Farewell Phone Books...

When our front and back doors are open the flow of air will inevitably slam both doors shut. To prevent the back door from slamming, I slide the laundry basket in front of it. Due to the size of the laundry basket (and the fact that it always seems to be full!), the back door does not even quiver in a gale force wind when the basket is in front of it!

As for the front door...the photo says it all! For years we have been using phone books as a doorstop. I know I don't need to point out that the phone books aren't used for anything else, as it is pretty clear that they haven't even been unwrapped (we did that one year and they kept sliding off one another - very annoying!). Actually, I take that back. Eli has been known to use them as a stool to try and reach something that he knows he is not allowed to touch.

Well, I decided that it was time. The phone books went into the recycling bin and I got to work on a simple doorstop.

Doorstop Carcass!

I had some leftover fabric from Eli's Bear Bag so out it came, destined to be transformed into something more attractive than phone books.

I put together the casing in the shape of a square based pyramid and then thought it looked a little small for our feisty door. No matter - overstuff it to make it heavier!!

Even though Eli is 3 years old, I ended up making an internal bean bag to house the plastic beans (plastic so that I can wash the door stop as needed! Who wants a dirty door stop?) as a precaution against escaping beans being swallowed. It was probably unnecessary, but I do enjoy peace of mind!

Over stuffed door stop.

And this is the result! At first I wasn't sure if it was up to the task, as it weighs a lot less than the phone books (which I couldn't even retrieve from the recycling if I wanted to, as the bin had long since been emptied!). At worst, I figured that even if the door stop didn't prevent the door from moving, it would at least act like a big wedge and prevent it from slamming.

Fortunately we have had some strong autumnal winds this week and the bears have stood firm!

So, do you have a door stop? What does it look like?