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Tuesday, May 29, 2012

A Real Dirt Bike

A miracle has occurred here at Chateau Inferno!
 The Minions cleaned the carport out.
 And it's funny the things you find when you undertake a task of
such monumental proportions-
 How about a bike no one has straddled since the early 90's?
I split my knee open playing women's rugby in college
(I was a hooker; feel free to amuse yourselves with that one),
and by my 30's, pedaling was off the activity menu.
So what do we do with a 30 year old unrideable bicycle that hasn't been maintained...ever?
 
Around here, we spray paint it!
Take that rusty mess out into the yard...
...and give it a good hosing and a scrub to remove loose debris.
And other unidentified weird stuff.
 Lay the bike on a tarp and give it light coats of Rustoleum Gloss Key Lime Green
all over until the whole thing is a uniform color.
This gives it more of a backdrop feel, which is what we want for 
this project.
Thom and I then took the bike out front and chose a small accent
garden to nestle it in.

 I then beat Thom thoroughly with a length of light duty chain.
 Okay, actually, we used the chain to secure the bike to the tree.
  Pad lock.
So the bike will be here tomorrow.
 Remove the excess chain.
Now let's start with the real fun.
 This looks kitschy enough, but what do you say we add...
 ...a hanging basket with sweet potato vine that matches the 
color spilling over it, and bright multicolored portulaca
to add pizzazz when they fill in?
Not enough, you say?
To The Dollar Tree!!!
Grab some containers of choice and drill drainage holes
in the bottom, then fill them with soil and blooms.
 We wired a locker bin to the handlebars, resting it on the front tire.
 Heavy wire will keep it stable and secure.
Unlike me.
 Is that enough for us?
Be serious.
 We had to go and add a tote to the back.
 This was wired through the holes in the side and again 
through the handle.
It's not going ANYWHERE.
 Now we have the effect we want!
This is facing Mom's window to give her a prettier view,
and since the whole shebang rang up at $10,
I'd say we salvaged an unsaveable bike in 
bright, tropical style.

Now go clean the garage.

7 comments:

Mrs BC said...

That looks amazing! Love it :)
xx

Michelle L. said...

Wha...? Totally and completely, my favorite project of yours ever. I would not have thought this up a zillion years. Loooooove!!!

Heather said...

I love it! I've been wanting to do something like this with my old bike that hasn't been ridden in oh, 5-10 years or so... Thanks for the inspiration!

Musings from Kim K. said...

It's a super project and that color is just perfect for all your planting adventures.

Dharma said...

What the what?? So cool. Oh, and if you played girls rugby in school and you were a hooker, we are now officially twins. :)

lisbonlioness said...

Oh for chrissake! Ain't fair. SO not fair! Why do people around here not dump cool stuff like old bikes? I mean, it's not like they are not dumping pretty much everything else.
I can't see how I am supposed to live without a lime green bike. You would not believe how perfect it would look in our new and improved yard. Actually- I need someone to dump a bike AND a pair of roller skates. Planters on wheels, anyone?
I go with Mich. My favourite infernal project ever.

Unknown said...

So inspired by your creativity I am now in search of an abandoned/discarded bicycle to paint bright pink and hang all kind of pretty planters from for My Mama, My Hero! It will be pink because that has always been her favorite color and because she is a breast cancer survivor!!! I Know she is just going to love her pink ribbon styled bike. THANK YOU ~ THANK YOU
Blessings to you and yours
0:-)