Garden Art

Hi,
I want to share one of my favorite garden art pieces.

It was originally a table top sculpture I found on clearance at Hobby Lobby.

I thought it was interesting, and it reminded me of a flower, so I brought it home with me.

It needed some color to bring out the flower characteristics.  I tried painting it purple with pink tips, but it didn't pop.  So, I decided to try yellow and purple.  Much better.

Once I had it painted, I cut off the base using bolt cutters.  I left the "stem" so I could mount it outside. I had a piece of copper pipe I hammered into the ground, and I inserted the stem into the pipe opening. 

I like how it turned out. 

I hope you find something that inspires you to be creative and create a unique piece of art for your garden.

Plate flowers

My daughters, and granddaughter made plate flowers a couple of weeks ago.  They are so easy to make, you won't be able to resist making more than one!

I have been collecting supplies from thrift stores and finally had enough for all of us.  If you look closely at the picture you will be able to tell I have tried to make them using a variety of different things.  I especially enjoyed mixing in metal pieces. I used an old light fixture on one, and one reminds me of an exotic jungle flower.


I added bead stamens to this one.

I really like this one.  I like the mix of silver and copper, and wavy edges, textures and color.

This one doesn't have any metal but I love the shapes and colors.

I hope if you decide to create a plate flower, you have as much fun as we did!

Myra

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. 

found object dragonflies

Here are pictures of a few of my found object dragonflies. I make them out of found objects, so each one is unique.














This is how some of my dragonflies begin. As a broken chair spindle, or chair leg.