If you’re looking for a screen saver for your tablet or PC, I’m afraid you’ve come to the wrong post. If you’re a bit of a klutz like me, however, this post is for you.
I’ve walked into our screen door on more than one occasion, with the full force of my being. I’m always completely stunned each time, as if it’s never happened before. Last summer my son’s friend hit the screen with such force that it tore out of its frame. I felt ever so slightly vindicated. His friend wasn’t hurt of course, and they both laughed it off, but our screen has taken a real beating. We’ve had to replace it at least twice in the past several years, and didn’t even bother to repair the current one when the lower corner came loose. The cats immediately claimed it as their own.
After the most recent screen crash, my husband applied a strip of black electrical tape at eye level and called it a day. Though lacking in aesthetics, it was a brilliant idea. It worked.
I’ve tried attaching clever little pins in the past or stickers from my stash, but they never stay put. Then I found these:
Magnetic Screen Savers
They’re mirrored magnets. You place one on the inside of the screen and attach the mirrored magnet to the outside. I think they’re fun in a kitschy sort of way and they get the job done.
Problem solved: screen saver, garden style.**
**Disclaimer: they don’t work when you have a cat snoozing across the door’s threshold. =^..^=
Have you every walked through a screen door? You can tell me. I promise not to share it with anyone other than the internet.
Gardening Nirvana 
Why oh why don’t we come up with these simply clever ideas? We’re smart woman! That inventor is probably Livin’ la vita loca 😀 They’re a whole lot cuter than electrical tape (sorry Mike, it needs to be practical BUT pretty too).
Our neighbour Roy used to do this all the time before we replaced a slider with a garden door. We HAVE to keep the screens closed in at night in Alberta due mosquitos. Roy and Karen would come for a fire and we’d all go in and out to fix our drinks. Roy is pretty chatty and carried the screen out on more than one occasion. We always laughed like crazy.
You’ve collected such cute poses by Beijing, I especially love the one with just the tail laying thru the threshold..hehe. What a sweet sweet face, mwaaaaa. I also noticed your big basket of Oranges just outside the door. Great scott, California is a magical place :D. To grow oranges in your own back yard, that’s just fantastic.
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I know! Yet another simple yet brilliant idea, Problem = solution.
That’s okay. We’re brilliant in other ways.
Poor Roy! He has my complete understanding as to how that can happen…repeatedly. 🙂
I love that photo of Beijing with her tale in the door, too. She loves to be on the threshold. She also enjoys sleeping on the coir mat which I just don’t get. It is so rough and prickly, but she chooses it time and again.
Ironically, those are small pumpkins in the basket from late fall. They do look just like oranges.
(((You)))
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Oh wow, yes! Now I see pumpkins. Man they last a long time when they’re not carved. You’ve got nice pumpkins Alys…hehe
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It’s a brilliant idea – and better than a horizontal run of electrical tape or stick on woodgrain laminate – which I’ve also seen. I have no walking into screen door stories alas – but I can tell of the time I attempted to walk through an internal glass sliding door – full tilt, in a hurry and eight months pregnant! I thought I’d burst my stomach open – but after picking myself up and rubbing myself down all was well 🙂
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Pauline, my mom and sister have both walked into the glass door (which now had pretty window clings on it, to prevent that from recurring! (glad you and baby were all good after your escapade)
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You have no idea how relieved I am to hear that Laurie – sick as it sounds – it is the first time I have heard someone say – Oh, I know of that too… Thought I was all alone in my clutzy ditziness 🙂 It is ED’s excuse for whenever she does anything silly – ‘Oh my mum bashed me into a glass door in-utero……’ Hope your family members got off lightly too…. 🙂
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This seems to be such a common occurrence. I hope neither of them were injured.
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That must have been so scary. Thank goodness the story ended well.
I’ve heard of pregnant women having terrible falls, and the baby is just fine. I think we’re built to last…and to protect that baby at all costs.
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My dignity was more hurt than anything else really – and I’ve never walked into another plate glass door since 🙂 And I do know how it feels to be a water balloon being squeezed extremely tightly 🙂
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Screen door, yes!! and my sister and my mom, the glass door (no breakage or injuries). Frankly, your husbands’s black electrical tape is funny. Done!
I do love your magnets – how clever!
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Yep…done! And it worked just fine. I wasn’t even looking for a replacement, but then there they were at Target for $3.99 and I couldn’t resist. They’re perfect.
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Oh yes, Alys, that’s an old story that so many can tell. I bought embroidered butterflies in a hoop to hang onto the screen but the activity of teens slamming in and out a dozen times a day during summer, tore it loose. Clings worked for the sliding door but my last husband took a board through it anyway. Thank goodness he was at the far end of it. It wasn’t safety glass either. It’s no longer an issue for me as I move a bit slower these days but I am planning on trying an experiment soon. I’m going to try to embroider directly on screening. I know it’s possible and will start small. I’ll let you know how it goes. I like the magnetic idea and wonder how well they hold under pressure. You know the kind I mean.:) Mike was very resourceful in a pinch.
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I like the idea of embroidered butterflies. It sounds like a great idea to embroider one on the screen. Will you buy a small piece of screening, then attach it to the screen when it’s finished? Can’t wait to see what you come up with.
Sorry to hear about your husband shattering the door with a board. Before tempered safety glass, many people sustained serious injuries. Thank goodness for that improvement.
I was cat sitting for a neighbor when I was just a girl of 12 or so, and I put my knee partially through the sliding glass door. The door cracked top to bottom, but somehow didn’t shatter. I cut open my knee, but it was superficial and only required a bandaid. I’ll never forget my shock that day.
Mike is resourceful in many ways. His dad taught him auto mechanics, electrical, minor plumbing, carpentry…he can do it all. I’m so envious of his skills.
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I’ll let you know about the screening when I can get to it. Going to mention it to our instructor for maybe next months class if possible. I’ll start on a small piece and then see if i want to do a big one to have the door re-screened with it. Nothing like jumping in with both feet. I’m glad my husband put the board through the door. I had no idea it wasn’t safety glass. It was his house before me. If that had been one of our kids…. or a friend. I don’t even want to think about it.
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That gives me chills, Marlene. You’re right. I’m glad you found out before anything worse happened. These days, anything below a certain height has to be safety/tempered glass, including sliding doors, shower doors, cars, and household windows that fall below a certain height.
We paid extra to have the window over our bed made of tempered glass when we replaced it. The room is configured in such a way that we can only place the bed on that wall. Living in earthquake country, I would never put a bed under the bed. This gave me some comfort.
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Thankfully we don’t have to have screens over here – the worst we get is an attack of midges. It is a very pretty way of dealing with the problem.
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That’s nice not to have the worry. Sorry to hear about the midges. Are they tiny?
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