How to make an adorable garden angel from an old shutter
Do you have an old shutter laying around? Here’s something fun to do! A shutter, some scrap wood, a screwdriver and saber saw are the tools and materials you’ll need.
Myra Glandon, who lives and gardens in Ohio, says “Here’s my latest project! Can you guess where the arms of my angel came from? That’s right,…an old rocking chair! Myra saw an idea for a shutter angel online and decided to give it her own spin.
Laying out the shutter body…can you guess what the arms were?
Myra says, “I laid my shutter on my work bench and laid boards underneath it where the wings would be. I decided about how long I wanted the top wing board, and cut if off, rounding the ends a little with the jigsaw.
I then made each of the other two boards a little shorter than the one above it. I used rockers off an old broken rocking chair for the arms, but you can use a board and just shape them a bit. Once the wings were cut I turned them over, and screwed a piece of thin wood lath across all three to hold them together.”
Adding head and shoulders
The head of the angel is cut from another scrap board and screwed to the top of the shutter.
One tip: Myra says, “When drawing your head and shoulders make them proportionate to the shutter body so they are too narrow or wide, and look like they match the body size.”
The spectacular finished garden angel
“Here’s my finished garden angel with a basket full of metal posies. I bought an old lamp a few years ago with these metal flowers on it. I cut them off the lamp separately, found a rusty bucket and now she has a basket full of posies. Floral foam in the bucket helped hold the flowers.” Myra explains.
Flowers add the final touch!
Sharing the love
Ideas spread easily from friend to friend and it wouldn’t be Flea Market Gardening without sharing…after she finished her angel, Myra generously helped her friend Diana Daily make one!
Diana says, “Myra Glandon helped me make a garden angel today. She was so kind to give me the old shutter and arms from a rocking chair. The boards for her wings came from an old barn on my farm.
Diana Daily’s garden angel
Myra adds, “You can always make your angel smaller. It just depends on the size shutter you use. I made mine large because my house is tall and boxy, and I need larger things. Have fun making one for your garden. Be sure to share a picture on Flea Market Gardening Facebook if you make one. Maybe you’ll inspire someone else!”
Myra writes a blog called My Mother’s Daughter. One of a kind dragonflies, scrap metal art sculpture and ‘found object’ art can all be found there.
Inspiration from one to another
Louise Yunck was recently inspired by Myra’s project, and she made a garden angel!
She says, “The wings are the drop leaf from a old table that had been my mom’s. It was falling apart. The arms are from a rocking chair that was on in the trash. I planned to use the rockers but they were too long for my shutters, so I used the arms. I still want to add a pin of my mom’s. Of course I still need a large shutter so that I can use the rockers. This piece just makes me smile!”
Louise Yunck’s inspired angel
We think the arms look perfect as ‘arms!’ This project will prove to you that you, too, can do this! We also like how it’s hung on the fence.
Another scrap wood angel idea…
Annie Steen’s scrap wood angel
Flea Market Gardener, Annie Steen says, “… just finished this old double washtub, I took a old window sash added a shelf to the top and sides. You can’t tell by the picture but it has the old wavy Glass. This one will be for sale at the shop.
For more detail on making Myra’s shutter angel see her blog post here, Scrap wood garden angel
