‘Found object’ owls to guard your garden..

Garden Art ideas, How to: Easy project ideas

How To: Scrap metal owls in the garden…

An old box of metal odds and ends, kitchen implements and hardware can become garden art assemblages in the hands of a Flea Market Gardener. This is yard art of the most fun kind,…you can let your imagination do the rest.

Myra’s Parliament of owls keep watch

Myra’s Parliament of Owls

Myra Glandon has made a parliament of ‘found object’ owls and installed them in her pine trees surrounding her garden. She says, “They’re fun, they amuse me, and will amuse my grandkids, too.”

Myra’s black owl in the pine tree

Here’s how Myra made them:

First, collect odds and ends

I used two standing graters, a silver plated platter and a large black enamel lid off a canning pot for the owl bodies. I gathered the lids off water bottles, soda and beer caps, and lids from various foods such as pickles, pesto, dried beef, and even two red lids off the Kentucky Fried Chicken carry out containers. I used whatever I could find, which made each one a bit different.

Owl Makings

Body and wings

I very lightly spray painted the graters brown. I didn’t want them to be perfect, I wanted light and dark on them, so they looked a little more like feathers, as you can see in the picture below. The owl below has wings made out of an old metal steamer. I removed the “fins or petals” and threw the main part of the steamer away. I bent the fins at the end to make a right angle and using a small bolt attached the wing. On the other side of the grater I had to drill a hole to insert the bolt. You attach a nut to the inside to hold them tight. (see bolt in picture)

Plier-beaked owl

Owl eyes

These bottle caps had a smiling sun in the middle but I punched holes in the middle to add my bolts. I also punched a hole in the cap and lid underneath. If you look closely, you can see these lids don’t match, but they are close in size and both white. I used a small pair of old pliers I had in my scrap box for the beak and ears. I added a bolt to the middle and a nut to the inside of the grater to hold it securely.

Plier-beaked owl’s detail

Myra has perched her Parliament in her pine tree with airy branches so the owls can easily be spied by observant young visitors. As this show, they are hung with hooks or attached securely to branches with screws.

Speckled black-lidded owl in tree

Myra made this owl, above from a granite-ware pot lid. The eyes are stacked red-orange plastic lids, jar lids and bottle caps. See how he’s screwed to the tree branch?

Hanging your owls

Hanging the owls in trees

Myra’s Blue-eyed Grater Owl

Myra’ Blue-eyed Grater owl has metal spatula wings and jar lid eyes. Notice how she bent the handle to make ‘horns’ A rusty wrench forms the beak.

Blue-eyed and wrench beaked owl

For more detailed instructions for Myra’s owls, see Found object owls for our garden

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Where to find Owl makings:

Thrift shop kitchen departments
Yard sales, …you know, in those boxes of guy’s garage junk
Hardware stores
Your own garage and junk drawers!

More Owlish Garden Assemblages

Andy Hamilton from Twisted Mind Rusty Metal in Lutz, Florida, welds together everyday tools and car parts to create unique recycled garden art. He calls these Florida Red Hoot Owls and custom made them for a delighted client, Liz.

Twisted Mind Rusty Metal Shovel Owlies…

Ann Elias made a clever owl from her found metal stash. She says, “I’ve been playing with my “art” supplies and I think I have this assembled how I want it. I just have to get a branch for its feet.”

Ann Elias’s owl assemblage

Ann describes how she made it:

“The body is a pizza pan…the white part of the eyes are small ceramic bowls.. the silver in the eyes are parts to a poached egg tray…the blue part are napkins rings with a bottle cap for the center.

The beak is a serving fork… the feet are parts to a metal steamer and I’ll add a tree branch to them. The tail is the bottom to some kind of spatula. This was just me playing around with the lay out. But I will use screws and bolts to attach everything. I still want to find something to use as wings.”

Annie’s Grater owl complete with blossoming branch

Annie Grossart-Steen also made a ‘grate and gorgeous’ owl from found objects, which is her specialty. She started with a flat vintage grater for the body, which already has hash marks for ‘feet’ and forehead feathers.

She glued on antique tart tins for the wide eyes and the beak is the tip of a bottle opener. Stacked inside the tins are discarded meat grinder blades all glued together with E6000® Craft Glue and topped with black buttons. The branch is attached with wire ‘feet.’