{"id":50134,"date":"2014-06-15T00:09:34","date_gmt":"2014-06-15T07:09:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/?p=50134"},"modified":"2014-06-15T00:09:34","modified_gmt":"2014-06-15T07:09:34","slug":"make-it-merit-badge-intermediate-level","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/50134","title":{"rendered":"Make It! Merit Badge, Intermediate Level"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<span style=\"color: #800080;\">The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our<\/span> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.farmgirlsisterhood.org\/\">Sisterhood Merit Badge program<\/a>,<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> now with 5,929 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far\u20148,474 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #339966;\">Wondering who I am? I\u2019m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my<\/span> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/10477\">former life<\/a> \u2026<b>\u00a0<\/b><b>\u00a0<\/b><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>For this week\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.farmgirlsisterhood.org\/badges-mie-make-it.asp\">Make It Easy\/Make It! Intermediate Level Merit Badge<\/a>, I decided to quit pinning amazing ideas and DIY crafts on Pinterest, and actually <em>accomplish<\/em> one. Or several.<\/p>\n<p>In order to earn my Intermediate Level Badge, my little chickadees, I needed to make a piece of outdoor furniture. Seeing as how my garden is coming along at a beautiful rate and there\u2019s nothing better than relaxing on the porch at sunset, a frosty beverage in hand, I was all about some outdoor furniture. (A girl can get tired of sitting on the steps, especially when that girl\u2019s derriere is not as young as it used to be).<\/p>\n<p>I cheerfully hopped on the Upcycling Bandwagon. Didn\u2019t know there was such a wagon? Oh my, yes. Upcycling\u2014recycling something into something else even more fabulous\u2014is all the rage, and never let it be said that I\u2019m not up to date in the newest trends; I have leopard-print ballet flats to prove it.<\/p>\n<p>A little treasure seeking in my own attic brought out the perfect materials to make the cutest bench you ever did see: an old twin headboard and side rails. Are you following me, farmgirls? Headboard for the backboard, so to speak. Rails to make the bench, and a fresh coat of homemade chalk paint. I even had plans for the extra rail (after all, I only needed one section to make the bench): either a table to match (on which to place my frosty beverage) or a homemade swing (but where will I put my frosty beverage in that case)? Table it is.<\/p>\n<p>I sawed a bit, measured a lot, sanded some, and nailed the rest. Along the way, I got distracted by other ideas for upcycled DIY outdoor (or indoor) furniture. You wouldn\u2019t believe the creativity of our fellow thrifty gals out there in cyber space! A few more ideas now taking up real estate in my noggin:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>another bench idea, but this one made from 2-3 kitchen chairs, connected<\/li>\n<li>window seats made from cabinets<\/li>\n<li>nightstands out of stacked dresser drawers<\/li>\n<li>fire pits made from wine barrels<\/li>\n<li>tables and chairs made from pallets<\/li>\n<li>a porch swing made out of an old crib<\/li>\n<li>suitcases into end tables<\/li>\n<li>small entertainment centers transformed into children\u2019s play kitchens<\/li>\n<li>take an old dresser drawer, add legs and a hinged and upholstered top, and you have an instant ottoman\/footstool (with storage)<\/li>\n<li>ladders into bookshelves, or shelves for hanging bathroom towels on<\/li>\n<li>shutters turned into a bookcase<\/li>\n<li>a dresser becomes a doggy or kitty (or pot-bellied piggy) bed<\/li>\n<li>an overturned table becomes a bed, perfect for porch napping (you can buy memory foam cut to fit for your mattress)<\/li>\n<li>an aviary from an old television cabinet<\/li>\n<li>old microwave carts or small bookshelves become an outdoor bar station<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You name it; some creative gal out there has done it! It might just be me &#8230; or you.\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 5,929 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far\u20148,474 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ\u00a0 Wondering &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/50134\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/50134\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gladsome_sisters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50134\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}