Like a pot to piss in.
Sorry if that's blunt, but back in the day before the advent of indoor plumbing and bathrooms, lots of folks weren't about to take a walk in the snow in below zero temps, just to make a little water in the middle of the night.
And the saying "didn't have a pot to piss in" meant you were pretty broke if you didn't even have a pot to do your business in.
When I went through the box of auction items I hauled home last spring, I pulled out this cute little antique red and white enamelware pot, but really all I saw was a planter. It wasn't until after it sat on the steps holding a plant last summer that I realized what it really was.
The little red enamelware pot was actually an antique pot to piss in. Gross!
The pot was fine, and nothing that a good pressure washing with a ton of bleach wouldn't cure, because once I realized what it actually was I wasn't gonna ever touch it again unless everything I couldn't even see was washed off.
One of the rare pandemic outings I took was to the local nursery before Mothers Day to fetch some plants before they were picked over. Well that was a joke, since there wasn't very many of the plants I wanted out yet to pick from, so they certainly couldn't be picked over.
I don't know if the local nursery's were late getting stock this year or what, but I came home with an overpriced tomato plant to kill, and after a stop at a second nursery, also a variety of plants that were not on my list.
Apparently my eyes were bigger than my supply of planters, because it's now two? three? weeks later and I still have a cardboard box worth left to plant and a severe shortage of things to plant them in.
Enter the little chamber pot.
Last year I planted something in it without making drainage holes in the bottom and of course eventually after enough rain the plant perished. I also left it dead in the pot till winter arrived and it was time to put the pot away. Bad plant owner.
I told myself I'd do better this year, so the first thing that happened is holes were drilled in the bottom of the chamber pot. How fitting that the pot lives at the same house as this other enamelware planter from last year......
Yeah the plant in Dear Liza's bucket perished too because there wasn't actually a hole in the bucket. I drown them both.
So the chamber pot needed a little something something. Like fresh paint.
The intact wood handle was faded red so I simply took a paper towel and rubbed on some Fusion Mineral Paint in Fort York Red, and I didn't even need to dirty a brush.
The handle still looks it's vintage best.
The enamel on the pot was yellowed and dinged enough that I wanted it to have a fresh coat of white and the day I decided I wanted that new coat it was raining so instead of spray painting I opted to brush some white Fusion Mineral Paint on it.
I wasn't feeling really creative, and a little lazy for hand painting anything, plus I wanted a quick turn around on this since the life of a plant depended on it for a permanent home.
I turned my stack of Old Sign Stencils like book pages until something reached out and grabbed me.
On the sides I used grain sack stripes and part of the pallet collection painted with Fusion Coal, just to have an option to turn it around if I want.
The front is a combination of a coffee stencil, a Christmas stencil, and the popular pallet stencils.
So several words from several stencils later, and I had completed the project. Trivia.... I was born in Seattle, and I may or may not weigh 150.
The only question that remains is which plant will live in the chamber pot permanently?
And the word "live" is used very loosely as it pertains to my green thumb.
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Oh my stars, that is a lovely makeover! Love the colors and you did a great job! I imagine cleaning the pot was a big deal. :) Enjoy and be well!
ReplyDelete~ Christina
love it! i don't know that i would have thought to use ANY paint on the actual pot, but it turned out nice and i love the stencils you added! i have old wash basins that i quickly learned holes need to be drilled, tough to do emotionally, but really, are any of these pots/basins ever going to be used for their original purposes? i'm over that! NICE JOB!
ReplyDeleteI have seen ironstone chamber pots for sake and my brain goes directly to a pot to possibly in.
ReplyDeleteI don't know with my OCD if I would get over it with all the bleach in the world so I pass it by.
You created a beautiful pot and good thing you drilled hokes.
Enjoy your potty.
Cindy
Haven't said hello in quite a while. Cute projects here, as always. Chuckled at the old P to P in :D Have a great holiday weekend.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great project, Bliss...and I have a feeling you and I garden much the same lol.
ReplyDelete