Now you'll know...the "REST" of the story

After completing this project, I probably could use a good REST. 

But first, the rest of the story from last week's "Off with their Heads" post. Remeber this?  

Well, it really started out here.... 

Oh sure, a $5.00 church pew was a pretty good deal.  But did you notice anything funny? .....Yep, it HAD NO SEAT! So I decided to cut it in half.

After that, I had to remove one of the back halves from the side piece.  That's where my post came in to play showing how to separate the two by drilling off the heads of the screws. 

And eventually I did get the one back piece separated from the side. 

I used that half of the back as the new seat and reattached the side piece, giving me a "half" pew. 

There was gluing to be done, gaps to fill, screws to cover, and then lots of sanding.  

After that I gave it a coat of primer. 

I painted it black and painted on the word REST.  It can be interpreted more than one way, especially good for a church pew I think.  

And now you know....the REST of the story! 

Actually, there is just one more thing -- CONGRATULATIONS to Rachel from Somewhere in the Middle!!  She is the winner of my spring giveaway!!

Midge

I'm linking this up to Gail's "Catch-as-catch-can" Linky party at My Repurposed Life

And I'm linking it up to Donna's "Saturday Nite Special" Linky party at Funky Junk Interiors

Define bench.....

When you hear the word "bench", your first question may be "What do you mean by 'bench'?"  And for a junker, the next question is probably "And how exactly do I make one?"  Here are some ideas...

Junking 101:  The headboard bench!  Made by cutting the footboard in half (or less) and using as sides by attaching to the  headboard forming three sides.  A front board completes the frame and the seat can either be slats or one bigger board supported underneath.

A fun variation on the headboard bench, this one had identical foot and headboards.  One forms the back and one forms the front with the addition of side boards.  Just need a little measuring and cutting to get the right fit.

   

Headboard, but no foot board?  No problem if it's full size or larger.  Cut it in half to make a corner bench.  Add a third leg in back, a board in front, and you're off and running. 

No beds?  Well, do you have an old dresser?  This friend did.  And we carefully removed the top, cut it down to the appropriate height, and reattached the top to create a functional storage bench from a family heirloom.

An old chest will work too!  This one got some attention and some casters.  The inside is great for storage -- this one has built-in file storage!

Three matching chairs make a great bench!  And they don't have to be great chairs (the middle section chair isn't even really all there -- shhhh...don't tell!) 

One of my favorite bench I've made -- a gossip bench made from old ladders.  Who doesn't love ladders? -- and gossip!!

Looking for something different?  It doesn't have to be difficult.  This easy and fun summer bench is made from a couple camp stools with waterskis attached to the top!

Now, go be creative...define YOUR bench.

Midge

I'm linking this up to Donna's Saturday Nite Special Linky Party at Funky Junk Interiors

I'm still here! And I still like free things!

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile.  I didn't forget that I have a blog!  And nothing bad has happened. Sometimes the busyness of life just gets the best of me.  I'm working on some changes (good ones!) for my business.  Oh, yeah...And my daughter Becky got engaged over the weekend....Oh boy!  But I still love  junking, and I still love getting free things.



Well, I did get this for free but it didn't look like this!  This is the after picture.  What a great bench for extra seating.  But that's not all....

When you lift the lid, attached are those plastic protectors for holding unpaid bills, calendars, office supplies, etc.  And in the main body of the bench....

Metal rods for holding hanging folders!  So it's a bench AND a home office.  AND it's portable, because I removed the existing legs and added casters.   

That was just before I added some paint details and decoupaged the front with old newspapers and dictionary entries with words like file, organize, success, accomplish.  You see, I wanted to highlight some of the details of the original blanket chest.  It did need a little attention.  When I got it....  

It looked like this.  Well, not a good picture, but it was stained brown, and WAS pretty beat up.  My friend (a mom of 7) said it was time for it to go!  I tried to encourage her to keep it, but she was determined to get rid of it and told me to take it, or she was dumping it.  What could I do?.....  

But this. Did I mention that the center circle is chalkboard paint?  Peace. 

Midge

It's something, anyway.

Well, I'm still struggling with being a consistent, hardcore blogger. But I did get a project completed and thought that was a good excuse to post. I had to buy a new camera a few months ago and I'm still not too smooth with retrieving photos, etc. SO, here's my one shot of my recently completed project.

It is made from an old headboard that sat around my shop for awhile because there was no footboard and it was quite big and clunky to haul up to my loft. After, seeing a corner bench someone else had made I thought "Well, yeah, it's cool but I'm not going to break up a set. I'd have to wait til I had ONLY a headboard". It took me a while to put that all together. Duh. But glad I eventually did.

In my mind it was WAY cooler. I was trying to go for something "classy" (not my typical route). I had no fabric that seemed to work, so I went to the store and BOUGHT some (ouch that hurt to say -- on many levels). What an ordeal! I was there forever (and I think made some new friends along the way, or should I say met people who will be on the lookout for me in the future!). I finally made a decision I thought I was happy with, but now I'm not so sure.
It just seems a bit boring. Maybe it just needs to grow on me.

Oh, well. Enough of my babbling. There's more junk that needs some love! But this time -- more whimsy!

Midge

Just reread all that. Wow! That really had a whiny tone all the way thru. Sorry about that -- not sure what my deal was. Cheers!

I'm linking this up to Lezlee's linky party over at Prior Lives Party .