Advertisement

Bicycle wheel wonderfulness in the garden

Wheel Genius! How to use wheels and glass for garden art

Wonderful things can be done with a humble bicycle wheel here at Flea Market Gardening.  Bike wheels can be found at flea markets, at yard sales and thrift shops. Dishes and dessert plates are easily found at all these places. No other tools or supplies are needed except a chain for hanging.

Four Fabulous garden projects!

Each wheel holds four to six clear glass plates

Tip: Ask friends for these common discards.

See what these two Flea Market Gardeners have created from glass dishes and bicycle wheels.  Garden art to hang from their trees!:

Bicycle wheel spinners

A craftswoman in our town makes these bicycle wheel spinners and they are a little different than others we have seen.

Bud Light bottles and (I don’t know who makes the green), and I don’t know if you can see, but on the outer rims are flat jewels of the same color. I thought they were brilliant!

Bikes wheels at ‘For the Birds’

Here, t he bottles are fitted right over the spokes and then re-attached. Flat jewels are glued into the outer rim.

Advertisement

Looks good in all blue

 

Chrome ‘plate’

Teresa Jansen’s wheel easily viewed by her astonished guests

Teresa Jansen says, “This is an idea I got out of a magazine. A wheel from a bike and various glass plates, dessert dishes. I happened to get this from a hoarder down the street.   I just knew he would have one and sure enough, he had three in his backyard. You unscrew a spoke, slide in a plate, and tighten. No glue, no wires, nothing except the spokes to hold them in place.”

 

Lark Kulikowski’s all blue bike wheel art. It spins, too!

Lark Kulikowski created this blue fantastical tree hanger with a few more items, including a chimney sweep brush.  She says, ” A couple of years ago I started collecting bicycle rims and decided to make a rotating sculpture for year round interest in my yard.  Each side is different.   The blue disks are glass plates.  The center of the ‘flower’ is a chimney cleaning brush.

 

The other side of Lark’s wheel

 

‘Gold plate’ in the garden

Pam Stotts’s blue and gold wonder..

Pam Stotts says, “The centers of those plates are cobalt, they are nice plates – very thick.  It needs a piece of blue in the center, but I hate to drill blue.”

Wouldn’t green glass plates be brilliant? ….Get some!

More:

For those who would like another challenging bike wheel project see, Marie’s stained glass garden spinner

Sue Langley

Sue Langley, a passionate gardener and photographer lives and gardens with her husband and Corgi, Maggie on 7 acres just south of Yosemite, Zone 7 at 3000 feet. She manages the Flea Market Gardening Facebook page and website.

View Comments

  • Kimberly Eckley says:

    I am trying to make the blue spinning wheel. How do you get a hole in the bottle of the bottle, without breaking the bottle. to put the spoke inside the bottle, you have to have a hole in the bottle.

    thanks
    Kimberly

Recent Posts

Boat gardens sail away…with our hearts

Grow, Grow, Grow, Your Boat... These boat gardens are beautiful, colorful, and well grown.  It looks like a lot of… Read More

4 years ago

Decorate your garden with blue!

'Paint' Your Garden with Blue... Is your garden is singing the blues? Mix recycled containers and crafts with blue flowers… Read More

4 years ago

Lost and Found in the Garden

See this hilarious and sometimes poignant list of lost items in the garden Question.......what was the last thing you lost… Read More

4 years ago

Jeanne’s garden Baker’s rack

Designing a charming garden baker's rack When I first saw Jeanne’s well-arranged and simply delightful Baker’s rack, I thought, ‘Somebody… Read More

4 years ago

Billie’s Yellows in the garden

Choosing a color from 'Over the Rainbow Garden' Billie Hayman's garden is full of color and she shows how one… Read More

4 years ago

Alliums in the garden, real & crafty!

Alliums are drama queens in the garden! Whether real flowers, grown from bulbs or the crafted faux flowers modeled after… Read More

4 years ago
Advertisement