LuminoCity Photography

A tale of two strippers

Pam — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 15:40:21 +0000

Hi! The cold is on its way out. So I’ve started stripping the paint off my 1960s bassinet. First I tried an eco friendly low odor furniture stripper. Sorry planet, this stuff is kind of useless. The paint only began to bubble after 2 hours. And then it only went through the topcoat with a lot of elbow grease. Sometimes harsh industrial chemicals are your friend. Five minutes, right down to the metal. More later.

Thrifting

Pam — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 21:41:49 +0000

Thrifting is fun. I know it’s hot now with the bad economy, but I’ve always been cheap. Something I got from my parents I guess. I just don’t understand how anyone can pay $1000 dollars for a coffee table it probably costs $100 to make. It’s like asking to have your pocket picked.

I’ve had a number of good finds lately but right now I’ll just highlight a few: my $5.00 vase and an old 1960′s hospital bassinet I intend to turn into a bar cart.

I got this Torre & Tagus vase from a Salvation Army store. $4.99. The lovely shape made it really stand out. It’s in great condition.

My other find was a stainless steel hospital bassinet made by the Imperial Surgical Company of Toronto. It came from St. Joseph’s Hospital in London, Ontario. An antique market find for $200.00. I found a similar one online selling for $495. Not bad.

I want to clean up all the paint and rust and then paint the inside turquoise or sky blue, maybe put tin tiles on the back wall on the inside. Since the paint might contain lead I’ll use chemical paint removers rather than sanding.

The sliding top drawer will be great for holding glasses & serving. There’s also a chart holder (unshown) which will be be good for holding bar tools.

I intend to keep this 23.

I have a horrible cold stopping me from jumping on this project, but as soon as its done, I’m ready to dive in.

Garbage – Pick up your own @*#$%!

Pam — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 11:57:20 +0000

Toronto is in the midst of a outdoor city worker’s strike. Translation, no garbage collection. There’s other services affected, but I’d like to focus on the garbage issue for a moment, and how we as consumers might want to rethink our own contribution to the unsightly nature of our streets.

For regular street garbage I find what’s thrown out just as interesting as where it’s thrown out. It’s all drink containers, plastic dome cups and straws. I just had no idea how much crap we dispose of everyday until it was literally piled up at my feet. (Pictures soon).

A 5 cent charge for plastic cups might not be a bad idea. It’s a good reminder. In Toronto we now have a 5 cent charge for each plastic shopping bag. It’s not enough to break the bank but just enough to inspire memory. I wonder if a modified version of this program could be done for drink containers. Either there could be a deposit or surcharge; just enough to make people remember to bring their reusables from home. I have to confess that I myself am very inconsistent with my reusable coffee cup.

It would be nice if people treated the city streets with the same reverence they reserve for the forrest: leave nothing behind but footprints. Take your crap with you when you go, don’t leave it for someone else to deal with. After all the environment is right here, not somewhere down the highway. Sure we are mad at the strikers for making the city look like a tip (Brit speak for dump). But we are reponsible too. No one is forcing us to pile up crap on the street and any available flat surface. Just a thought.