14 Interesting Ways To Use Old Windows

One of the most common Flea Market or yard sale finds is an old window. They can be decorated and used in the garden or on the patio for a sparkly new twist!

Vintage and recycled windows can be hung on a patio wall, in an existing window or hung on a fence, especially nice in the shady parts to bring in more light. Decorations can be tile, broken plates, craft gems or even mirrors. The design is up to you!  Becky Norris is an expert in recycled and decorated garden windows. Here she gives her advice on how it’s done!

Becky created this beautiful mosaic piece

Rusty wrench

Marie Niemann described Becky’s wrench ‘n glass window, “Becky created this beautiful mosaic piece by gluing various hand cut stained glass pieces and even old tools to an old glass window. She cut the glass jars in half with her tile saw and glued them to the window to hold cut flowers. Amazing huh? We are so lucky here at FMG to have so many talented artists that not only share their unique and original work but are more than willing to explain how they do it.”

Becky Norris says, “This is an old window that I decorated with rusty wrenches as the stems, old bottles and scraps of stained glass. The old jars are perfect for holding fresh flowers. This hangs by my rusty garden.

“I used rusty wrenches which a good friend cut for me. I glued them onto the window panes, and then cut the stained glass scraps into the shapes of flower petals. I tried to use all the colors in the spectrum, red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violets. I glued the glass on the panes, and then I cut the jars in half with a tile saw and glued them on the panes. I used Dap silicone for Marine and auto on all the pieces.

“After all of the glue was dry, I painted the entire piece with an epoxy resin which took 24 hours to dry. I can now use it as a cute vase by my door and keep fresh flowers in it most of the year.

“To saw the jars in half, I have a tile saw and just lay the jar down and run it over the saw. Of course that sounds easy and it is easy, but you have to respect the saw and use safety precautions. Sometimes the jars cut and sometimes they fall apart. You never know what it might do.

I am very happy with the way this one turned out and I will enjoy it for a very long time I am sure.”

Becky’s glue is GE II Silicone for Exterior windows in CLEAR, sold under the Momentum name at Amazon or at hardware stores.

The cup and saucer panel in the garden

Tea party garden panel

This is Becky wall panel made from an old glass freezer door, shown here with the spring lilies in her garden. She says, “My back garden is the area where the color scheme is pink and green.”  Becky plants succulents in the tiny cups!

Becky’s cup and saucer panel, close up

Becky’s herb garden window

Herb garden window

“This is my newest glass on glass mosaic just finished,” Becky tells us.. This one will be going in the window in my kitchen. The three pots on the bottom are for herbs as soon as I get them filled with dirt and find some seeds this time of the year.

I will be planting chives, sage and probably rosemary, but might plant parsley instead as it grows so easily. The circles in this window are all old jar lids, some clear glass Ball and Atlas, and the white ones are Boyd’s porcelain lids. All the designs are in stained glass, even the flower pots are covered in stained glass and blue glass saucers were cut and put under the pots in case of drainage when I water the herbs.”

Becky Norris’s garden mirror

Mirror tile

Becky says, “The newest addition to my garden is this mirror at auction for five dollars. It was already green so I dry brushed the pink on the raised wooden designs and applied stained glass in roses and a fleur-de-lis pattern. I sealed the entire mirror with wax and then covered the back with silicone to seal it from the elements and hung it on the fence.

I was given two plate racks which were prefect for the plates I had just bought at auction especially for my garden fence. I am so happy with the results. Sorry to say that the local male robin is not happy with my mirror and sits all day and attacks the mirror. He must be very territorial…”

Becky’s recycled glass lidded window

Becky made another window, now famous, which we featured here, Becky’s crystalline garden window.

More mosaic windows…

Ellie Choate’s try at Becky’s idea….awesome!

Ellie Choate says, “Yup, made my own. I have another old window in the wings waiting for some free time.”

Vickie Kelley’s native flowers

Vickie Kelley tells us about her stained glass mosaic window she recently finished. Oklahoma state wildflowers. “Indian Paintbrush~yellow”

We love the watery blues in Shelly Wood’s mosaic window

Sue Gerdes rosy red window

Sue Gerdes tells us, “This is ready to be hung outside, an old window rescued from an abandoned house, red glass marbles, mirror and dishes. I named her Fire and Ice.”

Charlette Clark’s terrific tulips

Shelby Spencer’s charming dragonfly window

Cindy Schroeder’s study in blue

Cindy Schroeder found this great old window with it’s original latch in an antique mall. She says, “I just finished mosaicing it with my favorite color in the garden…BLUE!”

Barbara Blizzard says, “My first window”

Easy How to:

Finding windows is not hard.  Look for discarded windows on trash day when homeowners replace them with new.  Also look at the Habitat for Humanity Restore or at yard sales. Linda Gladman tells us, “Just finished unloading these windows hubby picked up for me yesterday for “free” …. the fellow thinks we are nuts for wanting them.

Linda Gladman’s lucky find!

Linda Gladman says, “Last year hubby brought me home some old windows he found at the curb and so I decided to dress one up for my garden this year. I have to say this is a rather addicting craft and very peaceful. I used flat glass beads/baubles from the dollar store but the flower beads were from Michaels.  Glue was Clear GE II Outdoor Silicone ”

Linda Gladman’s ‘peaceful’ picture