Spring Mantel

I was determined to get a mantel ready for the spring mantel party at The Lettered Cottage.  I also had to take down the green from St. Patrick's Day since that is over.  You need to know that prior to January of 2012 I lived with this mantel for 20 years and the only time it saw much action was at Christmas, and occasionally Halloween.  The rest of the year it pretty much had a big picture hanging above and three candles and caused me decorating distress, I could never get it right.  It got no love, no attention and certainly no one ever walked in and said I love your mantel... decorating.  So this mantel decorating stuff has been hard for me, putting things together does not occur naturally in Bliss's head.  I also discovered I don't have much for spring decorations or Easter, and nothing is blooming outside yet to bring in.  I have seen some amazing spring mantels on line today so I may get the hang of it by emulating the others, but for today, this is it......
It's not quite right yet to me, but I really have come a loooong way with my mantel. 

 I want to use eggs from our chickens, they lay brown ones, 

but I have not got around to blowing them out.

Poppa Rabbit had to have his ear glued on for this gig.  

See they are watching their babies in the grass through the window.

 It's simple and I like just the bit of color, but I tell 'ya some tulips would be great.

Linked up the mantel to The Bunny Hop with AtThePicketFence
Vintage Inspiration Easter Party @ CommonGround

The Cedar Porch

Here in Minnesota if you have a 3 season porch, for the 4th season it becomes a walk in cooler.  Great cold food storage when you host a holiday - I never have to make room in my fridge for a turkey.  The porch doesn't get used from November to April, unless you have a warm March like right now.  All the bugs freeze and drop dead in wait of the thaw for spring cleaning.  The cleaning came early this year, due to the Route 66 cabinet redo.  That cabinet holds summer towels and lives in the cedar porch.  Once it was painted I had to clean the porch - just in time too, we had unseasonably warm weather.  It's not the summer kitchen I was dreaming of like here at the SavvyCityFarmer but I am going to take a couple ideas from her porch yet for mine, like the tin awning where the stuffed trophy fish is/was.  Bet you wish you had a stuffed trophy fish.

BEFORE

He's been hanging there for a long time.  I hate him, but if used as the pillow he was intended to be, it works pretty good for an afternoon nap.  The picture is of a cart with flowers - so faded all the colors are the same.  The porch has needed - and I have wanted - a redo for years, but it needs new windows so I told myself when that happens we will freshen it up.  It still needs the windows; not in the budget.

BEFORE

The furniture is 25 years old.  The cushions are still firm and the frames perfect but everything out there was the same wood color so it got sprayed espresso to change them up.  The ticking fabric needs to go... that isn't in the budget either but I actually like how it looks with the dark stain.  We didn't spend one cent in this room, and that IS in the budget!

We changed the arrangement to allow for a path from the deck door to inside without cutting through the sitting area.  Works much better and everyone can put their feet up on the table now, not just those taller than 5'2".  I gave the wheelbarrow a coat of AS dark wax and it made a big difference.  I think I'm going to paint "flowers" on the side.  Brawn made it years ago when he caught me looking at one in a catalog that cost a couple hundred dollars.  Thank goodness he never knew how much the furniture cost 25 years ago, but I'd say we have got our money's worth out of it.  The cushions have been ticking for at least 15 years and the valance is ticking and fabric with little porch chairs. No... not in the budget and I can't sew anyway.  My favorite part of the room is the old milk jug table, I love it.  I think I even love it more than my Route 66 cabinet.

Inside of the Wheelbarrow

I love what the dark wax did for the finish

I sponged a checkerboard on the top of the ice cream table, dark waxed it and sanded.  I couldn't find any checkers so if you want to play you have to use chess pieces.   We won't talk about the math it took for me to line that part up.  In fact we won't talk about if it is lined up either.

The table sits below the chalkboard now

I used ASCP in old white on the pine frame and painted chalkboard paint right over the glass.  It came from Pottery Barn.  Tuff.

Each window has a roman shade that I never use.  The dinner gong says come and get it, and clangs just like when the cook would call everyone for chow.  The idea was when the kids were little I could alert them to lunch being done if they were swimming.  It was easier to just yell LUNCH!!

Don't forget to enter my first giveaway..... RamSign going on here at my lil 'ol blog.

 

Linked the transformed from pine to espresso chair at

The Bloggy Olympics @The Bold Abode

Linked the chalkboard to:

Sunday stop @ Joy2Journey 

DebbieDoos Newbie Party

Furniture to:

Nifty Thrifty @ Coastal Charm

RamSign Porcelain Sign Giveaway

Have you all heard of Ramsign?  Have you all SEEN a Ramsign (here)?  I'm hosting a giveaway so this is your chance.  These are high quality porcelain signs, with a vintage look and a vintage feel.  I have one on my wish list for the Old Barber Shop it would be a perfect nostalgic touch for the new front.  But I would have to buy mine, and one of my followers will get one for free!

 The winner can choose any house number sign (not name signs or address plaques) with 1-5 numbers of any size and design.  I will use a random number generator like Angie over at Knick of Time.  If you are not familiar with her process, soon you will be because I am so copying her idea (at least I hope that is where I saw it).  Anyone anywhere can participate, that means my friend Fiona across the pond too!

Details:  Enter till March 24th 2012, winner announced on the 25th.  To enter be a follower of Bliss Ranch and leave a comment on this post.  For an additional entry like RamSign on FB and come back and comment here that you did for your additional entry.

And just so you know.... I'm doing this giveaway because RamSign asked, and I really like these cute signs.  I did not get a kickback of any kind, nada, zero, zilch!  I wanted one of my wonderful readers to have the opportunity to win something by doing nada zero zilch.

St. Patricks Day Mantel

So what to do when you need a spring-ier looking mantel for a mantel link party and you have a dark old barn beam that your husband doesn't want you to permanently paint? 

Make a faux front, paint it, screw it on. 

Pre-blogging-after-Christmas-Empty

Pine Faux Mantel with ASCP

Pine Faux Mantel

Do you think this mantel makes my drop-cloth look small?

When you are done then have an "ah ha" moment where you hit your head and say, "Bliss, you do have another mantel you could makeover".  Why do I keep thinking I have to change this one?  In fact I have two more.  One in the kids game room that is really a lot like this stone one, and I have a white one in our bedroom.  Maybe tomorrow I will change up the white one.  But for today, this got Irish-eyesed.  Get it?  Irish-ized, Irish Eyes?

Card stock postcards printed out via computer, hung on torn fabric from the Christmas bin

The dog wood branches are budding, see that?

R is for Rrrranch

Hey, just saw the little postcard is the same as the tea tin picture.  

I just went around the house looking for anything that was green.  Only had a few things.  Wonder what I will put up after Saturday when St. Patrick's Day is over?  The window stays.

Magazine Copycat Challenge Cabinet

Magazine Copycat challenge.......

I'm a visual type gal.

Drunk Monkey

I'll never buy hooks again

 Yesterday I was possessed.  I had 3 projects going, 4 if you count the timely frame hanging tip above using a pop can ring from AdventuresOfOurFamily's new Trade School class.  The days agenda was my magazine copy cat challenge as well as a mantel change. I'm not really liking the mantel but I L O V E my magazine copy project. Brawn walked in to find me dipped in a new color for a picture I had just taken off the wall.

I painted the drunk monkey.  You know the song, Drunk Monkey, that Funky Monkey.  Oh say what?  That's not how it goes?  Well that's the way I sing it.  His frame got a coat of CeCe Caldwells Slate followed by my fav, the Hershey Brown.  Then waxed with Annie Sloans dark wax.  If the two of them got together they could rule the designer paint world.  I particularly like that the frames new coat matches his fur coat.

This is a large picture that belongs by the bar, but about 3 years ago I took down whatever was on that wall and temporarily hung the hairy fellow.  3 years is temporary isn't it?  I hung the chimp back in the same spot, but on a different nail that was there.  Before it was too low, now it's too high.  I'll get around to moving it to a better height.  Hope that doesn't take me another 3 years.

Hairy Before

That Funky Monkey After

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.