Chicken Wire Never Looked So Lovely

Chicken wire chic

Chicken wire made chic...gotta love that!  And with spring nearing my brain is on overdrive looking at how I can doll up my garden.  Over the past few months I have seen a few different ideas for ghost gowns or ghost dresses, most of which are too large for my garden, but the one that my friend Darlene made for her garden is just the right size.

She tells me that she made it by forming it around her own body.  Probably would be easiest to do this with a friend helping I imagine.  Once the form was to her liking she spray painted the wire lavender and added the ribbon at the waist which makes it just adorable.  Don't you think so too? 

Paint, Beads and Wire

Have you ever had to come up with a gift for someone that was a challenge because of the color.  That was my thing this year.  I was invited to take part in a "Secret Santa Gift Exchange" with some new friends on Facebook.  Now if you haven't ever done this I highly recommend it...its a blast and a great way to make even better friends of the new friends. 

The person whose name I drew...well...he loves orange and wanted orange for his garden.  Orange is one of those colors that rare people love. If any of you have ever tried to find orange garden art in November you know what I am talking about when I say there is little or NO garden art out there after the summer garden season is over, let alone something orange that will go with zinnias!  The only way I was going to get orange garden art was to make something...but what?

Here kitty kitty!  Time to make you lovely!

To start with I knew I had two things I could possibly use, one a cat and one a gourd, both made of wire.  At least I could paint those orange.  But then how to make them look like something more, that was going to be a bit of a different challenge.  I knew had to embellish them or they would look cheap and silly and not the gift worthy garden art I so wanted to bless this new friend with and something he would hopefully like.

Paint, wire and beads was all it took

I had purchased some wire cats from a local department store during a deep discount Fall clearance a few years ago.  (I love finding great deals.)  The cats had not sold because they were a drab flat black with barely noticeable gold flecks.  This color made them literally almost disappear wherever they were displayed and they only had tiny washers for eyes which gave them NO personality! 

After giving them makeovers I sold several of them so I knew people really liked them.  I knew I had a few still hanging out in my garden so I looked around my garden to see if which of these might do with a makeover.  Sure enough I found this little thing (pictured above) with her pitiful washer eyes just calling to me.  The poor thing's pretty glass eyes were no longer anywhere to be found as they  had finally fallen off.  She was perfect!

After painting her orange I sprayed her with a mist of golden yellow highlight that gave her coat a really nice color and not just flat pumpkin orange.  Then I gave her brand new jewel toned glass eyes.  (By the way, they are not the garish green the camera shows them here, but a beautiful Caribbean Sea blue.)  She already began looking happier but I wasn't quite done with her.

No more drab kitty, now she will glisten in the sunlight!

She needed a collar so so I figured, why not make it a pretty crystal one that would catch the sunlight since she was destined to live in a sunny garden among the zinnias in her soon-to-be new home. 

To finish her I added a beaded ring to her tail in homage to her Egyptian relatives that have graced the Pharaohs palace.

Like the cats of Egypt she wears a ring on her tail too

The gourd was much more challenging.  I mean, how does one give a gourd personality??? Gourds just don't to have the personality of cats, they just sort of hang around.  This gourd wasn't blessed with bumpy flesh either but was flat black with no stem!  I decided to paint it to match the kitty but the rest was a puzzle for a while.  The I remember something I had seen on Pinterest.  Someone had created a beautiful night light with a tree made of wire and beads.  They had made the trunk and branches of the tree out of twisted wire and it was simple and inspiring and perfect.  Boy I'm thankful I pinned that idea. (whew!)  It was just what I needed.

Simple and wonderfully organic in its appearance

The inspired stem was perfect!

Next I wired the large beads around the neck of the gourd for added visual interest and attached one round bead to the tip of the curly cue....all gourds must have a curly cue.  That bit of whimsy added the perfect bit of personality this little fruit needed.

Whimsical joy in wire, paint and beads

The bead at the tip was a delightful finishing touch and I think Theodore Geisel would have approved...don't you?

The perfect finishing touch

The finishing touch was a wrap of clear glass beads on wire in a nice leaf green.

I hope the next time you are out junking or thrift shopping or even at the department store and spot a lowly wire form that looks sadly drab...remember that a little paint and a little "bling" can give it a bright new life.  Be inspired and give it a try.  I dare ya!

Blooms d' Coors

For those who were unaware, Blogger has been down in "read only" format for nearly two days.  I'm glad they finally fixed it because I was dying to share with you a couple of things this week...and of course my timing was such that I couldn't until now. So now that we are up and running again lets get to it!

Bloom d' Coors

I love metal and when I saw some metal flowers in a craft book I had to try making some.  Because I didn't have the exact punch they used in the book I had to think of something that would work...and a 3" scalloped circle punch worked perfectly!  The circle has 25 scallops, an odd number is what I needed here and the size was easy to handle too.  I love it when things come together easily like this project did.

Flowers in Metal Instrux

Wash out a beverage can and cut away the top and bottom.  Next cut the remaining middle portion into two pieces.  The metal will be a little awkward to handle while cutting so mind the sharp edges.  You can't be in a hurry when working with this stuff or you may risk a nasty gash from those edges.

Find the center of the circle and score a smaller center circle.

25 scallopes cut between every 2 and 3 alternately for petals

My favorite scissors for this are Tonic scissors by Tim Holtz.  They are fabulous for cutting thin metal and stay sharp!

Alcohol ink is applied while the flower is still flat and then the center embellishment

I recommend coloring the front and back of the metal to produce a more finished looking piece and to help hide the beer logo...unless you are into redneck flowers.  ;-)  If you don't want to stain your fingernails where latex gloves for this part.

Yup...its really a beer can.

While its still flat take a push pin and punch the holes for that wire you see there and be sure to have foam beneath it when you punch so the pin goes deep enough to make the hole the right size.

To curl the petals and leaves you just wrap them around a wood dowel or paint brush.

Mind your fingers with the metal edges.

The leaves are made from metal designed for embossing and a texture tool.

 The next step is to roll the metal leaves onto the stem...and yes it really is as easy as it sounds.

Use a dab of glue at the tip where you start rolling to secure them or a glue dot if you like.

Finally to attach the flower to the stick I just used wire laced through the two holes I punched beneath that fancy embellished center and cinched it up tight with a dab of "3 and 1" glue.

There you have it...flowers that will never fade.

One Man's Junk and Creative Treasures

It always amazes me to see the ideas people come up with in re-purposing junk for their homes and gardens.  It has really got me to looking at all the stuff around here with a different perspective which the gets me itchy to create things.  Most of the stuff that follows me home will eventually go to someone else some day but not this owl.  He was so brassy and gaudy when he was given to my husband I almost sent him to the scrap heap.  I'm glad I resisted that temptation and besides, being fans of "Clash of the Titans" he fits in real well around here now that he has weathered a bit.

Bubo the owl's cousin

Stuff is the way many of us live today...boxes and piles of stored stuff, rooms with doors shut full of stuff, garages full of stuff, rented store rooms packed to the top with STUFF!  Stuff collected, once used, even once adored and now out of sight and mind.  It is time to chip away at the pile, to take stock, to clear out the clutter and see what is next for all of it; will it go away or be blessed with a creative makeover to live a second life as something brand new.

Mailbox planter at my gate

If I had to explain what it means to see with a different perspective I guess it would be that I just ignore what the item used to be and take into account its form and the material its made of and start from scratch asking what it could become.  The possibilities are pretty amazing once you start looking at things this way.  How can it be torn apart to make something else out of?  Can it be repainted or stripped and left to rust?  What might it hold or hold up?  Can it be integrated with something else that is laying around to produce something we could actually use or maybe make it into an art piece?  So many options so little time.

A future planter

Sometimes re-purposing is as simple as placing a rusty old metal piece in a space that needs filling, where its form can be enjoyed for its sculptural value.  This jug almost got tossed out in a neighbors junk until I fell in love with it.

Ceramic stuff that I would never even think of putting in my home I love putting in the garden. (We can get away with a lot in our gardens.) This man in the moon is a good example.  My golden hops grows up around him every year and the colors play so happily together.  He has made it through several winter freezes so it will more than likely be someone hitting him that will bring him to his end.  That will be sad day for sure.

Sometimes I have no idea what the heck it is but I can see what it will look like in a certain setting.  Such was the case of this metal piece that hangs on my back fence...and it fit perfectly too!  I love when that happens.

Fences make great walls to decorate.

Other times its like the time I found an old hanging captured glass light that is too ugly to use as a lamp any more.  It was sort of ugly, dark amber blown glass, very Gothic, very depressing looking but I loved it for some reason.  It sat on my back deck for a whole year before I realized what it was I really loved about the darn thing.  I was about to give it away to a friend and suddenly it hit me..duh, break the glass.  In no time I had had freed my metal globe from its bondage as a hanging lamp.  It was quite a steal too at $1.00 at a local rummage sale.  Now I needed an application for it in the garden.

For less than $4 and some welding

It seems that timing is so important in things coming together sometimes as about that same time I found one of those inexpensive painted steel patio torch holders at a deep discount at a local store.  SCORE!   That meant for less than $4.00 came up with a great globe trellis for annual vines.  Inspiration met opportunity and poof!  A trellis is born. Granted knowing someone who can weld doesn't hurt either.  My husband does my welding and I would love to learn how but have resisted for fear of it causing me to horde more metal than I do already. 

Copper torcher turned on its head...Wa la!  Sculpture!

You just never know what you will find to fit a need in the garden.  Metal screens can make a real statement and help to keep plants from flopping over on smaller neighbors.

Wall art finds new life as a functional screen

They also make good barriers to keep cats out of the raised beds...a fence of sorts.

Aluminum railing works as a fancy fence piece

I also cruise the seasonal clearance tables at local department stores and find a lot of fodder for projects there sometimes.  These wire cats used to be the homeliest looking things, dull black with gold splattered on them and beady little eyes...very sad.  So sad looking that no one bought them...and lucky for me.

The original eyes were beady little things

When they came on clearance I snapped up as many as I could find.  I had this idea that they just needed a little dolling up...and I was right.  A little paint, glass eyes and they became a huge hit.  I had plenty for my garden, enough to give some as gifts and some to sell which made a tidy profit.

Happy cats for the garden

The little bees that dress my fence posts were actually Christmas tree ornaments I bought on clearance.  When I saw them I was drawn to their design but almost immediately saw them as the perfect adornment for my fence posts proving once again its all in how you look at something.  If I like it but not how its being used I just think of how I can use it.  Simple as that.  Our fence is going to be replaced in the near future so I am going to have to think of another life for these little guys.  Maybe I can make tree jewelry out of them...a little paint, some wired on beads.  I kind of like that idea.

Little bees adorn the fence posts

Planters are very fun to make from re-purposed items.  I saw something today where someone took an old metal file cabinet, removed the drawers, stood it up on end, painted it and and made a minimalist planter out of it.  GENIUS!  Now why didn't I think of that?  To look at it you would have never known.  It seems every year its a new planter idea for me.  This year it was a $10 basket from the thrift store and a metal stand from a yard sale.

I knew exactly what I would do with the basket the moment I saw it.

A friend of mine used to work for a plumbing supply store gave me this cobalt blue bidet, made in Italy which was very expensive originally.  Since she had two of them and saw that I liked the color a lot she gifted me with one for my garden.  How could I refuse? I saw so much possibility and the base was cobalt blue after all. I tried a number of different plants in the darn thing and then found Sedum 'Ogon' looks gorgeous with that cobalt blue.  It just so happened about that time I purchased the elf head and feet and it is one of the most talked about things in the garden these days.  Yes I know I know...it's porcelain and a toilet but this one works as whimsy is a big part of re-purposing stuff and the holes for the plumbing don't show.  You have to be very careful to avoid tacky when using porcelain items.  I guess I just got lucky.

George the garden troll in his spa tub

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