Scrap wood heart, found object dragonfly

Hi,

I'm sharing these scrap wood hearts I made.  I made a small one for an Eco Art Fest.  It needed to be made from recycled, up-cycled, objects. 

 

This one is made from old wood lath, a piece of fancy trim, a wood dowel, a wooden chair rung, and a piece of an old trim board.  I wanted it to be dimensional so I added the round wood pieces (dowel, chair rung etc.)  To finish it off I added an old key.  I started by drawing a heart shape on a very thin piece of wood paneling.  I cut the paneling out with a jigsaw.  Then I gathered up wood scraps that I could cut to shape.  I decided on the pattern I wanted, what direction I wanted to lay the boards and then started cutting them to shape following the heart pattern I had cut out.  Once cut I used carpenters wood glue and short nails to attach the boards to the pattern.  I tried to cut the wood pieces a little bit longer than the pattern so it wasn't visible.  Some of my boards were thin, so I had to shorten the small nails with side cutters. 

My daughter Rachel wanted me to make her a large one for her birthday.  Here is the one I made for her.

 

This one is made out of scrap wood lath, an old wood curtain rod with grooves in it, a piece of wainscoting cap, some chippy white crown molding, delicate gold trim, two old rulers, a chair rung, and then I added a crusty cupboard lock, an old key and a small piece of ruler.  You can tell how large this one is compared to the glass and paper plate.  I really enjoyed making these, but it took me several hours to find the right pieces to give me the look and pattern I wanted. 

 

 

Another scrap project is this dragonfly I made out of an old wooden rocker arm, some scrap wood trim pieces, and some found object eyes.  I think it turned out cute.

 

 

If these inspire you to try something new please comment and let me know.



Getting my crafty on, and my favorite jack o lantern comes to life

Recently my daughters and I had a art / craft show and these are a couple of the things I made.   BTW my daughter Rachel helped A LOT with the painting and finish work.  Thank you Rachel.


I looked at scare crows online and then came up with my version of a couple I liked.  His head is one piece of wood, then I used old wood lathe to create the hat brim, and gave some a pine cone flower on their hat brim.  Then added an old shirt, and crow to some of their shoulders.  I thought they turned out pretty cute.  I gave them crazy noses made out of scrap wood, and barbed wire mouths.

I also made a bunch of different wood pumpkins but these are some of my favorites.  Rachel helped me paint them and add unique features to each.

I made a pattern for the whimsical shaped pumpkin and I LOVE IT.  It is so cute. (at least to me :)

 

And this one is my fave shape.  I drew it out on paper and then made a stencil out of an old manila folder.  I made them in three different sizes.  I love the long curvy stems.

 

 

 

I had a lot of fun making these fall things for the craft fair.

 

 



 

Meet Nosey Rosie

Meet Nosey Rosie.  You don't want her sticking her big nose in your business.

Rosie was fun to make, and super easy to do.

I used wooden dowel rods to hold the pumpkins together.  I staked the bottom pumpkin into the dirt of the old kettle where flowers were done blooming.  I then used the dowel and poked a hold in the bottom of the "head" pumpkin so I could slide it on once it was in place.  I then staked the middle pumpkin to the bottom pumpkin making sure the dowel remained exposed on top so I could slide her head onto it.

I added a strip of burlap for a scarf and an old cowboy hat I had bought at a yard sale.  I used two long nails with a head to attach the hat so it wouldn't blow away.

We have been enjoying Rosie for several weeks and she is still looking good.

Zen wind chime

Here is a wind chime hubby and I made.  I had the vision, and he figured out how to make my vision reality.

A neighbor had a trampoline damaged in a storm, and being the re-cycler aka hoarder I am, I brought some of the frame home to use in projects.  Here is a section we turned into a wind chime that stand about 4 1/2' high.

Here is how we made it.

The part you see at the top of the picture is in the ground, and we trimmed off the curved part in the bottom right of the picture, making an L shape.


I cut 5 pieces of scrap copper pipe in graduated sizes.

We drilled holes in the top of each copper pipe.

And holes in the bottom of the trampoline frame.  We threaded fishing line thru the holes in the trampoline frame to hang the copper pipe.

Hubby used cotter pins to make hangers in the pipe pieces.  (see next two pics)

We hung them by the fishing line and installed in the ground in a flower bed.  It sounds mellow and sweet when the wind blows, as the copper pipes collide with each other.

If this inspires you to try something similar let me know.

Myra

 

DIY birdbath

By now you know I'm all about recycling and DIY, and gardening, and flea markets....

I wanted to add some pops of color to my yard, in addition to extra spots for the birds and butterflies to hang out.  So I created these bird baths out of pretty bowls of various sizes, blue beer bottles, vases, candle holders etc.   There are more of these in my immediate future, and some will probably end up as Christmas gifts.  Here are some I've made this summer....

(Please ignore the ugly foot in the pic - I need to be more careful when taking pics)

I hope these inspire you to look at things in a new way.  These were so easy to make and enjoy.

Use GEII silicone and allow them to dry a minimum of 2 days before using them.

Myra

Old tools in the garden

I love to find new ways to use unloved items.  I found this really large drill bit at the flea market in the early spring, and immediately knew what I wanted it to be.  So I paid the man $5, took it home and created.....

Yep, you guessed it :)  an exotic hosta bloom aka garden art.

I had a can of purple spray paint and planted it among my hosta.  I love it!

Myra

Shutter Angel

Here is a garden angel that I have enjoyed in my garden this year.  She is was out of an old window shutter, a brass candle bowl, wings made from pieces of an old barrel, and rebar for legs.

I laid my shutter on my workbench and started laying different boards, spindles etc. behind it for wings.  I originally made this to display at an Eco Fest last fall.  So, it needed to be made entirely of recycled objects.  That's right up my alley!!!

I had a window shutter about 36" tall.  I decided to use boards from an old barrel for the wings.  I love the rough texture and curve of these pieces.  I used the adjustment pieces of wood that came with the shutter as arms.  I decided on the angel I wanted and cut the top to fit the shutter.  I then cut them to the length I wanted the arms.  They were as long as the shutter and I don't know about you, but my arms aren't as long as my body.

I added a brass candle bowl for a head and rebar for legs so the shutter doesn't sit on the ground and wick moisture.

Here's the finished angel when I added it to my garden in early spring.

The rebar legs allow me to push it close to the ground but not touching the ground.

Here it is amid my hosta.

It's outside my kitchen door by the cornzebo where I see it every day.  I have enjoyed it this summer. 

If this project inspires you to create something similar please let me know.  And if you need more info I'll be glad to share more details on how I made it.

Myra

Mother & Child - Shutter Sculpture

It's been forever since I've been able to access my blog and post pictures.  I've been computer challenged and I've done a ton of projects I've been wanting to share.

If you know me, you know that I love to create using objects with a past.  I like using recycled, used, upcycled "stuff" to create new things.  It provides a challenge and creates unique, one of a kind results.

I will be sharing the things I create on this blog, so that if someone else is inspired by what I create they can create something similar themselves.

Here's a garden project I made a couple of weeks ago.  I am calling it Mother & Child.  I have installed it in our back yard beside my bottle tree.  It looks like they are emerging from the trees, either coming back from a walk, or after having played on the tree fort or tire swing.

I hope you like it.

If you want to make one of your own, here's how I made mine.

I found a louvered closet door at Habitat for Humanity's Restore and a window shutter.  I cut the closet door in half for the mother.

I laid my shutters on my workbench and started pulling out things I thought might work for arms.  I decided to cut a rocker (from an old rocking chair) in half for the child's arms.  I tried several things for the Mother's arms but decided to use two pieces from an old barrel.  They had a slight curve to them and gave her a rustic earthy feel. (I am a recycler and use whatever I can find to make things out of)  I then decided on how I wanted the arms to look once done so I could cut the pieces and attach.  

This is the position I decided on for the Child.  I marked the angle on the arms shown below on the left and cut it on the mitre saw.

I wanted the other arm to go straight out to meet the Mother's hand so I used a metal bracket on the back of the arm and shutter to attach them.

I attached the other arm with a screw into the shoulder of the shutter as shown below.

I found something for the head that I thought fit proportionately.  I used a tin and bent it slightly at the bottom so it would snug up to the shutter, and drilled a small hole to attach it to the shutter body.

I found this candle holder at the thrift store a couple weeks ago, and I used bolt cutters to cut it into two pieces.  One for the Child, and one for the Mother.

After painting them, I drilled a small hole (size of the metal piece) in each of their "hands" and glued the flowers in.

I spray painted the flowers pink and glued colorful buttons in the center of each flower to give them more color.

I added rebar legs so the shutters don't sit on the ground and wick moisture.  I chose a drill bit the size of my legs and drilled holes into the bottom of the shutter.  I used a marker to mark how far I had drilled into the shutter, and marked my drill bit.  I then transferred that mark onto my rebar so I knew how far to tap it in.  Then I gently tapped the rebar into the shutter with a hammer.

I drilled a hole into the silver plated platter I used for the Mother's head and screwed it onto the front of her shutter body. 

Once done, I coated both with several coats of polyurethane sealer.  I will reapply sealer at least once a year, or more often if I see they are weathering.

I hope if you decide to create one of your own that you let me know if I gave you enough instructions, and please share your pictures. 

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