Updated Lamps April Thrifty Style Team

Welcome to the April edition of the Thrifty Style Team, where I try to prove that I have an eye for rescuing some cast off or worn out piece of junk from a garage sale or thrift store.

New Fireplace Mantel With Fusion Mineral Paint

Our family room has gone through many changes over the years.  Half round log siding, an addition, changing couches and changing colors.

But one thing stays the same.... it's a well used room.

I mentioned that I would like to update the mantel to something bigger and brighter, and the man with the power tools and Fusion Mineral Paint accomplished both.

When we built this house it had a rustic-living-in-the-woods-by-the-lake feel.  Most of that style has been gone for quite a while, but the old worn rustic wood mantel stayed on.

Dining Chairs With Old Sign Stencils

Somewhere between the stomach flu and my current head cold, I decided to get rid of a couple 20 something year old chairs.

And then I decided to keep them.

Thrifty March Madness Baby Scale

Welcome to March Madness of the thrifty kind with the Thrifty Style Team.

For March I transformed an antique baby scale made by Continental Scale Works.

What's March Madness anyhow, isn't it mens basketball?

Pallet Topped Coffee & Side Tables

A couple of years ago I picked up a coffee table at a garage sale after I eyed it up for potential.

I determined I could do a little something-something with it, and for $7.00 bucks it came home with me.

This is the 3rd makeover that the family room table has received, and you know what they say - 3rd time's a charm!

Thrifty Style Team February, The Barber Shop

The Thrifty Style Team is back for 2017, kicking off February with some thrifty wares.

It's all about how to use cast off, thrifty or thrifted items in your decor.

This month I'm going to show you some of my favorite finds, although I don't know if I can actually call them thrifty since they sort of cost me thousands of dollars.

This old register unfortunately was not filled with vintage money.

I didn't  pay for these vintage finds by the item, which makes them thrifty, but I did have to buy a whole building in order to call them my own, and that makes them spendy when you throw in the cost of the bricks and windows.

Quirky Sign With Homestead House Milk Paint

What month is this?  Janulazy?

Of course I'm not talking about myself, I haven't been lazy.

OK, yes I have, I admit it.

It's partially a patience thing, but I did make a sign.

Our high speed DSL has been acting like the evil step sister to dial up, and patience is something I have on my bucket list to experience sometime in this life.

Bliss Ranch 2016 Pick 'O The Litter Projects

I had my favorite projects of 2016, but that doesn't mean they were also my readers favorites.

So like the November election results, some of these reader project favorites of the year, might surprise you!

Even if they are not everyone's favorite, the Bliss Ranch Blog readers have spoken and these are the results......

The Top Eight

Earthy Holiday Pillows From Sew A Fine Seam

I've mentioned in the past that the colors in our family room are muted shades of rusty orange, browns, and earthy colors.

We like it that way, specially at Christmas when the pine cones are in old crates  and a fire is snapping in the hearth.

And I love these three pillows as much as the warmth of the fire and glow of the Christmas tree.

Christmas Tree Crate Base

A few years ago I made a three sided bottomless Christmas tree crate, with a paint job modeled after one I saw on a friends blog.

Why three sides instead of four?

Pine Box Keepsake Gift

I have a rather wordy post today and it might get a little long.

A story for you, but it's not really mine to tell so I won't be including many of the more personal details. 

Just enough information to explain about a stinky pine box no one else wanted at a garage sale.

We have some friends.  Close ones.

Our families are pretty entwined, we have the old friends thing, the Godparent thing, the mentor thing, the previous boss thing, the kids are all friends thing, the be in each others weddings things, etc. etc. etc.. 

Even the family tree thing - some sort of third cousin deal I can never remember.  I think the grandparents were first cousins.

Bakery Gift Sign With Funky Junk Old Sign Stencils

Depending on the specific occasion, we enjoy making gifts around here.

And as far as we can tell, the recipients like receiving them.

You know the saying about the apple doesn't fall far from the tree right?

Well there is also another saying..... whatever sprinkles your donuts.

When one of my daughters had a housewarming and "Friendsgiving" meal to attend for a college friend over the weekend, she of course wanted to make a gift.

A Box Of Fun For Thanksgiving

When my oldest couple kids were small there was no internet.

Well let me rephrase that, there might have been internet but I didn't have a computer, didn't know how to run a computer and I didn't want a computer.

My how times have changed!

Back then I had to dream up ways to be inventive either by something I saw in a magazine at the check out line, or the old fashioned way......word of mouth.

If my ideas were for throwing a kids party of some kind, then I also had to source out supplies for my vision.

I might not have had a computer to get those ideas from, but I did get tons of mail in the way of product catalogs.

Great Grandpa Herbs Vintage Toy Box

Great Grandpa Herb wasn't a handy man. 

I remember hearing that often, but it didn't mean he didn't putz around in his garage fixing things.

He could bowl a 300 with ease, sink a golf ball for a hole in one farther than your eye could see, and he was strong as a horse.

State Of The Union Address

State of the Union Address?

Of course what I really mean is the state of the blog address, I just couldn't resist a tiny bit of presidential talk with the election coming up.

Besides, my blog is in by far better shape than the union!

It might seem like I've been sluff'n with no recent project posts, and I assure you that is the truth, that yes I have been sluff'n.

For someone who has had jars of paint on her dining room table for the past three weeks I'm sort of at a loss for what I've been getting done.  In fact it looks to me like I've been getting a whole lotta nothing done.

There is one project started that with any luck will be done this weekend.

This big black 50 year old toy box.

$3.00 Halloween Banner Glittered Up

A normal Fall usually sees me making spooky preparations for Halloween, even if it's just a fake raven with an eyeball dangling from it's mouth or a few carved pumpkins.

And some years, like this year, I use whatever is handy just to give the illusion that Halloween is right around the corner. 

(What that really means is I'm too lazy to look for the orange and black bins that house the appropriate October 31st decorations).

$10 Pallet Topped Side Table

Once upon a time I picked up a side table at a garage sale because I thought it was interesting.

If I recall correctly the lady told me her son or husband had put the table together from other parts of tables and spare wood.

She was sort of apologizing for it, but those facts just made the table more interesting to me, no apology necessary.

Wooden Paint Drag For Paint Layering/Distressing

Recently Carlene from Organized Clutter did a post about a product called a layering block. 

I had never seen or heard of such a thing before she introduced it.

I was intrigued.

I was also not near a craft store at the precise moment I wanted to try the product, so I made do instead.

Making do meant making one.

I'm calling mine a wooden paint drag because the wood block needs to be pulled across the item to give it a distressed look. 

It's done with paint and without sanding.

Maple Syrup Tool Tote, Thrifty Style Team

I've got a thing for totes, and for being thrifty.

Metal ones, wood ones, ones with wood and metal, and especially free or cheap ones, which I like to refer to as the "thrifty" ones.

I picked this one up at a garage sale a couple years ago.  It was filled with tools, which makes sense because it's a tool tote, duh Bliss.

Readers Share Their Painted Door Mats

In July I decided to try my hand at painting a faded but otherwise intact oversize front door mat. 

The mat was a more expensive one that didn't last any longer than the cheap ones, and I didn't want to toss it out so figured I had nothing to lose. 

My mat would have actually looked better if all the color had worn off leaving it a solid  looking gray rather than the half worn off look it had going on.

But painting it worked, and I was very happy with the outcome.  You can see the whole easy process by clicking here.

I didn't know that posting about my door mat was going to inspire others to break out a sponge and give it a whirl, but it did, and I'd like to show you some of the door mats that readers brought back to life.