Four Angels and a Cigar, Part 4…On with Life

As life moved on, I found some interesting projects to keep myself busy with.  One of which was the metal swing.  Now, remember it looked like this?

I debated painting it bright red with white arms/base, which was what my parents looked like, but then I found a gorgeous turquoise color.  It was love at first sight.

Does the color go with our dark green house with pumpkin and red trim?  Absolutely not.  Did I care?  Absolutely not!

And so I took on the old swing.  Screws unscrewed, nuts and bolts removed.  There were a few badly rusted and I needed Tim’s help to either get them moving or to saw them apart.

From there each piece got a good scrubbing with a wire brush and washed down with a rag.  Rinse.  Repeat.

Now was time for me to spray paint these pieces.  I set out two tables, ok…sawhorses and old slabs of plywood…and got to work.

I didn’t like it.

Next, my mind got working.  Do you ever have those weird moments where your mind comes up with something in a dream in the wee hours of the morning?  Mine brought the scene from a movie.  Now mind you, this was a movie I saw when I was in Jr. High school.

They pulled us all into the auditorium for a ‘fun’ movie on Halloween.  What a treat!  We were so excited!

…And then I watched the movie and was haunted for life.  It scared the beejeebuz out of me!  All I remember is mannequin limbs hanging from a ceiling and the bad guys.  Don’t ask me what the movie was.  It seems like an Alfred Hitchcock movie, but I can’t put my finger on the name.

Anyway, I had my AHA moment!  Hang the pieces from the ceiling!

So I went to work.  I made myself a spray paint station in the garage (it was too windy outside).  I hung plastic drop clothes in a square with a staple gun and secured one to the floor.  I nailed some nails up about a foot apart.  And on those, I hung bungee cords.  Taaa-daaaaa!

(This picture just shows ones drop cloth up.)

Some spraying, some inspecting, and some more spraying.  Like my spray painting look?

…and they were ready for reassembly.

Now one hint here:  keep all the old screws/bolts/nuts.  I had kept a few but not all, which provided for a fun challenge of guess the size…and a few trips to the hardware store before I got it right.

Alas, I reassembled the entire swing and I love it!

As you can see by the feature image of the blog, Tim and I have tested it and it’s passed with flying colors!

This ends the tale of the Four Angels and the Cigar.  I hope you enjoyed the ride, I know at times I didn’t, but overall, there were many blessings, some laughs, and lots of love.

I’ll share more of the projects from last summer in the next few posts.  Stay tuned!

Your friend, in better health, humor and an undying faith,

Patty O

Chic on a Shoestring Decorating – Flaunt It Friday