Bathroom Redo Step #1 and Ugly Bathroom Contest

Why is this titled Step #1?  Well knowing how long it takes around here to get a project finished, I thought I better label it so I can keep track. 

Not that I started a dining room redo last year this time or anything.  I do have goals you know.... I intend to finish those dining room chairs before Thanksgiving.  I do, really, after all that would be a great way to celebrate their one year anniversary.

 The boys bathroom, home of the famous mailbox and railroad spike towel holder, is in the midst of a makeover.

Mid-mess

And this bathroom redo better be done this month too.  Funny how bossy I get when it's not a project on my plate.

Even though the bathroom redo is NOT my baby, one of my babies did decide to take it on.  He doesn't read the blog so I'll say it now..... there really wasn't anything the matter with that bathroom before, other than stinky socks and boxers always on the floor.  And towels.  I swear the boys use three towels each time they shower.

I liked the old wall color better.  It was just my usual shade of light beige.  I like beige, alright?  Don't smart off on the other side of that computer screen.  The new color is beige too, just a darker one.  I don't like it as much.

I liked all the old signs hanging on the wall.
I liked two sinks even though only one worked, and I liked two mirrors, just because I thought they looked nice all big and round.

Apparently the boys disagreed.

But I don't use that bathroom.  It's the boys bath and since one son decided it needed a redo and he was willing to do the work and pick out what he wanted, well I just shut up.

Ok, I didn't really shut up, that is one thing I don't know how to do.

So coming soon to a boys bathroom near me is ....

One poured concrete counter top, made by father and son.......

One new vessel sink......

One new Price Pfister totally cool faucet.......

And one mirror.  But what mirror is the question?  I would prefer the round one that was on the wall, but apparently to move it, it has to be smashed, they already moved, I mean smashed, the left one.  When Brawn fastens something to a wall, he intends it to stay.... forever.

And just as a coincidence, National Builder Supply is running an ugly bathroom contest with prizes or a complete bathroom makeover (click on the name to enter).  No I am not entering my bathroom, first of all it's not ugly, remember?

While you are there watch the ever changing list of partners in the box on the right.  Eventually you'll see something that says Bliss Ranch flash in front of you.

If you've got an ugly bathroom, get your photo ready (or if you've got one you like but your family decided to redo it anyway) and enter to win.  You can enter for prizes without having an ugly bathroom, but if you've got one of those load up a photo. 

I'm pretty fortunate .... I don't think any of our bathrooms are ugly or you can bet I'd be entering one for the chance at a makeover.  Contest runs for a month, so find the ugly and embrace it.

Kiss The Cook, or not

You know, the devil?  He comes from down below?

 The evil red dude?  Hell's Kitchen tv show, where they cook?  

Everyone is a chef wannabe?  

No?

I had to explain my costume at the party too.  

Not a good one if it needs an explanation.

But check out that REAL looking kitchen knife.  It's wood.  

Brawn made it for me, because every good chef has a knife.

The devil made me do it.

Fall Ya'll Junkers Unite - Vignette, Pin Board and Link Up

Introducing the Junkers United Fall pin board that is plum full of Autumn ideas.

 If you're stopping in at the Ranch for the first time, I'm Bliss, and pretty darn happy about being part of the Junkers United team.

A few weeks ago this group of talented bloggers who share the same appreciation of junk, each created a new project to kick off our Junkers United Pinterest board and link party (I made a barn board coffee table) and this month we each have a little something to celebrate the Junkers Fall Pinterest board.

And for me.... I really mean that little something part!  I have a small area between two rooms and the stairway that is perfect for putting out a little seasonal decorating.

Click to see the oversize wood candy corn

Last Fall I picked up two big heavy metal toolboxes for free at a garage sale.  The man that forced them on me was wearing a t-shirt with a photo of a Dachshund dog and it said "ask me about my wiener".  He wanted to chat, I wanted to grab the toolboxes and run.

This metal tote is from the inside of one of the toolboxes.  The outside of the box was rusty, but this galvanized part was perfect.

Last Fall I used it on my dresser with gourds, apples and leaves.

This hall-ish area is right outside our bedroom and it hosts a memory wall.  I walk by it several times a day and each time I glance at a photo I remember something different from when my kids were small.

We have owned the vintage oak wash stand for 32 years.  It was one of the first pieces of furniture we purchased, along with an old round claw foot dining room table.

They both came from a man who loved antiques.  Neither he nor the claw foot table are with us anymore.  

This wash stand has stayed in this spot because nothing else fits.  It's a high ceiling, but something big and bulky just doesn't work there.  Two rooms open to this hall and the stairway is to the right.

Another view of the small hall area.
Yes the vacuum is on.  What can I say he loves to clean, and I love the help.

At Junk Bonanza I picked up one of these big corrugated tin letters and tied it to the antique mirror with a piece of creamy white burlap.

And if you've been visiting Bliss Ranch for a while, at the very bottom of the blog you have seen this saying.  It proudly watches over the family photos and in a nutshell sums up my thoughts about life.

The leaves are falling rapidly here, so I invite you to go get the leaves knocked off your tree at our Junkers United Fall Pinterest Board.  So many fun ideas for reusing and repurposing items that you will want to duplicate them all!

Meet the Pinning Team.
If you are not familiar with these ladies,
march your fingers right on over to their blogs after you link up.

Stop in at each of these blogs to see what these ladies have created for Fall.  

Each of them provide me with inspiration, it's crazy how their minds work.  Crazy good!

 

Susan - Homeroad

Breida / Breida with a B

Becky / Beyond The Picket Fence

Laurel / Chipping With Charm

Carlene / Organized Clutter

Angie / Knick of Time
Kari Anne from Thistlewood Farms 
Gina, The Shabby Creek Cottage 

Bliss / Bliss Ranch

And the Leader of the Pack....

Donna / Funky Junk Interiors

And now..... we all want to see what YOU create for Fall too 

So link up your junk!

Link your own favorite FALL junk projects and 
we'll pin our favs into the Junker's United pin board!

Inlinkz - it is live now until next June 2014.

Skeletons and Shocktails

My 22 year old daughter's friends were discussing what costumes they were going to buy for a Halloween party and she told them she was going to paint hers.

She announced that she didn't think growing up she ever had a costume from the store.  While her friends seemed shocked by that, her tone didn't sound as if she felt the least bit deprived due to that fact.

So she bought a $12.96 black dress from H&M, the same store my awesome tea towels came from, and used a pair of black leggins she already had.

First she took white chalk and outlined her skeletal profile to sort of proportionately fit where those bones lined up on her.

After she chalked all the bones on she took regular craft paint in grey, black and white, and started filling in and shading the bones to give them a three dimensional look.

She brushed the chalk off and when it was done it looked amazing.  I was so impressed with it.

She did the front, the back and down the length of the sleeves.

She also bought a pair of black shoes from the thrift store and painted those.

She glowed nicely under the black lights with her ratted hair.

Pay no attention to that wolf disguised as a gramma in the back ground or Little Red's basket and glowing leg behind the skeleton.

The night of the party she put it on then painted her shoulders and the rest of the vertebra right up her neck onto her face.

She was awarded a 3rd place cupcake liner award ribbon but by that time she had a shocktail or two in her boney body.

I'd tell 'ya more, but we do have rules.......

Linking the daughter up at:

Twirl & Take A Bow @AllThingsHeart&Home
Make the Sceen Monday @AlderberryHill
What's It Wednesday @Ivy and Elephants
Wildly Original Party @IGottaCreate

DIY Halloween Costume Ribbons

Last night I had an ah ha moment, that was more like an "Aaaahhhhh" moment with a touch of fear in its tone.

Halloween party today, no costume prizes or trophy's.  Bad hostess.

It's not that we haven't had trophy's or prizes at past parties.  I made trophy's one year that I thought were pretty cool.

And I still have them ... the Golden Ghost awards .....  no one wanted to carry them around, so they were forgotten when it was time to leave.

I thought they were pretty clever.  Ghosts I found at garage sales, spray painted gold, and then they each had a glow stick in side.  The first place one is around here somewhere too, found these two in the garage.

I think I also have some prizes I made.  Vintage metal trays turned magnet boards.
*Note to self; must find those....

We also had a pumpkin carving contest.  Yeah, I still have those trophy's too, the Glowing Gourd Award.

Various little pumpkin heads from garage sales all spray painted silver.  Look, these even still have the old glow sticks inside.  Bliss are you lazy?  This party was in 2010.

I recalled seeing some cupcake liner award ribbons but I could not find the exact ones as I remembered them.  So if it was YOU, thanks, you gave me the idea I just didn't pin it and don't remember where I saw it.

Enter Google.  Google sent me to Little Miss Maggie for a peek at some patriotic ribbons she made.  I know they are nothing like Halloween, I just needed to see how some were put together.

This was last minute, I had to use what I had on hand.

Supplies:  Three each of two sizes of cupcake liners, curling ribbon, one sheet of black sparkly card stock, an orange Swatch bag, encyclopedia pages, tape, jagged edge scissors and the stapler.

While I was busy assembling prize ribbons, this is what was going on to the right of me.....

6 pumpkins were doomed to having their brains pulled out.

The family has a carving system that involves laying out a big piece of plastic and group gutting their pumpkins.  Those are one of my son's boxers showing but I'll have you know he wears his pants all the way up!  No pants on the ground for him, but it sort of looks like someone gave him a wedgie.

I printed out the awards on old encyclopedia pages.  1st, 2nd, 3rd, funny, scary, best couple and for honorable mentions three "Great Costume".

At our party I guess it's all about the glory, not the prize or the trophy.  Every man's dream must be strutting around in a large crowd sporting a cupcake liner award ribbon that tells everyone else the hosts picked your costume, yeah.

The ribbons and cut up orange bag are all either glued together, stapled, and there is even some electrical tape.

(You know, just to get rid of the Golden Ghost awards, I should clean them up and force them on people).

9 award ribbons, one hours time. Cost close to FREE.

No one at our house owns a Swatch, nor do we have any idea where that orange bag came from.

She called it half human, half pumpkin.

Giving Link Ribbons at:
Inspiration Monday @RedHeadCanDecorate
Time to Sparkle @TheGunnySack 
Project Inspired @Cupcakes & Crinoline 
Tweak It Tuesday @Cozy Little House 
It's Party Time @Three Mango Seeds 
Tutorials & Tips @Homestories A to Z 

Hells Kitchen Sign

Have you ever watched the show Hells Kitchen?  Chef Ramsay yells at all the chef wannabe's, turning up the heat on them.

That's me when someone messes with my food on the stove.

So it's fitting that the buffet table at a Halloween party we co-host has a sign letting everyone know where the food comes from. 

Sign under black light in dark shed

  We've had these old barn wood signs for 18 years and I paint over them depending on what I need the new sign to say.

 The boards already have this great crackly finish.

This one got a base of red, some letters from my Cameo Silhouette, and a light coat of white over the top before the vinyl is peeled off.  The white shows off nice under the glow of a strategically placed black light.

Oh and an old plastic top of a pitchfork that was on the bottom of a Halloween bin.  I added a piece of dowel I picked up off the garage floor.

The name of the game at Halloween is make it cost nothing!  I will use any old piece or part of anything for costumes and decorations.

The party is in a shed - it ain't Martha's house for goodness sakes!

What's black and white with E-6000 all over?

A garage sale candelabra for .25¢.

But lighting taper candles in a shed with hay bales and corn stalks for decorations isn't really very smart.  Burning Down the House is only a song I like to dance too, not something I really want to do.

So while I realize any kitchen in hell is pretty hot, the authenticity of heat from a burning shed isn't what I had in mind.

To remedy this I took three of the little vintage tin molds I also picked up at a garage sale and glued them on with the E-6000.

Then I plopped in some battery candles for a safe alternative to real flames.

Yes this is still an unfinished dining room chair.  Shuddup.

The candelabra will make it's way out to the shed and also go on the buffet table.

And get a load of these embroidered flour sack towels......

I. Love. These.

I. LOVE. THESE.  Do you hear me?

They are sooooo darn cute.

Tina from What We Keep was having a fundraiser for two doggies her heart went out too, and when I saw the Bates Motel towels I had to have them. Thank you Tina, I love all of them.

So Bliss, what's really up with all this Hells Kitchen stuff?

Well lets just say it all goes with the costume of a certain devilish chef.  And of course every well dressed devilish chef needs a Hells Kitchen towel to complete their ensemble.