Dish it in the garden…

Here, see nine new ideas for DIY craft projects using china, glass plates and dishes. Birdbaths, garden art and collections all created by our Flea Market Gardeners.

Kris Flanigan’s first try is excellent!

Kris Flanigan says, “I enjoyed making these but struggled with attaching the rods.. Thanks for the tutorial!”

Note:

For all of these projects, you only need a few ‘art supplies’ and our favorite glue, GE II Silicone (also called Momentive Perform Material.)

Using ‘Flower-shaped dishes

A dish or glass plate that already looks like a flower is ideal for garden art.

Margaret Seales‎ barn wood dish flower

Margaret Seales says, “I have been wanting to do the flower made of a fan and other finds on the piece of wood that has been shown in the past. I have had the wood for a while but just look at my Goodwill find last week!”   Margaret‎ combined two of our favorite garden art techniques, the Barnwood Bloom, where you attach objects to weathered wood to make a flower and the Dish Flower, where a glass plate is mounted on a rod and placed in a garden bed.

Kirk Willis’s Daddy-daughter project

Kirk Willis tells us, “When our daughter was eleven, she and I used her mismatched little tea sets)  to make mini tea set decorations to poke into containers and  planters. We made our gifts for this Christmas and this was her gift to someone. We attached them to a box of old knitting needles which we found at an incredible deal. It was so easy and a fun Daddy/daughter craft project.”

Becky Norris’s ‘dishy’ fence

Becky Norris says, “One of my challenges for this year was to get my collection of ‘rose’ plates displayed on the garden fence. I love collecting items with roses on them which are hand painted. These are a few of those items that do not match the house so I display them in my pink and green garden. I love being able to see these everyday.”  Becky used plate hangers which hold the plates

Mary Hunt combined tile and glassware

Mary Hunt explains, “I combined the potting bench that I saw on here a year ago with the Becky Norris’s window that I saw on the Flea Market Gardening Facebook page as well. My husband and I worked on this together and so proud of our finished product.”

Mary Hunt used her window as decoration behind her potting table

Making your first birdbath totem

Kathryn O’Brien-Custadio created a glass totem style birdbath for her July Challenge She says, “The beginnings of a bird bath are a clear plate, a small glass bird, three green Thrift Shop vases and a bottom plate as a base.”

Kathryn O’Brien-Custadio starts her totem

Kathryn added her tiny blue bird with glue

Tip:

The bottom plate adds stability and can be anchored further with stones placed around the bottom.  Microwave oven turntable plates worn very well and can be buried in the soil an inch or two.

Kathryn’s birdbath, in the garden

Kathryn says, “Finished! I have three more in the making… I’m brainstorming..”   Placing your birdbath or totem in the garden is an art in itself.  Some greenery or flowers surrounding it can ‘settle’ it into its spot.  Mulch placed around the base hides i, making it seem to be more fragile than it is.

Linda Gerstner shows how copper conduit or aluminum pipe can be hammered flat and glued to a dish or plate and used as a ‘stem.’

Linda Gerstner tells us, “I make my own mounts out of 1/2 inch conduit to fit over 2/8 rebar and bend to fit plate and the angle I want the garden plate to be.”   For 5 more ways to attach ‘stems’ to dish flowers, see Easy to make dish flowers

Making a birdbath stake

Myra Glandon shows how easy it is to make a beautiful birdbath

Myra Glandon describes her project done for the July Project Challenge. She says, “I found a pretty blue decorative bowl at the thrift store, glued a blue beer bottle to the bottom using E6000 adhesive. I let them dry for 2 days. I pounded a piece of rebar (you could use pipe or bamboo) into the ground in my flower bed, and slid the beer bottle down over it. Add water and you have a pretty punch of blue amid your flowers for the birds and butterflies to enjoy.”

Nell Stelzer shows directions for her angel

Nell Stelzer tells us, “This is my second July Project Challenge. I have been working on another project that I found last year on here by another very good FMG friend, a glass garden angel.  I finally found all the glass pieces, the ‘boat’ shaped banana split bowls were the hardest! I used a horseradish jar for her head, her ‘halo’ is size 12 gauge wire for jewelry making.”

“The rectangular bottle is a purchased one because all my glass bottles were round or something not flat for gluing.  The banana split bowls are heavy! I have let this set for about 5 days now. I used a piece of rebar for a stake.

More:

Flea Market Glass Garden Totem: Step by Step

Mary Mirabal’s marvelous whimsies

Easy to make dish flowers

Sue’s dangling dish flowers

Becky’s crystaline garden window