DIY: Transforming a vintage calculator

How we took a junky calculator and transformed it with a can of spray paint.  Talk about making a purse out of a sow’s ear…

I hate my calculator.  It’s this cutesy thing I’ve had for years, it’s lightweight, flimsy, it’s fun to use on a whim, but it just doesn’t handle serious “work.”  And especially when your truly is the one operating it.

Hubby has one that’s a step above, but I don’t like it either, and I kept telling him I want one of the vintage ones from the 70’s.  Back in the day when they were beefy, hefty, substantial calculators.  Actually, I wouldn’t mind one of the really old ones, the kind you punch with a handle on the side, but that’s taking it a bit too far.

So this guy at the auction “gives” LC this old Victor calculator, and it’s a piece of crap.  It’s yellowed, greasy, absolutely vile looking and has a  gummy sticker on the top,  but it’s substantial, and it’s from the 70’s, it has a cord, the buttons are intact and in good shape, and best of all it actually works, but it looks hideous.  Even if it was cleaned up, it would still be boring “beige.”  And there is no way that years of accumulated yellowing was going to clean up anyway.

So I got the bright idea to paint it purple.  I found plastic paint at Home Depot, LCe took it apart, sanded it a bit, and spray painted it. 

Now it’s purple, deep, gorgeous, purple! Okay, so gorgeous is a stretch, but oh, it looks so spiffy now,  well I think it does anyway  I’m thinking it might need some retro daisy decals sprinkled on the top, too.  I  might as well go overboard like I do on everything else.   It’s a work in progress, but it sure is cute, and it only cost $3.99 for a can of plastic bonding spray paint..