Wednesday

Part 1 Mailbox Makeover

Sometimes a project around here isn't intended to reach perfection, it's just intended to reach done.

Like this mailbox.

Mailbox Makeover Bliss-Ranch.com
Thin piece of cement board attached for starters
We can't see our mailbox from the house, it's 1/4 mile down our driveway.  Anyone else who drives by can see it, but they can't see the house.

It's the first point of contact for what may lie down the long and winding road.

It's a big box, the kind that can have a whole package stuffed inside it, and a few days ago it was in a sorry state of disarray.

Mailbox Makeover Bliss-Ranch.com
Faux roof and cement board backing
At one time it had little black painted lats of wood on it which worked good till someone with a beer bottle wanted to toss the empty out of their car window before they hit town.

That was the downhill spiral of the wood, and one by one over the course of a year each lat fell or started to hang off the box leaving people to wonder if down the long driveway you would find a house with boarded up windows.

Notice the chicken?
So I got this brilliant idea to adhere landscape rocks to the mailbox and then it would match our stone pillars. 

I wasn't aiming for perfection,  I just wanted it a bit tougher so it could handle someone elses aim or anything that's thrown at it - literally.

Mailbox Makeover Bliss-Ranch.com

Not spending any money was a top priority, so reusing what we had was necessity.   At any time the mailbox could fall victim to teenage pranks, and I didn't want to cry over an empty beer bottle that my fancy, pricey, new mailbox needed to be replaced.

All was going well....

I made a high tech tool out of a soda lid to use as a spreader for the glue.

Mailbox Makeover Bliss-Ranch.com

The cement was mixed and poured over the rocks as a grout....

Mailbox Makeover Bliss-Ranch.com

A trusty paint stirrer stick was used by Brawn to sculpt away excess cement....

Mailbox Makeover Bliss-Ranch.com

And when I turned my back the man decided to use up some old paint on the mailbox roof without consulting me.

Mailbox Makeover Bliss-Ranch.com

What the helll?  I know this was a low expectation project, but I wasn't going for little red barn mister! 

I didn't hold back, I let my feelings out...... I exclaimed that it looked like schidtt.

Lovingly of course.

Mailbox Makeover Bliss-Ranch.com

I was promptly handed a paint brush.

Then, much like this post, the mailbox project came to a screeching halt.

Done or not, dirty rocks, red roof and all, it needed to be returned to it's post since it had already missed a couple days of mail delivery.

But first I got out a can of gray spray paint.

Mailbox Makeover Bliss-Ranch.com
And now, because it's so much easier to haul a bucket of water 1/4 mile to wash the rocks instead of when it was right up by the house, I will pack up a scrub brush, take some gray paint, and stand on the road washing and painting for all the world to see.

And that has me mad.

Why?  Because I like to paint in my jammies. 

Guess I have to get dressed for this task. 

The mailbox and me will be back in a day or two, both of us dressed, but only one being revealed.





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22 comments :

  1. I love it!! Now your mailbox matches the stonework in your house! I think you should just go for it. Paint in your jammies! You might even make the headlines of your small town newspaper.

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  2. Adorable! I love the stones

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  3. how awesomely fun is that?!?! rockin my world.

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  4. I say go down there in your jammies.
    Nothing will happen.
    You do all the photography in your town, don't you?
    Slim chance that you'll be found out, unless one of your boys of the soy gets you.
    It's going to be wonderful with your columns and I daresay, beer bottle proof. Maybe even baseball bat proof!

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  5. Tina's right...nothing will happen. I went out to water my plants in my jammies (that includes no bra of course) and there's the next-door neighbor, backing out of his drive. He waves. I wave back, all the while very self-conscious about the fact my boobs are flapping in the wind and his wife doesn't come out of the house without her denim skirt and head-bun. Oops. Oh well, nothing happened. Yet. Love your new little red...er...gray barn.

    -andi

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  6. I love how it turned out....sorry you must dress to finish it but you really don't want to scare away the mailman!

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  7. I'm always out in my pj's! The little barn is so cute and matches your house and pillars! I love a good mailbox makeover, I never understand why people let them get so bad! (not that yours was but some I've seen are awful!).

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  8. This gave me a nice giggle. It's looking really spiffy though! My mailbox is sadly neglected...and likely to stay that way, so I'm very impressed with the efforts of both you and Brawn.

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  9. Your mailbox makeover turned out nice! I like how it matches the stone pillars by the driveway now.

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  10. Ha...it looks like what!?! I love it. We need a new mailbox...like the door is barely hanging by one of it's old rusty hinges. I am having a hard time finding one I really like enough to spend what they want for mailboxes these days..

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  11. People go to the grocery store in their jammies...why not paint in them? lol I love how the mailbox turned out! You are seriously creative!

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  12. Being from Oklahoma I've seen my share of mailboxes that have been destroyed by bats and beer. Sucks. This is hopefully a good solution. And it's cute. Really cute.

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  13. You Rock and so does you mailbox!
    Debbie

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  14. Poor Brawn. He was just trying to help! Next time he should just stick to scraping away cement grout!

    :) Linda

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  15. I laughed at this, then I laughed at Andi's neighbor's 'denim skirt and head-bun'. Thanks for the good way to start my day. If we're sharing stories, my backyard is surrounded by a 6-foot fence which is "pajama appropriate". However, one of my cats thinks it's adventurous to head over the wall occasionally, creating a pajama clad chase. No need to share the language that accompanies said chase.

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  16. That's gotta be the most unusual mailbox I've ever seen. Maybe that's not saying much though because not many house have mail boxes like you do in the US. If people have long drives, the postman would still drive up to the house and put it in the letterbox.
    Anyway, I digress, love the little rocks on your mailbox that match your house. I also loved the red roof - sorry !

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  17. Thanks for the chuckle!!!~~Angela

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  18. Ha! Ok, the mailbox as it stands (well I hope it still stands) is cuter than any I've seen. Yes, please tell Brawn I said "cuter".
    Since my PJs are basically my yoga pants I wear to bed I say... PAINT PARTY on the main road. It's time people grew accustomed to that anyway. Helps them lower their expectations. ;)

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  19. Well I was just looking at my own big, ugly, black mailbox this week and wondering whether or not to spray paint it. Maybe I should think out of the box and do something awesome like yours! Looking forward to the reveal lady but I love it so far!

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  20. you're a nut. I like painting in my pj's too... until my MIL pops over at 2:00 pm and it appears that I've done nothing all day but stay in my pj's...awkward. your mailbox is looking good. I like the roof much better in your color choice. I bet that sucker is heavy though, If it falls on someone, it might kill them, do you have insurance?

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  21. Looks like it ready for (beer bottle) battle now. OMG I love it in any color roof top and post!

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  22. I can just see you in your jammies with the chickens scratching at your feet down by the road at the end of your long winding drive painting your stone covered mailbox (which looks amazing, by the way!!). Bet that would be enough to scare beer bottle wielding kids away! lol (and no, I'm not saying you'd be scary-looking in your jammies!)
    I hope you're having a safe and wonderful July 4th long weekend!
    Debbie :)

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