Cosco Cart Remake

One of my favorite Christmas presents this year is probably as old as I am.  We found this vintage Cosco three-tier rolling cart in the basement of my former in-laws' house, which my son is cleaning out and fixing up to sell. No one else in the family wanted it, so he told me to take it.  It was rusty and needed some work, but I knew that my elf, Doug, could work wonders on it:

I told him to surprise me with it for Christmas.  After several secretive days in the driveway and garage, he finished the project and then hid it under a plastic tarp.  He wire-brushed the chrome frame, painted the wheel hardware with chrome spray paint, and painted the trays a gorgeous 50s aqua (the color is more accurate in the pictures further down), and this is what I saw on Christmas morning:

We took it to the beach the next day and outfitted it with some baking items, including vintage Pyrex bowls and baking dishes that we already had and some stacking cooling racks that Christine gave me for Christmas. It's sitting in the dining room but can easily be moved to the kitchen as a temporary island when we need more space for baking, cooking, or serving:

My stepson Corey and his wife Kristin gave us the towel for Christmas, and it's a perfect match -- even though they didn't even know about the cart when they chose it.

Apparently, getting one of these carts for Christmas isn't so unusual.  This vintage ad advises the 1950s housewife to "Put a bug in his ear that you want Cosco."

I guess I did "put the bug" in Doug's ear, but he had to do a lot more than make a trip to the local hardware store to get my Cosco cart.