Junkers United Barn Wood Window Cabinet

Welcome one and all and thanks for stopping in if you're visiting from one of the linked blogs.  I'm Bliss and you're at the ranch, where I redo junk and try to make projects for little or no cost.

This post is filled to it's junky little rim.... with a party and best of all links to the other Junkers United Team members and the projects they created specially for this party.

For my junk project I've upcycled one of the gazillion old windows I've accumulated.  It's not an earth-shattering-never-before-seen project, but for us it solved a storage problem......

the storage problem of where to keep the toilet paper.

Black Purses

Today I have a tale to tell about purses, JC Penney, and a random act of kindness I received.

~ The Purses ~

Now I am not a purse snob in any way shape or form.  I can use a $10 purse just as easy as a $100 one.  I've got Gucci and I've got Garage Sale.

It always comes back to features for me, so in that way I am a purse snob, I like what I like for comfort and ease.

I don't like to fiddle around looking for my phone when it rings, in fact I don't like to answer my phone at all so there is a good chance I won't even if I can find it.

I need a certain kind of handle to fit comfortably in my small hands.  Not too long so it drags on the ground, and in the perfect purse world the handles would be just long enough to also wear on my shoulder.

Notice the rounded handles on all those retired purses.

Cake Tester Giveaway & Moo Cards

It's that time again when I raid my daughters pretty baubles and decide I should give a cake tester away, compliments (unbeknownst) of her.

Plates, Plates, and More Plates

This post contains a things that some of you might not want to read.  It's probably going to provoke death threats and suggestions that I have an exorcism, as surely the devil is making me do what I do.

The threats will be a kin to what happens when someone paints a vintage piece of furniture and the crowd goes wild, and not in a good way either.

They don't like the message or the messenger at that point.

Alberts Barn Burn

This post is not for the faint of heart.  Or at least not for those who see a decrepit old barn and want to load all of it's wood in the trunk.

(Now that would be funny - someone trying to fit a whole barn in their trunk).

Old Alberts Farm

Vintage Pump Organ Knobs Turned Wine Stoppers

I'm not sure why I didn't think of this sooner, I mean I've had these knobs for two years.

They're vintage knobs from an old pump organ I believe, possibly Victorian.

At least that's what Google tells me.

Restoration Hardware inspired Clock Knock-Off

I was gonna refrain from entering a project for a link party at East Coast Creative where a Creating With The Stars contest is going on for the next four weeks.  I just didn't have a new idea.

For the main contest Bloggers have been paired with Super Bloggers and each week they compete/create in a pre-determined category and the rest of us folks can vote for our favorite till there is one blogger left that wins it all.

There is also a link party of the same theme that anyone can link a project up to.

But I had to create something, I couldn't resist....... the theme this week is my fav - knock offs.   All the people of the land know I love a knock off challenge, so before the clock struck noon I was plotting.

The Mark
(The original photo has been removed, so I don't breech any copyright laws, but lets just say mine looks exactly like it)

Basil Click and Grow Kit

Bliss you grew a green thumb?

Not hardly.  But I am going to grow some basil.

{source}

Lets Play Kitchen

When I was a little girl, play time was usually all about being a mommy.  I never played lawyer and can't talk about those times playing doctor.

I loved dolls, playing house or going to the pretend store.  I have all my old dolls, they are pretty scary and hidden under my bed.  Any with curly hair got a hair cut.

The play food was really tiny back then too.  If I'd of eaten that size portion all my life there would never have been any discussions with my thighs about their girth.

I think I need to find an old armoire and convert it into a play store like this one from  Inspired Whims....

For the past year I've been pinning ideas to my Kid Stuff Pinterest board of cute play kitchens, with the intention of making one for a certain 3 year old.

Soda Crate Storage

Originally I made this crate for a guest post over with Angie at Knick of Time, and I decided that since a year has gone by it was time I showed it right here on my own blog.

Bedroom Redo with a Door Headboard

Still cleaning out the archives here at the Ranch.  Today I have a glimpse into daughter #2's bedroom, that is while it's sort of clean......

(Originally this guest post was for Shanna at Just Us Four).

I laid in wait till my daughter was gone and sprang on her room with my camera.

Door headboard with original back plate, glass door knob and key

Tree Branch Alphabet Art

I regularly pin things to the Bliss Ranch Pinterest Boards that I intend on doing.  I'll be busy making stuff till the year 2050, which when I first typed that year it sounded so far away, but for a baby born today they would only be 36 years old.  Wow.

Baby Boy Gift Sign

Half Moon Bay California, quaint, fun town on the ocean.  That is where my BFF lives.  I'm not sure where those two young girls we used to be have gone, nor how we grew old enough for our babies to be having babies of their own, but you won't hear us complaining about that second part.

When her #2 kid welcomed #2 son into the world I set out to make a rustic gift for new little blue bundles' woodland themed nursery.

DIY Enamel Look Tags

The year was 2012.  Spring sometime, who remembers.  I made these faux roller shades out of burlap coffee sacks from a tutorial by Donna at Funky Junk.  

Talking Java At Cozy Little House

This post is for coffee lovers.  If you don't drink the stuff you probably won't get it.  Maybe water is your deal, and you start each day with a big glass and you're satisfied, happy, and ready to conquer the world.

More hydro-power to 'ya.                   

Maple Syrup Make'n

Bliss Ranch has a lot of maple trees.  And you know what you can make from maple trees right?

Maple syrup.

Clothespins

What sort of collections do you have?

Me.... I've got all sorts.  Some I could part with, some I don't even like anymore, and some I can't get enough of.

Boys Bathroom Price Pfister Faucet

In the last century we, no scratch that, they, started a bathroom redo.  They is the boys, and since I don't use the boys bathroom and only go in their when forced, I was a bit stunned at such an ambitious undertaking by the males at the Ranch.

I did take care of one important detail...........

 The Ashfield Price Pfister faucet.

CitraSolv Transfer Method, Napkins and Chairbacks

As my faithful readers might recall, recently I redid some dining room chairs I bought on craigslist.  The "recently" part was, ohhhh, a year in the making.  Obviously I didn't rush into that redo!

Working with anything fabric is out of my comfort zone.  I can't sew and even fabric projects that don't require sewing intimidate me.

Unlike my chairs, this project is quick, simple, and took me less than a year.  Originally this project was a guest post for Fox Hollow Cottage.

I was trying to look all crafty and impress Shannon's readers.  Hopefully no one passes out because I actually did a tutorial.

Throwback Thursday Link Party Guest Host

Thursday has a new meaning here at Bliss Ranch.  Well at least one Thursday a month.

And that's because I will be a monthly guest host for the Throwback Thursday link party.  Now I didn't say throw down party, I'm not taking up wrestling.  Throwback Thursday is a link party that as soon as it hit I loved it.

Why did I love it?  Because it didn't matter if I had a new post to link up, in fact that's the idea, a NOT new post, get it.... a throwback.  You are SUPPOSE to link up a post from your past.

I thought about linking ones that were so old most people never saw them....
like my very first feature ...
                                  from my very first month of blogging....
                                                                           of my very first ever link party.....

A Valentine vignette from The Copy Cat Challenge at Debbie Doos.  If you want to see the magazine vignette that I copied you will have to click {here}.

The Napkins, The Barn & Fox Hollow Cottage

You've seen the dining room chair backs, and heard how I loved the whole process of redoing those chairs (my nose just grew because that is a complete lie) but you did not see a tutorial on how to transfer the image.

Mostly that's because when I'm in the zone, stopping to take photos almost never happens.  That and my tutorials usually suck.

But when I do a guest post I don't skimp.

So while my friend Shannon is on vacation in my old stomping ground of Southern California, I'm at Fox Hollow Cottage today with a tutorial on how I took some old muslin napkins and used the image from my chair backs and made matching napkins.

Lamp in a Box

Have you heard of Lamp in a Box?

Well let me just tell you; they are P.D.C.... Pretty Darn Cool.  This one arrived at my house as a Christmas gift from the Lamp in a Box folks.

For the base there are several styles and the usual finishes.  Mine is satin nickle.

There isn't anything extraordinary about the base, but that's because for me it's all about the shade.

I have this little corner in our bedroom where I like to curl up to read.  I'd tell you that's with a good book, but more than likely I'm answering emails or reading blogs on my Ipad. 

Laundry Room Makeover Plans

I have a laundry room makeover coming up.  The thing is, it's not my laundry room.

That means there has to be some trust that I won't do something stupid in there.

Nope this isn't my laundry room, this one is much cleaner with by far less laundry.

Basic downstairs laundry room

However I remember the days when I happily washed this little girls clothes for her.  I also remember after she started washing her own clothes - static cling caused a thong to stick to one of her dads sweatshirts.  I deposited it in her room out of sight - dad wouldn't of been able to handle that!

Favorite Mug Desserts at Bliss Ranch

It's January and while everyone is busy getting organized, eating healthy and shedding pounds, I'm snuggled in for a long winters nap with a goal of my own.

Chocolate Fudge S'mores Mug Cake from How Sweet It Is

Dining Room Chairs With a Vintage Grain Sack Look

It's been a while since I first posted about the 6 dining room chairs that came to live with me from an ad on craigslist - they came along with two turkeys on sale from the grocery store for Thanksgiving - that we ate.

You know how you are so excited to finish a project that you hurry up to work on it and then you love the whole process so much you stretch it out for a year because you wanna extend the process of the whole mess since you are having so much fun and you don't want it to end?

Me either.

But Thanksgiving 2013 arrived, two more turkeys were purchased and eaten, and the chairs were completed.

And now 2 months later, January 2014, their debut......