You Put the Suds in the (Olive) Bucket, Pt. 1

Hi Everyone!

Well, after a year or so of waiting, my local WalMart finally got faux olive buckets in stock.  They have been all over blogland, and while I could have ordered one of these low-priced knock offs online, I was too cheap thrifty to pay for shipping.  So, wait I did and for the paltry sum of $12.44, I brought the shiny beauty home. In fact, I could not get this thing in my cart fast enough!

It is called the Better Homes & Gardens Providence Metal Bucket.  Silly WalMart, they could have charged far more if they had included the term "olive bucket" in their description.  Lucky for me, they did not! You can see this bucket on their website.

But, wait!  Although it was a  good deal, an exciting deal even - it did present itself with some work to do.  It is pretty shiny.  Gasp! Even new looking.  Not really the vintage olive bucket look I was going for.  Where's the rust? Where's the whitish cast? The gray water lines? My olive bucket needs those things. So, of course, where there's a will there's a way and Google!  No shortage of how to age new galvanized pieces online.  There is even one that uses toilet bowl cleaner - intriguing!

I opted for the vinegar, salt, and bleach method.....outside, of course.  First I roughed it up with a wire brush in case there was some type of coating on the bucket.  Then I mixed up a concoction of vinegar, water, & salt.  I brushed that on, then brushed on some bleach, sprinkled more salt on top, and left it out in the sun to "cook."

That cup may look like it's filled with a refreshing iced tea, but I was out of white vinegar, and used red wine vinegar instead!! The bucket now has a little salt paste goo on it, and I am waiting for it to do the "magic!"  I am thinking it will take a day or two to "do what it needs to do",  but for $12, I am willing to be patient.

Once it has the patina I am looking for (which I hope is soon!), I will come on back and show it's glory, along with where I am going to use it at my house.

Thanks for stopping by,
Jane