A Seat for the Prince

**Angie at KnickofTime featured our old barber shop at her Vintage party.
 It doesn't get much more vintage than 1916!

GottaGettaProjectDone...(so I have something to link to parties!)

I got this little table stool last summer at a garage sale for $3.00.  I intended to use it outside for little ones when we have meals off the grill, but it ended up in the house.  So yesterday I painted it to match The Grands highchair that I did last month.

Victim

ASCP Old White 2 Coats

The highchair (bottom of post) was my first painting experience with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.  I like the paint. On the stool, it is hard to see but there is a smaller crown on the seat similar to the one on the highchair tray - both from The Graphics Fairy. I have not perfected a transfer method yet, so I just printed it off and pencil scribbled it on.  I used a regular old printer.  Notice my brand new drop cloth, no way I'm doing this in the cold messy garage.

 Distressed, then waxed with clear.

 The back says Prince & Princess, for all the future "Grands" that grace our table

Now I have a matching set of thrones for when The Grands dine with us.

 

Hooking up with House of Hepworths

Linking up to DebbieDoo's Newbie party

Three Mango Seeds Do it ya self Monday  

AtHomeWithK Terrific under $10 

Wednesday's Bunny Hop at Bunny Jeans 

White Wednesday @Faded Charm 

What's It Wednesday @ Ivy & Elephants 

Sunday Stop @ Joy2Journey

Sales & Junkmarket are Chipping with Charm

Junk Market via camera phone

Friday was a big day for me for a couple reasons.  

First - I blabbed about my blog.  It's true, I'm a blog blabber.  But I didn't blab to just anyone, it was to my two daughters.  Only my husband knew of my blog, if you have followed for a bit you know this of me (also know keeping secrets is not my strong point).  I had always wanted to tell my girls but first they had to pinky swear to secrecy so the whole flipping town wasn't voyuering my house my home my thoughts.  So on our way between Junkmarket and monthly occasional sales, I revealed my secret blog.  And what did they say when I told them.... both said similar things like I thought you might, and I know.  Gee that was easy.  Guess I wasn't as secretive as I thought.  

I've also created junking fiends out of them, they want to turn our old barber shop  building into a vintage shop.  Hmmmm.  Sounds fun, and like a lot of work.

 Second big deal for me.....  

At Junk Market I stopped in to say hello and meet one of my favorite rusty chippy bloggers, 

Lauren @ChippingWithCharm.  (Hope she likes that photo I photo-napped from her blog). Since Hershey was nice enough to name chocolate after me I was going to casually leave her a packet of Hershey's hot Chocolate "Bliss" so she would know I had been there.  But I couldn't not say hello.  She has those kind of big eyes that you just can't lie too, and she looked right at me so I had to admit who I was.  I got all tongue tied talking to Lauren and she's just the sweetest thing.   I even stuttered.  I don't stutter, what the heck?  Lauren, I can't believe what a geek I am!  I wanted to come back and just yak and yak with her but she was busy selling her goods so I didn't interrupt.  I felt like I met a celebrity. Lauren had some really cute stuff too, but of course I'm there to knock off ideas and left with a jar of salsa from another booth.

So what did I buy?  Well I discovered that not only am I buying stuff for myself, I'm telling my daughter things would look good in her house and if she doesn't have my vision I buy them and inform her if I can't find a place for it she has to buy it from me.  Hence the candle holder and ammo box below.  The yard sticks are mine for sure!

I did find a place to hang the candle thing, but the box is still sitting here. As much as I like it, especially the bathroom appropriate lettering, I am not sure I have a spot for it.  And other than hanging it on the wall as a cabinet I'm not sure what else to do with it.


I also got this very heavy ladder.  I think it's from like a silo or some barn thing.  For now it's in the guest bathroom just to get it out of the way.  Don't know what I'm doing with that either and daughter didn't see the vision.  She obviously has not seen the link party for ladders over at Funky Junk Interiors.

Because Inquiring Minds Want to Know...

My day job.  

Some of my blogging buddies are curious, who wouldn't be, I'm curious about what makes all of you tick too.  I'm a semi retired photographer.  That means I pick and chose what I do and how much I do of it.  And while I consider all the people I photograph to be "the beautiful people",
part of what I get to do comes with perks.

For example.....

Dull.  

I got to follow around a telephone crew and photograph their progress for their corporate office in Wisconsin.  Nice shot of them staring in that hole huh?  The only perk was that one of my BFF's works for that particular company and I got to put faces with some of the names she has mentioned.  Photos of guys and their equipment.  Sounds better than it was.

Love.  

I'm honored to shoot weddings and be a part of young love as they embark on writing their story.  This couple was a mere 20 years young not even old enough to drink at their reception. And the temperature was like 105 and very humid that day.  Their photographer was a pudgy middle aged woman, with frizzy hair from the humidity - hot, sweaty and thirsty. Between these photos and driving to their reception, I called home and told Brawn that
I was sure helll could not be any hotter than my internal temperature.

Youth.  

I photograph seniors graduating from high school.  Big families and small.  And of course the smallest of them all, the teeny tinys.

My photos have been on the cover of one magazine two different times.   Now before you gasp and think wow, let me tell you it's nothing to get excited about.  It wasn't a decorating mag, and nothing creative.  In fact they told me what they wanted.
It was more dull than the  photos of the telephone men.

Eye in the sky.

I also do aerial photos.

Flying around in one of these.....

 

Taking pictures of people doing this....

From way up there....

Oak Ridge Men... They don't look like "boys" anymore!

To backstage here....

Now THESE are boys.... Lost Trailers

Of people like this....

 and this.....

John Rich, from Big & Rich

 and this duo....

Eddie Montgomery

Troy Gentry

And a cowboy or two.... or 20....

Jason Aldean

I am a paparazzi.

I'm not just a frumpy house wife who spray paints soda cans to hold fake flowers.  

I told you there were some perks!  

My Spring Spray Painted Coke Cans

So over at DebbieDoos she always does cute stuff with things from the dollar store.  Honestly every time I go I don't see anything cute to do anything with!  I must have a dud for a local store.  Anyway, Debbie took tin can's and put some real flowers in and it looked pretty so I thought welllllll I can do thatttt......  .  Cept I didn't have any tin cans other than coke cans.  And I didn't have any real flowers because as you can see from beyond the window it's frozen outside.  So I swished the dead bug off the window ledge and put my painted-coke-can-fake-flowers up and they really do brighten it up.  Notice the piece of paper towel under the blue can on the left.  I have wet blue rings of paint on my counter right now, guess it puddled on the bottom of the can because the rest was dry.  I purchased a bunch of the dollar store flowers for a buck.  I don't know who drank the coke, nor left the can's lay in the garage.  I sort of laughed at this little project, because no talent was required, but I find myself glancing at the pretty colors every time I walk by.  Spring is coming my friends, even if it's fake flowers in soda cans.

 

I linked up to Thrifty Decorating for Thrifty Thursday, because it doesn't get any thriftier than dollar store flowers and used soda cans! 

Linking up for fun, and sort of to laugh at my craftiness at 

Ginas Spring-tacular craft party @RandomThoughts

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have a guest post today over with Kelli at Eat, Pray {Read}, Love.  She used to be MoreBangForYourBuck till she realized that didn't really reflect her loves, so she changed the name and with that came a new spark for her to really love what she is writing.

As I read other blogs I often find a common thread.  We don't just feed our decorating souls, we also nourish our spiritual ones.  So for another side of Bliss with out any sarcasm or humor (I think?) take in the post on Kelli's Old and Young Wives Tales.  

And for something rare.... as in a Blogging World FIRST... you can see a photo of my kids.

Guest Post @ LifeInTheThriftyLane

Hello friends and countrymen, lend me your ear..... today I am guest posting over with

 Veronica at LifeInTheThriftyLane.  

Please pop over and say hi and you can see some bits of my home that makes me shake my head and ask the question... "Bliss.... what were you thinking (but I do like the cups in the photo above).  And check out Veronica's blog too while you are there, she has all sorts of interesting stuff to read about like a giveaway, and an Etsy shop, and well basically she's a full meal deal, she's got it all going on!

Time for a hair cut

Look Good Feel Better?  I think I should hang this by my bathroom mirror.

The post about those old window weights?  Well those old weights came attached to a whole building.

I purchased an old building to renovate a couple years ago (yup this is my baby, but Brawn does all the work).  In it's past life it was a barber shop and we inherited all the paraphernalia with the purchase. 

Lots and lots and lots of "stuff" which also included furnishings from the apartment above where the barber and his family lived.

So we got the vintage porcelain barber sign above....

 This awesome Red Wing clock that is currently in our house

 This dirty hairy old sink, not like the movie

 An unfortunately empty cash register

 And two of these bad boys  

One of which I had the misfortune of being dropped on my big toe.

We even got the scissors, shavers, empty bottles of smelly stuff, 

cabinets, racks, and lots of old hair.

The ceramic tool sterilizer is now in my bathroom

Old cabinets, so yucky, but I like the glass knobs

A couple years ago when the reno started I barked out the order to Brawn and the boys.....  

"don't get rid of anything just in case".  

Now with blogging, I'm barking louder....

"DON'T GET RID OF ANYTHING,

NOT A BOLT, NOT A SLAT OF WOOD, 

NOTHING!".

Fall of 2011 everyone rolled out of bed, hammers in hand, and off to replace the building front.  

We got rid of a whole dumpster load of what?  What good stuff did I toss not knowing any better? 

I will never know.

I'm linking this up to the FOLK Magazine thing with Donna @ Funky Junk Interiors

because how many people have a 1916 building that came with 1916 crap?

Also Linking to Knick of Time Vintage Treasures

THE ANSWER to......Decorate with THESE

I am the proud owner of the above "things".  Lets play the game of............  

DO YOU KNOW WHAT THESE ARE?

I am betting many of you know exactly what they are.
So how about if you are one of the people who do....you hold off on your comment, or just send me an email to confirm it so we can see what other people guess.  

The second part that everyone can participate in...... what would YOU do with them?????

THE ANSWER:

OK, they are.....

Several of you got it correct...... 

Now if I didn't know, I would of thought they were something nautical.

They weigh A TON each so if they were nautical what ever you attach it to is gonna sink!   They are iron.  They are not nun-chucks for a super strong super ninja. 

They are window weights.  

Google that if you want to see just how they worked.

They went in the wall along side windows and operated on a pulley system.  These are from a 1916 building that we own.  When we replaced the windows last year I told Brawn, SAVE THEM.  But what should I do with them?  
I don't know any super strong super ninjas to give them too.

One Drawer Down... One Million To Go

Last weekend my two daughters and I went shopping.  I didn't need a thing, but of course that didn't stop me and I never turn down an invitation to hang out with them.  One stop was Home Goods and I saw a drawer organizer.  This I needed.  I did.

9 Inches wide

A quick call home to interrupt Brawn's flu and ask him to measure the top center drawer width in our bathroom.  9" wide?  Perfect, the organizer also was 9" wide.  It was meant to be in my non mathematical mind.

9 inch wide swath of crap

The organizer did not go in easily, duh 9 inches on both items leaves no room for give.  But I forced it in.  I only split a small spot on the drawer side and it's not even noticeable.   It's in, and it ain't coming out! 

I discovered this little treasure under 100 eye liner pencils.  I think it was my mom's and I tossed it in that drawer over 10 years ago.  It will go nicely with the vintage barber shop junk we inherited with an old building we bought.

And I found this.....

The missing alligator claw from a Florida vacation back in 1994.  I need a show of hands please if anyone else has an alligator claw in their makeup drawer.  Don't be shy, speak up.

After

Amazingly I got rid of very little stuff.  'Got rid' of as in threw in the trash.  I did take out all the tooth related items and put it in a Velveeta box for now.  I'll organize the cabinet I tucked that into another day.  I also put the claw back in.  What else am I gonna do with it?  Can you find it?  Where's Clawdo.

The most amusing thing to me was that I have so many lipsticks.  They must be from Halloween costumes since the one beauty item I use the least is lipstick.  I have my mothers old lipsticks, some from the girls when they were in dance, and a few I thought I might like.  Give me an eyeliner pencil, some fragrance and flavor free lip stuff and a bit of face lotion and I'm pretty much good to go.

We also made this purchase at Costco.  No I didn't eat it all myself, (thought about just rubbing it right on my ash).  There is always plenty of help around here for cheesecake eating, just not drawer organizing.

The Drawer Get's Linked...Uncluttered Thursday @UnclutteredLifestyle