Many people have an affection or obsession really, for old barns and collect photos of them, me included! These old buildings have done their job, sheltering animals and equipment and slowly sink into oblivion, but their wood continues to weather well. Vintage barns are beloved symbols of a society that values individualism and community spirit …and for many of us, they evoke feelings of nostalgia, warmth and idyllic country life.
Wood reclaimed from old barns can be given new life with wall art and projects like birdhouses. ‘Barnwood blooms’ combine the patina of old barn wood with found and rusty objects, what we, at Flea Market Gardening, now call ‘art supplies!’ I’m glad that some of their beautiful wood can be used for wall art, birdhouses and other garden projects Jeanne and Larry Sammons make.
Jeanne Sammons posts on our Facebook page on Fridays and Saturdays. Jeanne and her husband, Larry, live and garden and build things of barn wood, in Cedar Falls, Iowa. They enjoy building things together and exploring Flea markets to find all the pieces needed. See their examples and the instructions for how to make your own…barnwood blooms!
Closer view:
One old barnwood board with one coat of polyurethane,
A gas stove grate and stained glass candle holder (both thrift shop finds), pound in staples and a screw
A piece of rod from a broken patio umbrella,
The two leaves are cut from two shelf brackets. “Larry had to cut them off for me,” Jeanne says…
Use GE Silicone II to glue a marble for the flower center
Add a couple eye screws and wire to the back so it can be hung or free-standing.
“Voi-laaa… a beautiful ‘Barnwood Bloom!'”
Jeanne says, “For this one I needed Larry’s help…he used bolt cutters to cut a wrought iron tea candle holder I had in my ‘stash’ … he cut all around it, in half…made each petal according to my ‘vision’…then I ‘stapled’ the recycled umbrella spokes for stems … used meat grinder blades for flower centers and a tin garage sale butterfly for leaves. Larry heated it up the butterfly to change the color with a flame. I think he was afraid I might burn down his shop! Anyway, I love how it came out…”
Old piece of barnwood that Larry cut for me and I sanded it pretty clean…I found the cast iron flowers at a garage sale for 50 cents ea…thought they were pretty interesting looking! Turned them over and they were Hallmark candle holders!
This view below is kind of a “side” view so you can see the depth of the candle holders.
“The flower is an old fan blade of some sort that I spray painted a couple shades…and the center is a cookie cutter blade…added some nails. The stem is an old curtain rod I flattened with hammer and screwed into place. And the leaves are a brass butterfly.”
“Here’s another barnwood bloom I made with the “corn seed plate” from flea market with grinder blade for the center of flower and a 50 cents garage sale find of metal leaves…I cut apart a few and painted them.”
By the way, these ‘Blooms’ don’t need any water, but continue to weather outside with no harm!
Old barns might be disappearing, but some of their beauty is now captured, thanks to Jeanne and Larry.
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Love these spigot flower ideas! Hope it is ok that I shared (and credited) your ideas on our blog. I am always looking for creative ideas and projects to build in my own garden as well as demos or crafts at our Chicago area flea market. Thank you for the inspiration! http://wolffsfleamarket.blogspot.com/
Thanks, Sharon! We never mind sharing,...that's what we do! A link is nice,...we need more FMG'ers!
You are really talented and gave me a lot of ideas for using the old lumber we have from a sawmill that we shut down years ago. It is nicely weathered and would be perfect for these.
Thank you, Sue! These Barnwood Blooms last a long, long time!! Love old barn wood!