Creative Gardening: Ornamentation

Lawn and Garden Gnomes are always a good idea!

An antique wooden ladder becomes the perfect trellis, courtesy of my Mom!

A pair of old ceramic salt and pepper shakers and a glass spire decorate a potted plant in my backyard.

As the last installment in the Creative Gardening series (sad, I know :P ) I would like to showcase some of my favorite ways to decorate your garden. A person can go to any big box store and buy all manner of plastic type things to put in their garden, but it's so much more creative to do something out of the ordinary, besides, some of that stuff is so gag inducing (however Perry does enjoy those kitschy lawn gnomes as seen above). Recycle a kitchen pot that's ready for the trash and plant flowers in it, make a mosaic piece out of an old bowling ball, re-purpose old mattress springs as an one of a kind trellis...the possibility's are endless!

My Mom always adds tons of interest to her garden and yard with unique yard ornaments. She's so creative with her outdoor decorating. Almost every Christmas, or for my Mom's b-day, I get her something for her garden. One of my all time favorite places to get her something special for the yard is Uncommon Goods. They have a great selection of fun and recycled yard art, outdoor lighting, and even unique gardening tools and seeds.

Rock yard snails from Uncommon Goods

I had to add this bit of yard art below I found online a while ago. It's a trellis made out of bike parts from Crafting a Green World. I love it!

Want another nifty and thrifty yard ornament idea? How about these ladybugs made from old bowling balls from Birds and Blooms. I think I might have a thing for bowling ball art.

Creative Gardening: Mosaics

Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials...according to the definition on Wikipedia. :) I have always been fond of mosaics, especially in the garden. The above and below pictured mosaic mushrooms were one of the first project tutorials I posted on here, and people loved them as much as I did. These mushrooms reside in my Mom's garden and she is quite fond of them as well!

After finding my Grandfather's old bowling ball a couple of years ago I started (but never finished :P) this tutorial on a mosaic bowling ball for the garden, pictured below. However, Marisa's lovely finished mosaic bowling ball is pictured below my un-finished version. If you have an old bowling ball I highly recommend this project, it's cheap, relatively easy, and looks great hiding amongst plants.

Marisa's finished piece!

My Mom made the unique mosaic birdbath pictured below with a terra cotta pot and saucer, strong hold glue, flat marbles, broken blue glass pieces, and grout.

Mosaic birdbath

Want to create your own mosaics for your garden, or even house ? You'll need a couple of things:

• Grout
• Broken glass, flat backed marbles, tiles, small round mirrors, buttons, plastic charms, etc!
• A Sponge (for cleaning the grout off of the tiles, marbles, etc.)
• Water

Mosaic is easy, very therapeutic, and a great way to use old broken plates or glasses if you have any!

Facebook Fan!

I admit, I'm not that great at computery type stuff, this apparently includes trying to put a Facebook fan page icon on my blog. Oh well, for now while I figure this complicated matter out, here is the link to The Angry Pincushion's fan page!! :)

Creative Gardening: Herb Markers

My Mom loves to grow herbs in great big Terra Cotta pots on her deck, and herbs like Mint, Lavender, and Oregano that tend to spread more in a patch of soil in front of the deck. These unique and rustic looking metal herb markers are from Spoon Sisters, they come in a set of nine and are so much nicer to mark herbs than the standard plastic tag that comes with when you purchase it. I bought these for my Mom for Christmas and she loves them. She sprayed them with a weather sealant for extra protection from the elements, which is always a good idea for anything you plan to put in your garden.

Creative Gardening: Unique Planters

Remember my sink planter idea from last year? Here it is in full bloom now with shades of blue and white!

This second installment of creative gardening ideas is all about clever and unique planters. Pictured above is an old wash tub set filled with annuals next to my Mom's shed. The wash tubs already have drainage holes so they are perfect for planting. I love how she planted them to mirror each other! Wash tubs like these can be found at most antique markets, flea markets, or even garage sales. These wash tubs were from my Great Grandfather's house and have been sprayed with a coat of silver Rustoleum to prevent rusting and give them added shine. The legs have been set on old broken stepping stones so it has level footing.

The wash tubs before planting.

The old fashioned enameled metal baby bath below is perfect for planting, just make sure to drill several holes in the bottom with a power drill to ensure proper drainage. (Make sure to wear eye protection anytime you use power tools!) Then simply fill half way with soil and put your plants in. Old metal wash basins and baby baths can be found at antique stores, flea markets and garage sales as well. My Mom once again, was lucky enough to have saved these from her family.

The finished product with terra cotta added for interest :) Don't you love the cat planter in the background?

An old roasting pan and baby bath make a lovely place for shade loving Pansies.

Creative Gardening: Tool Caddy

A lovely butterfly in my Mom's garden

I have been watching my Mother garden for years, and she is not only creative in the way she gardens but thrifty and earth friendly as well. So for the next couple of weeks I am going to be sharing some of her most creative gardening ideas. Here is the first-

Golf Bag tool caddy:

Several years ago after my Grandpa passed away my family and I were going through some of his belongings and we came across his old golf bag with cart(just means the golf bag has wheels), nobody knew what to do with it, except my Mom! After lugging shovels, spades, and rakes around the yard for years she had finally found a way to easily move her big gardening tools. To find a old golf bag of your own look at Garage Sales, and thrift stores for a cheap golf bag then simply fill with your tools and wheel or carry around with you while gardening.

Perry is glad it's Spring!

Perry enjoying a lovely Spring day with his gnome friends.