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Garden Art Flower from Thrift Store Finds

Easy to Create Garden Art Flower

When I went to my local thrift store recently I challenged myself to find 3 things that I could make into a repurposed garden art flower.

It’s fun to sometimes go to the thrift store with a very specific task in mind. It makes you focus, and helps you to not get distracted by everything else that’s in the store.

The items I was hoping to come home with could have been made out of anything; metal, glass, wood, ceramic, plastic, or a combination of any of them.

And on my way to the thrift store I was excited to see what I might find.

metal tray, basket, and lid pieces used to create a garden art flower

There were quite a few things that I mused over, but I settled on these 3 items.

large flower shaped silver metal tray

This very light metal flower-shaped tray was just 50 cents. It’s about 14″ across, and will be the base of the largest repurposed garden flower I’ve ever created.

silver plate basket

The second item is a one dollar 10″ wide silver plate basket that had seen better days.

silver plate butter dish lid

And the third item was a 50 cent 4″ wide heavily etched silver plate lid, which I’m guessing was originally from a butter dish.

how the pieces look together before spray painting

This is how the three items look together au natural.

Not bad at all, so by all means if this look is your thing gluing them together just like this would be beautiful.

But you know this gal needs some color.

how the pieces look together before spray painting 2

When choosing items for a garden junk flower, you want to look for pieces that fit together nicely to create a flower-ish shape.

Adding some color to garden art flower

spray painting fronts of tray and basket

To add some color to my pieces I turned to one of my crafting best friends… spray paint, and I painted the bottoms with two light coats.

I purposely left some unpainted areas in the middle to make sure that the glue that comes later can adhere as much as possible.

I painted just the top of the lid because the underside won’t be seen.

spray painting backs of tray and basket

And then I spray painted the tops of the tray and the basket, leaving some of the center area of the base unpainted… again for better glue adherence..

using E6000 glue to hold pieces of flower together

After the pieces were completely dry, I glued them together using E6000 glue.

Assembling this garden art flower

spray painted flower after it has been glued together

After the pieces were glued together I left my flower to cure for about 4 days.

It’s been very hot and humid here, so I left it longer than I usually would.

gluing bent tablespoon onto back of flower for hanging

Once my 3 pieces had become one well glued-together flower, I glued a tablespoon that I bent back by hand onto the back for a stem.

how the pieces look together after spray painting

It was very lucky that the lid fit very snugly around the center area of the basket. I applied the glue around the inside of the lid, put it in place and it worked.

side view of spray painted garden junk flower

Here’s a side view of my garden art flower in the garden.

back of spray painted garden art flower with spoon in pipe stem

The tablespoon fits perfectly into a 1/2″ pipe that I spray painted green.

TIP: any pipe can be used, but make sure your tablespoon handle will fit into it before you glue the spoon on the back of the flower. Also, the pipe should be placed 8 to 10 inches into the ground.


Supplies needed for this Garden Art Flower Project

  • Misc trays etc in various sizes
  • spray paints
  • E6000 glue
  • tablespoon
  • copper fitting
  • pipe for stem

spray painted junk flower on front door

Since this garden art flower is a little on the large size, it can also be used as front door decor.

copper fitting used to hang junk flower door decor on door

To do that all I needed to do was screw this copper fitting into the door, and then the spoon just slipped through it.

You could also do this to a wall or fence outside as well, on your patio or deck, or anywhere really.

spray painted garden junk flower in garden

But I think I’ll be keeping mine in the hosta garden beside some blooming yellow ligularias.

The colors really pop, and it’s a nice happy addition to the front garden.

So the next time you go to the thrift store, challenge yourself to find three pieces to create your own garden art flower.

You might just be surprised at what you’ll come up with.

Please pin to your favorite board.

How to create a fun and funky garden art flower from inexpensive thrift store finds

Thanks so much for reading and until next time,

keep on keepin’ on!

XOX

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16 Comments

    1. Barbara Warner says:

      Love it! What a clever way to put a flower in your garden! Love the colors and using a spoon to hang it with is so clever. Keep the great ideas coming!

  1. That is incredibly beautiful! It’s amazing how you can find just the right piece. I’ve got to give this a try! Thanks again for more inspiration!

  2. Oh, I love it! When I saw them together I knew what you were going to do but had I been at the thrift store looking at everything, I’m not so sure I would have “seen” that flower!

    Tania

    1. Thanks Tania! I know exactly what you mean. I have to really focus to not get distracted by all the other thrift store goodies.

  3. Amy Davis says:

    That is so cool! I would have never thought about that and since I can’t seem to keep any real flowers or plants alive, this would be perfect and would last forever! I love it.

  4. mary bernard says:

    Unique, as usual!

  5. Your flower turned out so nice. I love how the pieces came together.

  6. Wow, those thrift store finds were meant to be together. They make such an adorable garden art flower! This might be one of my favorites, and you know how much I love your garden flower creations. Pinned 🙂

    1. Thanks so much Marie! Creating flowers is so much fun I just can’t stop myself. 🙂