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63 Comments

  1. tammigirl
    May 13, 2014 @ 10:00 am

    Darling, you know I adore you and all your crazy skills… but maybe we need to talk about waxing your arms?

    You* (or whoever) went through a lot for this giant old (now-new-looking) thing!

    Reply

  2. Lori @Vintage Charm Restored
    May 13, 2014 @ 10:03 am

    What a fabulous restoration. And a great tutorial on how to do it. I recreated a foot to a French dresser using bondo and like to have died over the smell and headaches I had for a week. Thanks for sharing how you made your mold, on a larger piece that is awesome!!

    Reply

  3. Callie
    May 13, 2014 @ 10:08 am

    Absolutely gorgeous! I have to admit also being partial to the pre-restoration state, but looks like it will hold up better in its shiny new state!! Also, great thinking of you (or Paul) to *not* make the plaster stabilizing-part of the mold till *after* you get the original piece out of the mold. This is the kind of project I would accidentally do the stabilizing plaster too early and then not be able to get my original piece out without ruining the mold… *_*

    Reply

  4. Kate Sparks
    May 13, 2014 @ 10:09 am

    I’m betting that sucker weighs a ton and a half!!… I would put a protective liner into it and then just drop in a hanging [minus the hanger stuff] basket of ferns or something.. that way you don’t have it filled with dirt…. We’ve done this for several years in various pots in our yard.. the only thing is you do have to be consistent with watering and fertilizing… but you sure have a much better selection of craiglist stuff than we get out here in the boonies… But then again, my cousin did furnish her first apt in NYC by cruising the high rent district for stuff left on the curb….
    You go girl!! ps… your hubby is super awesome!!

    Reply

  5. Diane M.
    May 13, 2014 @ 10:14 am

    Wow! It looks Great! What a wonderful job! So much patience! Love it!
    I would want something planted in it, lol!

    Reply

  6. My Crappy House
    May 13, 2014 @ 10:17 am

    I once used this latex procedure to repair a chess set that I had ordered on ebay that the seller didn’t bother to protect when shipping that arrived sounding like a box of broken Christmas ornaments. I was so mad I wished him herpes, but my repairs came out really good. Your urn looks beautiful.

    Reply

  7. Andrea
    May 13, 2014 @ 10:20 am

    Kudos for the restoration, even though I must say, I do love me some of that pre-fix rusty-peely finish. Your work preserved it for another hundred years, and the tutorial was truly an eye-opener. I had no idea that was even possible. You totally are the urn-whisperer!

    Reply

  8. Di Elliott
    May 13, 2014 @ 10:41 am

    Wow great job! The thing is if you leave it unfilled it will fill with dust and dirt and rainwater, which will attract mosquitoes to lay in it, perhaps fill with water with a couple of gold fish (if the paint is suitable) and a water Lilly so that the fish eat the bugs and you have a water feature and the magnificent pot to show off… Just a thought…

    Reply

  9. Mandy Fish
    May 13, 2014 @ 10:45 am

    You’ll have to put your ashes in it when you die.

    Reply

    • tammigirl
      May 13, 2014 @ 10:58 am

      Yes! This!

      (You do know I was kidding about your hairy arms, right? I’m sure they belong to Paul)

      Reply

    • Jenny Loomans
      May 13, 2014 @ 11:16 am

      The urn looks fantastic! I wish I had one! And I agree totally about putting dirt in it, but I would probably put in a container arrangement. Something with tallish spiky grass, medium-height color, and then blue lobelia and some light-colored viney things spilling downward (like decorative sweet potato vines or something). But definitely NOT planted directly in it.

      Reply

  10. Kelly
    May 13, 2014 @ 11:17 am

    QUITE impressed by your willingness to go through this process. That must have taken a lot of patience and here I was thinking you were a little like me in being impatient ; )

    Reply

  11. g
    May 13, 2014 @ 11:20 am

    This is amazing!
    Do you have any recommendations on how to find a good place to do the sandblasting and powder painting?
    I have a glider rocker that I’d like to have done….but I’m not sure where to start!

    Reply

    • Victoria Elizabeth Barnes
      May 13, 2014 @ 12:30 pm

      I found mine about five years ago… (I guess I must have googled powder coating.) I called around and got estimates.

      The place I ended up using had a website that had before and after pictures of their work, AND I was able to email them photos of the patio set I was working on at the time… All of that combined made me feel like they would do a good job.

      You could also ask any friends who are into cars or motorcycles… Sometimes they will know where you should go.

      Reply

  12. Garden, Home and Party
    May 13, 2014 @ 11:26 am

    I’m always impressed with the knowledge you and Paul share on how to repair, move or improve items brought to your Victorian. There is no way Mr. B or myself would have had an inkling on how to recreate the missing piece on the urn. It definitely looks identical. I would have kept it rusty and watched with glee as my $200 purchase disintegrated of rust damage over the years.
    🙂
    Maybe after a few years you’ll soften on wanting to put some wonderful plants in it. You know, like after the new-urn smell dissipates? It is a showstopper for your patio.
    xo,
    Karen

    Reply

  13. judy
    May 13, 2014 @ 11:30 am

    The only problem with your fabulous finds in this instance is they make a glaring contrast between GFT and the not quite so fancy patio. I know if you stand back and stare long enough at that Urn you will come up with something that rises to the elegance of the Urn, preferably from Target or the dollar store( keeping in mind the budget) Maybe its the lack of furniture ,pillows, an umbrella and a Marine serving mint juleps that would complete the vignette. Of course I forgot (living in Virginia) that your area just emerged from its own ice age. Very impressed with your descriptive abilities and I second the waxing suggestion TeeHee…………………

    Reply

    • Victoria Elizabeth Barnes
      May 13, 2014 @ 12:31 pm

      “a Marine serving mint juleps ”
      this is why I love you all… and yes, the ice age has JUST ended.

      Reply

  14. Kimberly ~ SerendipityRefined
    May 13, 2014 @ 11:31 am

    This is probably one of my favorite GFT’s of all time…well, except for maybe the kingdom mirror…which I’m not the least bit shy about coveting openly. Move to Illinois….I need a friend like you to do this crap with….or at least come for a visit…I’m pouring concrete in the dining room for the new fireplace hearth and you KNOW that you want to be a part of that (and the subsequent electrical trim out).

    Go ahead, admit it….it’s not as cool as a restored garden GFT but pouring concrete in the dining room IS kind of sexy.

    Well done, girlfriend! xo

    Reply

  15. Marilyn
    May 13, 2014 @ 11:45 am

    I can just see some one flicking their cigarette ashes in the urn!! Put some flowers in it!! Love your stories….whatever happened to the BIG BED??

    Reply

  16. Judith Caldwell
    May 13, 2014 @ 11:51 am

    There seems to be a misconception here about the effect of rust on cast iron, which is very different from steel. Due to the high carbon content of gray cast iron, the surface rust itself forms a protective layer, and any further oxidation happens very, very slowly. Unless you desire a painted surface, there is really no structural need to remove the rust. The urn would not disintegrate because of rust, at least not in any of our lifetimes, though it would bleed orange onto your lovely patio.

    Reply

    • Victoria Elizabeth Barnes
      May 13, 2014 @ 12:38 pm

      I did not know that!! The part Paul was concerned about, (you can kind of see in the photo where we had just picked it up from the sandblasting place) was the stem… It could not have deteriorated any more and still supported the bowl.

      Reply

  17. Rena
    May 13, 2014 @ 12:07 pm

    Tammigirl you did make me laugh outloud!! But the Urn is absolutely at home!

    Reply

  18. Chad
    May 13, 2014 @ 1:43 pm

    Do you mind sharing who did your sandblasting and powder coating? My cast iron radiators are in pretty sorry condition – like someone dropped joint compound on them and then painted over it, so I might want to have at least 3 of them sandblasted. I have a neighbor who highly recommends someone in Conshohocken.

    Side note: sandblasting probably will make keeping the radiators officially more expensive than replacing them with forced air and having central air conditioning would have been. But I’ve always coveted my neighbors’ cast iron radiators. No regrets, right?

    Reply

  19. Lynne Hoover
    May 13, 2014 @ 1:50 pm

    I WANT this. It is absolutely fabulous. Good–no, wonderful–job!

    Reply

  20. Terri
    May 13, 2014 @ 2:33 pm

    I don’t know which I like better, the terrific ideas and creative things you do, or the way you write about them. You are very entertaining.

    Reply

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