REINDEER GAMES - Bliss Ranch

Hello Inspiration Cafe readers.  I'm Bliss and I blog at BlissRanch.  I think when Danni asked me if I would like to do a guest post she was hoping I'd show you a furniture creation, maybe something like this Kodak Dresser.....

or maybe a piece of furniture that rocks.....

But it's December for goodness sakes, and Danni is such a deer.....

So instead I'm going to tell you about the log reindeer we make for friends and family.

This is one project that I start for the holidays well before the snow flies.  My husbands Uncle Tony was our inspiration about 20 years ago.  He made fairly good size deer then strung lights on the antlers and one year he made some small ones for us to hang on the tree.

Uncle Tony's Mini Deer Ornament

That started my obsession with making them as gifts, plus we have plenty of the raw material laying around.

Future Reindeer

One Christmas Eve some "deer" friends of ours went to church and while they were gone we implemented operation "Not Tonight Deer".  The covert mission involved quietly placing "Oh Deer" and "Yes Deer" on their walk way to welcome them when they arrived home.  My husband Brawn and I thought we were pretty darn funny.

Over the years we have made lots of Rudolphs, and every one looks different.  The newest ones were made for each of the Grand kids with their names.

No I do not have a grandson named Rudolph.

 Our original deer had big wiggly eyes, but those didn't hold up so well in winter, and neither did their faux white fur tails.  And more than a few red noses have smashed to the ground.

Now we make most of their body parts out of wood.
Brawns in charge of the main body, tails and ears, I do eyes, antlers, legs and finishing touches.

They get a coat of glitter so they sparkle in the snow, some get jute with bells, and some get scarves.

 The scarf on this deer was an old knit hat with pom poms that I cut up.

Antlers are usually better looking, 

but there were mosquitoes out in antler making country when this one was made.

These ones are out to pasture.  Winter is hard on deer.  The one on the left is bark-less - Brawn made it that way.  These will get all cleaned up with new noses and scarves, fresh antlers, missing legs replaced, and soon they will line our walkway.

 The deer Uncle Tony made had noses that would light up.

Ours do not.

When this deer comes out of the shed it will go live at our oldest son's home, but first it will get some better antlers!

Thank you for inviting me Danni, I'm so very happy to be here and offer up a taste of Bliss Ranch inspiration at the Inspiration Cafe!  Everyone is welcome to stop in at the ranch.

DREAMING IN COLOR....FURNITURE FASHIONISTAS SERIES

Hi Everyone! I am so happy that Danni has invited me to share so of my furniture transformations with you. My name is Deneen and my blog is Dreamingincolor. I paint furniture but I also design, paint, craft and have recipes. I have even been telling about my recent trip to Italy too.

First let me say that I had the pleasure of meeting Danni and she is as sweet and spunky in person as she is on her blog. She has become a special friend. She even helped me out by guest posting when I was in Italy.

I never thought I would be painting furniture. I am an artist and I paint and sell canvas usually but I fell in love with furniture and transforming it into a work of art.

custom painting

Painting canvas has helped me when it came to painting furniture. I applied what I knew to give it my spin on things~

I have papered the fronts of pieces.

This red hutch was a fun piece to work on. I always love the before and afters!

I like using different hardware on furniture. I find knobs I like and buy them and hope I have a piece that will fit them. I know I am crazy but I guess you can say I am a knob kinda gal!

I loved these crystal knobs!

This grey buffet was beautiful at Christmas! Funny though I decided to put this in my living room when I needed a place for my husbands huge TV to sit upon!

As an artist I get bored with doing the same things so I decided to start painting and trying different patinas. I even layered colors to get the looks I was going for and Annie Sloan featured one of them.

My French Patina painted night stands.

The key to it all is have fun! Know that there are no rules and think outside the box! I really love doing this but after you paint so much it can be tiring so I have to try and recreate the wheel to keep it interesting!!

I will leave you with what I think is my biggest transformation of all time and my favorite piece I painted...

Biggest transformation

my roll top desk without the roll! The before was horrible! Brad Paisley would have loved it for his song Camouflage! ( Sorry Danni I put a country song in there) But it was ugh ly!  ....and there were lots of surprises!

The end result was soooooo much better!

My favorite painted piece is still My Audrey Hepburn Dresser!

I hope you have enjoyed the few that I shared. Please stop by my blog and look around at some more. You can search on the side bar.

Thanks again Danni! I love that our blogs have brought us together and started a friendship! 

Thanks to everyone for reading!

Transforming Furniture the Dreaming-n-Color Way

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FURNITURE FASHIONISTA'S - KIRBY FROM KIRB APPEAL!

Hi!  My name is Kirby and I blog at Kirb Appeal and Danni is my girl because she sends me liquor, so I will write a post for her about painting furniture because I *heart* her.

My husband, The Amazing DL, is addicted to junk.  I am not joking.  He just bought 200 pieces of wrought iron.  His latest addiction is sewing cabinets. 

In an effort to clear the garden house of some of the stray furniture he's brought home, I have started painting the smaller pieces in hopes that they will just go away.  (Actually, I sell them at a couple of shops nearby.)  The latest one had a pretty good top, which I sanded and DL stained a high gloss cherry.  (Of course I have no "before" pictures, because he starts ripping things up as soon as he gets them home.  Bless his heart. He's just a little awkward that way.) 

I used two different paints--Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint in Flow Blue on the legs (if you can't get it locally, you can buy it from our good friend Miss Flibbertigibbet) and CeCe Caldwell Vermont Slate on the panels.

This is what used to be the hinged part in the front, but DL turned it into a drawer, which makes it a lot more useful.  This wood grain was cool, which is part of the reason he chose to stain it.

The knob (which I didn't get a pic of, mainly because I am lousy at pictures) was original--just a wooden block pull, which we stained to match.

I gave the painted areas a light sanding, then a coat of Annie Sloan dark wax.  (You can tell I have no allegiance to any particular product, right?  It's all good in our 'hood.)  The stained pieces didn't get wax, as they were already protected by the stain.

I am pretty pleased with the way it turned out, and when Danni needs another furniture feature, I could be back if she's providing liquor.  You have been warned.

Thank you so much Kirby!  What a great project!  Please come back next month on the 15th when Deneen from Dreaming in Color will be sharing another fabulous furniture makeover!