Ebay is a wonderful tool, you can find nearly every whim or
trifle there, it brings together people with a want or a need of something and
those who have a want or need to be rid of something. I wanted a vintage stand mixer. Something with character, something sturdy
with a good name behind it, and something used-because the new ones are far,
far, far too expensive. And since its an
indulgence, who knows how it will fit into my culinary lifestyle? I had narrowed down my search early on; it
had to be a Kitchenaid. Then, it had to
be a Hobart Kitchenaid. How much power
did I need? Well, everyone says “they
don’t make them like they used to,” and then proceed to go on and on about how
their Kitchenaid mixer could blend cement for building materials or some such
great feat, so that set my mind at ease about the power issue. Color was the next big thing. White?
So boring. Blends, I suppose, but
I’m more of a bright in the kitchen kind of gal. Black?
No, same reasons and too modern.
Red? Hmmm. Nah, too popular, and I don’t want a
red-heavy kitchen. And then it seemed
that all of these questions were answers when I stumbled upon this neglected
beauty:
How awful! How simply
hideous, but since you have a hard time taking your eyes off of it…what does
that say? I became enthralled. Green, refreshing, citrus, bright, clean and
fun. So different than any I had seen
thus far. This was the one. Excitement followed, after winning the item
in a neck in neck bidding fight, relief, than anticipation…for the newest
member of the kitchen family to arrive.
It finally did, in a clumsy, flimsy box, wrapped in paper
and rattling around. I was relieved that
it did, in fact, still work after all of that.
I unwrapped it, to find:
What the heck? This
was not my mixer. This was not my
wonderfully hideous much awaited addition.
What was this bland, pale green imposter? I checked it over. Scratch by scratch. It was the same mixer as pictured. Just a few (very important!!!!) shades of
green off. What a disappointment. And to top it off, it was filthy. It took four hours of scrubbing years of dirt
and grim from it’s many crevices and parts to get it reasonably clean. The seller was definitely knocked down more
than a few rungs in my esteem although I never got to rate them. Fraudulent, it how I feel toward them. Anyway…I was not about to let my dreams be
crushed by this blatant misrepresentation.
Time to hatch a plan. I must have
my lime green mixer, I must transform this into my lime green mixer.
Step one.
Deep cleaning. A
toothpick and a paperclip were employed.
I don’t need to say any more.
Step two. Prepare the
mixer. Painters tape and patience. Plenty of patience. And little tiny pieces of tape. Removed the back cover, taped the tiny screw
to the cord and bagged it.
Step three.
Priming. Four thin
coats of primer did the trick. Following
the dry-time and interval instruction on the can.
Step four.
Sanding smooth. Steel
wool is one of those nails-on-a-chalkboard things for me, funny because nails
on a chalkboard don’t really bother me, but I can’t stand to touch the
stuff. It’s awful. So, the mister was employed for this step,
and gave me a nice smooth surface to start the color process from.
Step five.
Green coats. I think
I lost count after five coats, there may have been more, I used pretty much the
whole can, doing my best to ensure even coverage in thin coats. It did start to sprinkle on me at one point,
so I rigged up an umbrella and a chair to protect my little project until it
was dry enough to move inside.
Step six.
Clear coats. Four
thin coats of Krylon gloss protective clear spray paint was the last step. To do this I had to wait 48 hours after the
last color coat had been applied. This
was the fastest drying and I was able to move it in about an hour without too
much concern.
Finished mixer:
So, I think I did pretty good, eh?
It looks now like it should, and now I can all the fun I want with it!
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