Riddle me This...

Riddle number 1: What tasty delightful yummy beverage do the JunkFest Girls often drink speak of?
Answer: Hmmm...let me think....uhm....WINE!


Riddle number 2: What is wood, red, and has holes in it?

Answer: A "SUPERB" wooden granery door....weathered to perfection!!

What do you get when you put it all together????

A RIDDLING RACK!



After aquiring this fabulous naturally patina'd wood door, I knew exactly what I wanted to do to reinvent it. I've seen Riddling Racks in magazines and in the web world and adore them, but the price tags are usually WAY out of the ballpark.



This was not the time for cordless tools...so I pulled out the Big Dog Drill.



I mapped and planned and dabbled with the placement and number of bottles it could hold.



Kinda looks like a woodpecker with OCD, doesn't it?



I sealed her up with good ole durable polyurethane.

I also built a back rest so it could stand (teepee style). That way it could be be a stand alone piece and not need to be against a wall. The "Superb" is from an old ringer washstand...cute huh?


I hope it's happy in it's new home!!

It's hip to be SQUARE...

I don't know about you, but I am not the most fond of octagonal shapes...

...especially in my furniture.


Exhibit A:

I'm more fond of squares and rectangles...

JunkFest 2009

...But after seeing these legs, I knew she had potential!

The octagonal top was the first thing to go.
...as far as I was concerned, it was an instant improvement!

Some minor repairs and she was ready to be topped with a piece of travertine tile (left over from a bathroom floor project).




A coat of oil rubbed bronze paint gave her a nice crisp finish and some moulding was applied as a frame around the tile...


A little hardware made her more useful so a towel or some utensils could be hung from this much cuter and much squarer little gem.



She was sold at last year's JunkFest...I picture her in someones kitchen as an additional prep counter....or holding some neatly folded towels in the corner of a bathroom...but she could be useful almost anywhere.

I think this project proves beyond a shadow of a doubt:

Sometimes, just sometimes, when life throws you an octagon,
the only right answer is...... going topless!
Ha Ha
;)

My Three Hours of Bliss.

I don't generally post many of my current finds...in an effort to keep the suspense and element of surprise for JunkFest.

But a recent morning of garage sale success has me bubbling over with glee and gratitude, so I'd like to share.

You see...a fact about junkers that is commonly overlooked is our appreciation.

For without the time and effort a homeowner puts into having a garage sale (instead of tossing to the trash)...




or the courtesy call from a business owner, neighbor, or farmer down the road (instead of opting to discard)...




we junkers would have no outlet of opportunity to unleash our creative juices.



These goods are the canvas of OUR art.





Without them we can't do what we do, and we can't be who we are.




We express ourselves by repairing, restoring, refinishing, repurposing, and reinventing.




And so we say "Thank You" for making it possible for us to find our canvas, work our magic and in turn allow you to enjoy a piece that may have been destined to be discarded and forgotten.

Fireplace screen fun

Call me crazy. Yep, I'm a crazy girl. Crazy Junk Girl. That's me! This found object - the front "face" of a tractor - in my mind was an awesome junk-yard find from the moment my eyes caught sight of it- bird poop and all!


I gotta admit I knew exactly what this cool item would be "repurposed" into. When turned over I saw it had this cool "shelf"...hmmmm!




After a dang good cleaning and a few coats of polyurethane, she was ready to go!

Ahhh...rust perfection!

Now, ideally this tractor grill-turned-fireplace screen would be perfect placed in front of a faux fireplace. But, after spiffing her up I placed her in front of my working fireplace, just to give you the idea of how she looks.

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I think she's pretty darn cool.

Another thought I had is to hang it above a boys' bed (minus the candles), or on a wall in an office or den...whatcha think?

Hey - don't be afraid to show your crazy side!

If you can't make it....

Hello readers! I want to start this post off by letting you all in on a little secret. Or perhaps a misconception, if you will. If you're a junker, then you already know this and can skip down to the next paragraph...Junkers are very clever, resoursceful people. We can pull rabbits out of hats. We make things out of other "things" that most people would discard. Give us some string (vintage, of course!) a couple rusty hinges and some dried out barnwood and we've got the makings of the most gorgeous bar, hoosier cabinet, or bench you've ever seen! Did I mention, some of us exaggerate a bit? Anywho, when we can't make it or find it....we buy it!

Case in point:






I have long been pining for one or many of these curvy French-style chairs. The vintage variety seem to be almost non-existent here in NDWOJ (North Dakota world of junk). During a recent stop at a TJ Maxx store, I spotted a pair of these lovelies. The chair gods were smiling down on me!

These girls were already dressed in creamy canvas fabric and bedazzled in swirly, stampy, illegible typography! I didn't have to do a thing to them, except load them into my vehicle and take them home....serendipity!

Graceful, subtle curves....

Distressed in all the right places...

Sigh.....

The resident pooch even gave her nod of approval.

It's my new favorite spot in the house! Her partner is residing upstairs in my sewing/craft room....which you'll get a peek at soon.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great week!