Give An Old Bike A Second Chance

I bought a pre-owned Phat bike cruiser several years back on FBMP. Lately, it’s been stored at my mom’s land because she thought she might like to ride a bike again. The Texas heat and the sun have just been beating it up too much so I decided that it needed to be re-invented. There are so many great ways to add them to your landscape or garden. Some people choose to use them just as they are and some choose to paint them. I really wanted an all-white bike so that I can change up the look of it based on whatever holiday is right around the corner.

Besides some general rust it had acquired by being exposed to the elements, the seat had one big crack and one small crack. I just filled in the crack with some caulk before painting it so that the foam wouldn’t continue to get moisture inside the seat and potentially have mold and mildew growth.

I used one spray can of primer and 2 cans of white spray paint to completely cover the bike frame and wheels. Make sure you spray the bike from different angles to get in all the nooks and crannies. I turned mine over for one coat of primer and two coats of paint.

Old cardboard boxes can make a great drop cloth. I also attached an actual drop cloth to my fence in case of spray paint particles spreading through the air and landing on its surface. It provided a great backdrop of coverage.

The tires seemed to take a lot of paint to get them white and to be honest they probably could use just one more light coat.

The wicker basket I found for $10 at an antique/thrift style store. I think that antique booths are a great place to find all sorts of interesting wicker baskets. This particular one had handles so I just turned them both in and used them to hold the flowers in place.

The two bunches of flowers really weren’t a match by my standards, but I had them on hand. I purchased both from Amazon marketplace. Right now they are listed at $12.99 a bunch. I purchased them for $9.99 a bunch. I do like the quality of them and would purchase them again. Because each bunch was a different tone, I just placed them in the basket and moved them around to integrate the colors together more seamlessly. It worked perfectly.

I love to add flags to my garden as well. I think the flags and flowers go so well together. I figure I can always change the basket decor for other seasons and keep my curb appeal fresh.