Vendor feature #2: MORE special guests!!

Time for vendor spotlight #2 folks!  If you read the previous post, then you know that Wildflower's, Inc. of LaMoure is joining the JunkFest team this year...what could be cooler?  So glad you asked!  How about adding in the Barn Chics?

Barn Chics Diane & Linda

The Barn Chics will be brainstorming with JunkFest, and Wildflowers, Inc. to bring you the coolest rehabbed furniture, garden art, home decor and rusty treasures around!

 No shortage on style....

creativity....

 color....

 repurosed fun...

 vintage...

 accessories....

 and furniture!

The Barn Chics host occasional sales in Bemidji, MN.  To see more of their creative talents, check out their FB page here. 

Can you even handle it?  All this in one place?! And we haven't even started on the Flea Market vendor features yet!! Stay tuned!

Can this door be saved?

My brother recently gave me an old door from a house that was destined for demolition. I love everything about this door (except for that brass deadbolt!) from it's chippy white paint, frosted scenic window, perfectly patina'd hardware to the ornate mouldings.




Here's a close-up of the scenic window....absolutely gorgeous!

Here's my problem: The window is cracked in several places and was held together with clear packing tape, which has yellowed with time. All of the pieces are still in place, and the breaks appear to be straight, with no shattering.

Does anybody out there know of any miracle products that will seal or repair the glass as close as possible to its original state?

Or am I better off taking the glass out?

The door is very heavy! If I am unable to repair the glass, I guess I have a few options.....chalk board, cork board, mirror, clear glass with a photo or paper behind.

Any other options? What would you do with it? And where in your house would you put it?

Shedding some light...

Know what this is? It's an auger guard from some old farm machinery...or something. I picked this up, along with a ton of other amazing treasures at a top-secret junker's haven.






After turning it around, upside down, flipping it over, and turning it some more...I decided it would look cool hanging on a wall with a little candle-light behind it. But in it's current state, there were some obstacles in getting it to sit flush against a wall. See what I mean?





No problem. I'm a junk girl, I can fix that.....I'll just take those bolts off.

Okay, maybe not....did you notice that rust? Gonna have to break out the big dog for this project...

Okay, Donna, this next shot is for you! Any of you Funky Junk Interiors followers will remember Donna's post on taking great pictures with a simple point 'n shoot camera. Her subject? Bolts! It's worth the read...great tips, and it's funny! Click here to check it out.

After cutting the rusty bolts off with my angle grinder, I flipped the metal bracket-y piece over and bolted it on with some sparkly new bolts. I'm okay with them not being rusty because they'll be on the back side. Normally, I like my rusty finishes to match...kind of.

I used picture hanging wire to hang it, and tucked a glass votive with a tea light behind the cage.

It's flush against the wall, so the votive can't slip out. Think I'll stick to tea lights to avoid dripping wax.

Here she is...

How cool is that?

Linking up here:

Inspired Living...It's More Than a Feeling

Week two of SYTYCD is up and running. Nine decorators left...who will YOU vote for? This week's theme is "Catalog Inspired".

What inspires you?


To join in on the fun, and check out the competition, head on over to "So You Think You Can Decorate" and see for yourself the awesome talent involved in the contest.

Comfortable, casual living...often inspired by mail order catalogs, is more than a feeling...it's a state of mind. Does your living room invite you to sit back, relax, maybe settle in with a good read? Are you surrounded by colors and textures that are pleasing to the eye, harmonious with your lifestyle? Here at JunkFest, it's about surrounding yourself with treasures you love, with an unexpected twist!

With just one living area in our home (many have both formal and informal living rooms) I wanted the furniture to be comfortable, inviting guests to sit back, kick up their feet and stay awhile. I like to incorporate some of my junk-style infused pieces for fun and interest, such as the small side table made from a rusty grate and a cream separator base. The rusted wall shelf, which holds portraits and empty frames was crafted from vintage tin crown moulding.

Unexpected textures such as rustic crates or primitive wood bowls, well-used in another era, evoke a casual feel.


Time-worn clock faces embellish these baskets, and help to anchor in the darker accessories in the room.

The vintage typewriter holds memories of ancestors and a simpler time. Architechtural elements and a perfectly patina'd wash stand-turned-table add character.

Catalogs, such as Sundance, Pottery Barn, or Ballards are now offering vintage replicated pieces at a premium....but comfortable, casual living doesn't have to cost much.

Has inspiration found you? Remember to vote for your favorite projects at SYTYCD.

(JunkFest is #5 on the vote box)

More than a Feeling. It's a State of Mind.

JunkFest




Linked at:
BNOTP-Metamorphisis Monday

The DIY Showoff
Market Yourself Monday
Do It Yourself Day
Trash to Treasure Tuesday
It's So Very Thrifty
It's So Very Creative
Faded Charm
Motivate Me Monday
Toot Your Horn Tuesdays
The Thrifty Home
Transformation Thursday-The Shabby Chic Cottage
Alphabe-Thursday H

Junk Fever!

This is how I feel (and look!) right about this time every year. Here in North Dakota, winter seems to last for about 10 months, and the other two we battle mosquitos! You've heard of "cabin fever?" Well, I have "Junk Fever" and I need to get to a yard sale, auction sale, salvage yard, junk store....ANYPLACE where there's no snow and good rusty, chippy (and cheap!) junk!
Anyone with me?

Wine, candles, and thingamabobs...

Who said you can't hang a chandelier over a basket of potatoes? I thinks I can! And I did!

I have this cutsie metal cart in my kitchen that serves as my "wine central". Complete with a minnow bucket that chills the wine nicely when filled with snow, (no lack of snow here right now) a wood tray turned chalkboard, a rusty pulley (there for no reason other than I love rusty stuff), a wood toolbox turned wine glass caddy, and some thingamabobs.

You know, THINGAMABOBS. Those cute little vintage receipt holders that you could poke your eye out with. Two of the thingamabobs are holding wine charms, and the third is holding a copy of a cherished photo. I've added wine corks to the tops of course, so I don't poke my eye out!

Under the metal cart is a rusty metal basket that works perfect for potatoes and onions.

On a recent trip to a Grand Forks antique store I found the neatest candle chandelier...and I don't care if it's replica or genuine....cause it's CUTE! Hung it with an old metal bracket, added some votives (what I had on hand), and viola! There's just nothing like "junking" up a house!!

Linked to:
Domestically Speaking-Power of Paint

Wait a minute, Mr. Postman!

While on a leisurely stroll with my mother one summer day, something caught my eye as we were walking past a garbage pit....gingerly dodging freshly "planted" cow pies! Did I mention this walk was in my parents' pasture behind their farm? Anywho...we changed direction and headed over to said pit to check out the potential treasure just ahead. What I found was the base of an old cast iron mailbox, with the perfect amount of rust on its once white patina. It took me a minute to realize what it was, and several more minutes to muscle it out of the pile! Well worth the effort, don't you think?

Once I decided I had to have this baby, I had to walk back to my vehicle (10 miles, uphill both ways) and drive to the nearest gate....then came the "hoisting" magic trick my mom and I concocted to get it in my car. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating just a bit...but it is heavy.

Once home and cleaned up (you can't imagine what I found inside....remember, we're in a pasture!) I added a layer of rubber cement to the top rim and put some scrapbooking paper on top of that. With a purchased glass piece from a hobby store, it makes the perfect accent table in my bedroom, where it prominently displays a pic of my mom and me!

SUPER BOWL SUNDAY...a junk event?

Since I live with a bunch of males in the house, there's no question Super Bowl Sunday falls under the title of a "holiday" in our home. It's a time for good food, good friends and good drinks. With junking in my blood, my family is used to me incorporating a junk quirk of some kind with any event we host. Whether it's the Christmas buffet dinner spread atop the antique sled on the kitchen island, or the summertime Mexican grilling party featuring a chippy pink door as the table and sombreros filled with chips and salsa, I happily admit: I love to entertain with JUNK!

So, here's a peek at some junk items I'll be using Sunday, but shhhh, don't tell my family, maybe they won't notice! Since I love scales, the large one shown will hold the enchilada casserole, and the small one will hold a family favorite...bacon wraps....yum, yum!

This trio will hold more food...my father-in-law tells me the thing on the left is off a corn planter (it'll hold plates OR dinner rolls on Sunday). Chips and dips will fit nicely on the disc spool/

blade (thanks, dad!), shown on the right, and another hot food item will sit on the hot plate (front). It's actually the base of a lamp and a grate off an old stove...cool, huh?

Normally the corn chopper piece (actually two of them) are the legs that hold an old rabbit cage in our family room. I thought they were perfect! Don't you?

At Christmas the disc spool/blade (shown below) held pretty crystal garland, along with silver and clear Christmas ornaments.... A little shiny plus a little rusty = junk pretty! Isn't your mind just spinning right now thinking of all the neat things you can do with this?! Filled with pumpkins for fall, soaps and towels in a bathroom, and of course, chips and dip! Yes, the possibilities are endless!

And last but not least, this unique plate holder is actually an old album holder for records (remember them?) It sits on my kitchen counter holding my favorite dinnerware. This wonderful find looks exactly how I found it...nice and rusty! The large rusty disc spool will hold all the silverware.

So throw that beer and soda in an old metal tub (filled with SNOW, of course!), sit back and enjoy the junk...oops...I mean the GAME!

SNS #127