating door magic. That didn't happen. But.... I would like to share some projects that I have made in the past, and also why doors are so great!

So. Why do I love doors? Well, basically an old door is a big slab of wood. Very easy to work with. Very easy to find...cheap, or better yet free. They often have a lot of character and history (and sometimes cool doorknobs included). And.... the possibilities are endless.....


There actually are many different designs for doors, so that's usually my starting point otherwise I would get overwhelmed with ideas (either that, or my head my just explode!).

And I'm only talking about solid wood doors -- not screen doors or garage doors. Garage doors come in narrower panels, giving a whole other set of possibilities. But if narrow is what you're after, start with a door that has a center stile down the entire door and cut it in half. Then you could make something like this....

You just screw (and glue) the two halves together at a right angle, add some shelves and you have a great corner shelf unit. You can trim it out however much to like, making it from very fancy to very rustic. I love when the door is dirty and chippy, I know once I start sanding I'm going to find some interesting colors underneath .....

This is not from the same shelf above. But the colors were surprisingly similar -- must have been the popular colors of the day.

You wouldn't want to make something like that with a door that has glass. But if it's all glass, you could use it for displaying photos. OR, I like to make something like this.....

I used the legs from an old kitchen table, added rails for support, and added a big piece of glass for the top surface. A big piece of glass like that can be quite expensive so I took the junker's way -- I took apart an old sliding glass door and first cut the door to fit the glass (actually there're 2 pieces of glass inside).

If a door has/had glass just in the top portion of the door, I like to make one of these....

Cut a piece of mirror to fit the opening, add a seat and some hooks, and you have an awesome hall tree!

Using that same type of door, or any type of door really, you can do the same idea and stand up the door and add a table of sorts to the front. That's how I made one of my favorite projects...

This potting bench was a lot of fun! I loved the pale yellow paint on the door so I went with that. The front part I made from lumber but finished it to match the door.

Of course, a fun piece like that needs some fun doodads. So I cut a hole in the top and dropped in an enamel pan, added a rake shelf/hooks, a faucet head knob, and a vintage sprinkler hook.

Probably my biggest door project was this....

It was one of my first projects as a junker, and I wanted something BIG! So....I made a couch.

Many different door styles would work for a project like this as you can see. Again, I kept with the original finishes because I just loved the look.

I even added a little heat register detail on the side for holding magazines.

Okay, I admit the couch was a bit much. But a more practical projects would be....

A chair made out of a door is not too difficult. And it adds a lot of charm.

Now, if you have a 5-panel door (5 crossways sections), they make great headboards. This was another of my early projects -- so early, I didn't know I was supposed to take pictures! They also are great verically with shelves added or horizontally on a wall for displaying photos.

So I keep grabbing doors whenever possible -- on the curb, delivered to me, Craigslist, cheap auctions, or even Habitat. I only wish I could keep up! I continue to see cool ideas and am keeping a list of future projects -- kitchen island, room divider, arbor, desk, maybe even an armoire! AND the scraps from the projects make even more fun things! AARRGGHH. I wish I worked faster.

Okay, I've got to go -- I've babbled on long enough. Sorry. I just get a little excited on the subject of doors. It's definitely one of my favorite junk treasures.

Peace out!

Midge

I'm linking this up to http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/2010/06/sns-36-brings-you-old-doors.html

Love All!

Okay, I admit that I'm not really sure what that title means, but I DO know that it's a tennis term so it seemed fitting for this recent project of mine. And while I wouldn't quite say that I LOVE them, I do think that they turned out pretty fun and would look great in a cottage type style decor.

I had some random pieces of broken mirror that I wanted to use up so I went hunting around for something different to put them in. When I saw a few vintage tennis racquet presses, I figured that would do the trick. And I found a -- SURPRISE -- the wing nets are designed to be unremovable. So first I had to use my dremel to cut off the little springs between the frames (if I had left them in place I wouldn't have been able to get the frames close enough to each other).

I cut the mirror to fit, added a little mirror adhesive to the back, slipped it in, and screwed down the wingnuts nice and tight. I simply hung from a nail on the wall (I'll probably devise a better hanging method later). You'll have to turn your head a bit sideways, not sure why I can't spin photo. But you'll see that because the jutting out screws provide such a great place for hanging things, I decided to add some chalkboard tags.

Of course, some great words (of affirmation) for these would be: star, champ, winner, love, player, etc. For this trio of mirrors I went with the obvious -- GAME... SET ... MATCH!

Midge

I'm linking up to --

http://bec4-beyondthepicketfence.blogspot.com/2010/06/under-100-linky-party_17.html

http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/2010/06/sns-35-brings-you-old-gates-gitter-done.html