Monday, August 8, 2011

Garden Junk

We have a lovely yard - with lots of trees - that provide lots of shade and keep the house quite cool during the hot summer months. The only drawback to all that shade is that it's really hard to find flowers that will bloom and provide color. A few years ago I discovered a great place on the web called the Garden Junk Forum where people share pictures and instructions for making all kinds of yard art out of castaway treasures. I started collecting cobolt blue bottles and displaying them on bamboo stakes planted in the groundcover we have in the backyard. I grouped them together and thought they kinda look like a cluster of flowers - and they look especially nice early in the morning when a tiny bit of sunshine peeks through the tree branches overhead.





After that, I saw some fun totems - also made from glass dishes - and started scouting for pieces at the thrift stores when I visited.





My most recent addition is glass flowers made by glueing together plates & bowls and adding glass marbles from the dollar store.




I scored at the thrift store one day and found a big shallow blue bowl that I turned into a birdbath.


I chose to make all of mine using clear glass and certain colors, but they can actually be made using anything your heart desires - tea pots - stoneware - ceramics etc.....




I used 3E clear silicone adhesive for windows and doors. (although it didn't turn out as clear as I would have liked) and I attached a flattened spoon to the back so I could mount it on a piece of conduit pipe from the hardware store that was cut to the desired height.




Fun project!

29 comments:

Kim said...

Those are gorgeous. Great ideas. I have seen the blue bottle trees before but those totems are awesome.

Rebecca said...

Gayle, these are just beautiful! Really enjoyed the pix of your garden, thanks

Tiff said...

Love the blue! I may have to start looking at GW to find things to make garden treasures. Thank you for the inspiration.

Sweet Sue said...

Luv these Gayle, the neighbor lady has blue bottles in her roadside garden, always a joy to drive past them. My fave is your birdy bath, well done and thx for the tute:)

Alice ~ Folk Art Primitives said...

I'm in love ~ with all your blue bottles and your totems!! BEAUTIFUL!! Just love the look it gives your garden!!

DJ's Farmette said...

So inspiring! Thanks for sharing your great idea!

Janet O. said...

Wow, what a cool idea! I love these. The flower with the blue marbles is my fav!!

Raymond Homestead said...

The blue is so pretty! Love the bird bath!

The Wool Cupboard said...

Gayle, I LOVE all your beautiful creations!! You are so talented.

Laurel said...

I have a collection of cobalt blue pots in my backyard as the pool has cobalt blue tile. I love how it looks and I love your cobalt blue glass! Now I guess I am on the lookout for blue glass.

Thanks for sharing

TheCrankyCrow said...

You have the best garden junk I've ever seen Gayle!! Wowsers!! Too, too, cool! Love the totems and birdbath....and the bottles just look like they were meant to be part of your "blue garden...." Do you use the same adhesive to put your totems together?? (We have such horrendous winds here, anything and everything has to be very secure!! Not like I'll find any awesome blue pieces like you have around Nod....but, other colors are an option!!) Wishing you a week filled with blessings....Smiles & Hugs ~ Robin

Sassafras and Winterberry said...

I just love the creativity of these garden ornaments. You have such an eye for putting things together. I adore the bird bath. I would love to try that when I get my garden going next year. Thanks for the walk through! Your yard looks awesome.

Cheryl said...

Love your garden junk! Great way to bring color to a shade garden...bet it would work with a dry, desert garden too! You have inspired me.

Lana Manis said...

I bet your gardens just sparkle like magic when the sun shines through! How clever and pretty!

Lori said...

How creative! I love the blue bottles and I bet it is so pretty with the sun shining on it.

Rugs and Pugs said...

Gayle ~
Aha! Now I see what you did with the flattened spoon! What fun you have created in your garden! I love it all. I have many bottles in my yard ~ I put them on different length pieces of rebar. Thanks for the link. I will have to check it out.
Pug hugs :)
Lauren

{Kaitlyn} said...

Fun! They look great, I'm glad you finally got them out in the yard! Now i just need to finish mine!

acorn hollow said...

what wonderful ideas. I too am very shady.
Cathy

Dawn said...

Beautiful! Bottle Trees are on the front cover of The Wall Street Journal this am! You are cutting edge.

Andrea said...

Cobalt blue is my absolute FAV! I have down the bottles before but I will definitely be looking for plates and bowls from now on. Gorgeous!

Mimi Sue said...

Love this idea! Adorable glass flowers and the spoon holder, brilliant. You'll bring them in during the winter?? Mimi

MARCIE said...

These are so cool! I didn't even know you could still find cobalt blue glass. I love the totums! Great idea!

Angie Berry ~ Berry Homespun Primitives said...

Wow Gayle, that is all incredibly beautiful! I LOVE cobalt glass also but I only have a few pieces. What an amazing collection! I have been thinking this week about how much I love my trees but very discouraged that hardly any pretty flowers can grow in that shade. Now I know what to do!! =] Thanks for this post and all the lovely ideas! I especially love the bird baths because I have been looking for some to buy... never even considered making my own. Thanks!

coinguyslady said...

I love,love,love all the blue glass.I want it all!

The Cross-eyed Owl said...

Try using E6000 glue. It is clear and stands up indoors and out. I use it all the time and it seems to last very well also it cleans up easily with acetone if a mistake is made.Your use of cobalt blue is great. I'm trying red now.

Sonie in North Idaho said...

OMG!!! I am so inspired. I <3 treasure hunting and now I have more things for my wish list. ;) Thank you for sharing your creativity!

Anonymous said...

love all the projects ! great ideas.....

Unknown said...

Those Yard Art are wonderful I'm so HAPPY to find ur site. I need something new to work on and YOUR Art is going to for sure give me other ideas. YOUR work is BEAUITFUL. Thanks for sharing you are a blessing

Unknown said...

Those Yard Art are wonderful I'm so HAPPY to find ur site. I need something new to work on and YOUR Art is going to for sure give me other ideas. YOUR work is BEAUITFUL. Thanks for sharing you are a blessing