Marie’s cobalt garden crafts

Marie’s got the blues,…and she’s pretty happy about it!

When approaching Marie Niemann’s garden, you might first see a faint blue glow marking the way through the gate! She loves blue in the garden as well as crafting and crystals. She’s also shown us the way with solar lights in the garden, thinking up more and more fun and easy crafts to sparkle up and light up the garden. Let’s go!

15 Fun-to-Make Projects

Solar Power!

Solar garden lights
These were a couple of wire candle holders that I found at a thrift store. I cut the tops off a couple of cobalt Blue Bud bottles then set a solar light on the top. The center one is an aluminum cover used to protect lights usually found in commercial buildings. I love how they cast a cool design on the table at night.

For some reason I always end up in the wire and metal area at the thrift stores! I love the center one, and the other two actually could be hung up in a tree
I bought the bottle cutter from Amazon. There’s also a lot of videos on YouTube with instructions on how to cut a bottle if you’d like to give it a try.

For our Solar Garden Light Ideas, see Sensational recycled solar lights in the garden

Dragonfly assemblage

Dragonfly
Here’s my fence of critters that continues to grow a little more each year, plus becoming a little more colorful. I ran into a deal on the iron butterfly trivets for a buck each last week. The dragonfly I found at a thrift store covered in sticky kitchen grease. After scrubbing it, I didn’t care for the light tan color. So I gave him a make-over with a little bling. The larger tin butterflies are from a trip to the dollar store the other day, so they got a splash of blue too. I just screwed them to the fence with wood screws.

It’s for sure a bright spot in the yard. It’s next to our picnic table. Even my granddaughter the other day said how much she loved it. Makes it all worth while!

Glassy blue bike rim

Blue bike wheel
This is made from an old bike rim and I added my favorite cobalt blue plates. Easy to make, I just had to loosen some of the spokes to place the plates in securely. I was inspired by a longtime contributor to our page, Lark Kulikowski, from Wisconsin. When I saw hers, I knew I had to make one! She has an awesome yard with some wonderful one of a kind creations and amazing gardens.

Check out Lark’s garden creations for more inspiration!

Twinkling treble light

Treble light
A very good FMG friend of mine, Kirk Willis, gave me this wonderful old trouble light cage. Immediately my wheels were turning wondering what I could create with this cool old rustic piece, knowing it would be perfect for either a mobile, wind chime or sun catcher. So I was really pleased that this Blue Bud Bottle fit perfectly inside the cage.

I cut the top of the bottle off…with a bottle cutter …and used a rubber cork to seal the opening and screwed a small eye bolt in the center to support the dangle. Then I hung some assorted trinkets and crystals to make this beautiful sun catcher! Thanks Kirk!!

Marie’s Favorite Bottle Cutter

Suncatchers

Crystal suncatchers
I’ve collected crystals from old chandeliers for over 30 years. Back then they were a fairly common find at a thrift store, and cost very little. I’ve always loved crystals and used to decorate my Christmas tree entirely in crystals. You can find them at craft stores, eBay and also etsy

I decided a crystal suncatcher would be a fun project to work on during this winter. I’m always saving little things that I can use in a mobile or a windchime, so I dug some supplies out of my stash plus some beautiful cobalt blue crystals and prisms.

I’ll be hanging it on a covered little patio where we grill year round.

Sparkly shell windchime close-up

Welcome to Marie’s studio

Marie’s ‘studio’ is often the dining room table where she lays out the materials for each project, visualizes each finished piece. Marie has an etsy shop, AbracadabraBeads, and sells her artwork in shops and online.

She and her husband get the springs out in the desert that have been abandoned years ago and are nicely rusted with a wonderful patina.

Sorting beads and taking old jewelry apart to put in containers.

Marie’s ‘Art supply’ shelves

Sun catcher supplies, all this for just one, the one above.

Solar Power in the garden

Solar powered bottle bush

My Blue Bud Bottle Bush with Bling!
I love blue, and I love solar power! These blue solar lights are so beautiful and bright, all they need is a little sunshine to charge them during the day. I really love how my bottle bush looks at night. They also come in other colors and would be great for a fairy garden or just strung throughout the garden..
Here’s a link where to buy the solar lights. Solar Fairy String Lights

Glass block bling

Glittery glass block
I found these glass bricks at the thrift store and put them under the tree and filled them with a few lights cobalt blue of course. I used LED lights so they don’t heat up.

Solar perfume bottle?

Solar ‘perfume’ bottle
A solar blue ice cube! Or, cologne bottle? I found the glass brick at the thrift store for a dollar, the marbles, about 4 bags here, I believe, and the solar light was from the dollar store so a very inexpensive and pretty piece.

The brick already had a hole drilled, so I knew I’d be filling it with something pretty and adding a light. If you can’t find marbles, the flat gems would work too.

I think this would look good anywhere, even a centerpiece on my picnic table or at a fancy party or wedding shower.

Mr. Peacock

Meet Peter the Peacock!
His tail feathers are made from pretty glass watering bulbs. He was super easy to make, I used small wooden dowels to support the globes and simply stuck them in the dirt to form the pattern I wanted.

I made the head out of what I had in my junk supplies, the aluminum piece is an old flash that went to a camera, the beak is something I think went on a fence post and the eyes are meat grinder attachments.

You could also make a starburst design with them similar to a bottle tree at random angles and heights. When springtime comes I’ll make him a body. For now he’s singing… ♪♫I ain’t got no body… ♪

Dish flowers

Dish flowers
My first dish flowers! The January Project Challenge motivated me to do two projects that I’ve put off for a very long time. These are vintage cobalt blue plates, which can be pretty hard to come by, but I have a large set and found three more at a thrift store recently. So,…I went through my cupboard and chose two that had scratches. I have no idea what the pattern is, but I’ve bought some on eBay before, and they were expensive. I see the plain blue plates all the time,

When I mount them on stakes, they’ll add some nice color to any garden. I usually use GE Silicone II clear, but I was out and had a tube of E-6000, so I tried it. So far so good!

How to? Easy to make dish flowers

Beaded spring bell

Spring and Bling
I made this using an old rusty bed spring. I stretched it out to make this beautiful sun catcher in my favorite color. I used glass transparent pony beads in clear and cobalt blue. So thus it’s Sproinged! Yes we make up some crazy words here at FMG. Always having fun keeping the spell checker entertained!

Spring fling suncatcher

Can you imagine a few of these fun spirals hanging from the tree branches?

Cute candle holders

Springs and Vases
Spring Has Sprung! Here are a few more fun ideas using old rusty bed springs. You can embellish them by adding beads to create a little bling. Or use a bud vase to display a happy spring bouquet. I use them throughout my home and they make beautiful and unique candle holders.
For more creative ideas using old bed springs, see Sproing! Fabulous and fun bedspring projects for the garden!

Blue bottle bling

Blue bottle bling
I love Cobalt Blue, Beading, and I love, love, love old rusty springs! I made these using old bed springs with a little added bling! Blue Beaded Bed Springs!

These are pretty easy to make, finding glass pony beads with larger holes is the most difficult part. I don’t like plastic anything, so I’m a little fussy and use only glass beads and metal beads and findings. This is my first attempt at flattening and stamping a silver spoon. It was a little harder than it looked!

Blue orbs float in Marie’s tipsy fountain

The pump floating in Marie’s fountain is solar! Very trick!

Garden Sun Light Solar Panel with Water Pump from Amazon

For How-To, see Marie’s tipsy solar fountain

Blue lobelia in Marie Niemann‎’s garden

Marie, who loves blue in her garden, made beautiful use of the color with her Blue Lobelia filled ‘bike basket’ set in the middle of one of her flower beds. She says, “These are the only flowers I bought so far this year. Can you believe it? Look at all the money I’m saving! They grow in an old galvanized container that I think was used for mail perhaps? ” The birdhouse is handmade by friend, Jeanne.

“Lobelia is such a pretty happy flower. I planted two shades of blue with some white Alyssum.” Marie grows much of her garden from seed, some years, all. Marie’s Garden, all from seed