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. 

testing

Planted ladder

Here is how I made a planted ladder to add height to my flower bed along the back wall of my house.  Since my house is very tall, and boxy, I needed to be able to create height, pops of color, and visual interest.  I love the brick but it can be boring.

I had an old wooden 6' ladder that we didn't use anymore.  It didn't work for me to stand up the normal way in my flower bed, so I decided to lean it against the back of the house.  The front of the ladder is about 2' 1/2 to 3' out from the wall.

I had found some old drawers in my neighbors trash.  They were remodeling so I grabbed the old maple drawers they had thrown out.  They don't have the same handles, nor do they match in size, but they fit my ladder pretty well.

I wanted to have space between the flowers to set Junk so I decided to only add two drawers to my ladder.  I took them back off the ladder and spray painted them both inside and outside. I drilled a couple of small drainage holes in the bottom, and once dry, put them back on the ladder.

The first color I had chosen wasn't bright enough, so I painted the fronts again.

Once I had the color I wanted, I filled the drawers with miracle grow potting soil and planted them with pink and purple petunias.  I like pink or peach with purple, and I wanted the drawer color to compliment the flowers but not get overlooked either.

Once planted I started looking thru my junk and found a couple of decorative bricks, a chippy old angel, an old spring with an old croquet ball sitting on top, and added a birdhouse to the top.  I added an old mill stone and watering around the bottom, and as my perennials and annuals fill in, I hope it looks even better.

I had previously made the angel out of an old chair back (windsor style chair) and some scrap wood.  I spray painted it white, and added the lavender sign I had in my junk stash to give it more character. 

Here is my finished garden ladder.