Wine Bottle Garden Lanterns

Tags

DIY, E-6000 Glue Uses, Garden Entertaining, Garden Lanterns, Glass Bottle Cutter, Recycled Glass Bottles, Unique Garden Lanterns, Wine Bottle Crafts

If you’re looking for a fun and crafty way to create unique garden lanterns then you’ll love this project. I’ll show you how to transform empty wine or water bottles into these lovely lanterns. They’re super easy and are sure to impress guests at your next garden shindig.

Here’s what you’ll need.

Note to crafters: I found my bottle cutter on-line at Amazon.com. The rest of the supplies, with the exception of the sticks and bottles, I picked up at my local craft and hardware store.

Probably the most challenging part of this project is removing those darned labels from the bottles. My solution is simple…soak the bottle in dish detergent for at least 2 days and with some coaxing, they come right off.

To cut the glass, simply follow the directions supplied with the bottle cutter. And, don’t forget to wear safety glasses for this project. It’s also important that you file the edges of the cut glass with a glass file.

Using the pocket knife whittle (I love that word) the top of the stick to accommodate the opening of the glass bottle. Place a generous portion of glue on the top of the stick and place the opening of the bottle on the stake and let it dry over night. My adhesive of choice is E-6000.

You can also use the bottom portion of the bottle for a drinking glass or vase.  However, remember to file down the sharp glass edges before use.

All fired up and ready for your guests!

Not only can you put a votive candle inside but also you can fill them with birdseed or flowers. Enjoy your party and happy crafting!

Mason Jar Vases Wrapped in Book Pages

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Book Page Ideas, Crafting with Book Pages, DIY, florists, Gift Wrapping Ideas, Gifts, Grocery Store Flowers, Hostess Gifts, Mason Jars, Unique Mother's Day Gifts, Vintage Encyclopedia Projects

 

If you’re in need of a quick gift idea for Mother’s Day, a birthday, or just need a cool hostess gift. Then you’ve come to the right blog. Wrap some old book pages around a mason jar, secure it with twine, add grocery store flowers and you’re done! Mind you, I don’t go around destroying books, however, the pages I used were from an out-of-date encyclopedia that I annihilated when I was a child. Naughty, naughty.

 

Happy Mother’s Day, happy Sunday, AND happy day-after-your birthday Andrew!

Unique Gift Idea for Mother’s Day

Tags

Craft Blogger, Craft Paper Ideas, Crafts From The Garden, Creeping Wirevine, Hens & Chicks, Mother's Day, Paper Flowers, Perennial Gift Ideas, Scotch Moss, Unique Gifts, Unique Mother's Day Gifts

Sunday, May 13th is Mother’s Day and I’d like to share a quick and fun gift idea for all those special mommies out there…you know who you are!

Why not buy some unique perennials, wrap them in craft paper and satin ribbon…add a craft paper flower and voila’! You’ve created a special gift that can be enjoyed year after year. The perennials I’m giving to the special moms in my life are Hens & Chicks, Creeping Wirevine and Scotch Moss. I really love the textures and color variations of these beauties.

Here’s the paper flower recipe. Really, it couldn’t be easier.

1. Draw a spiral on a 4″ X 4″ piece of craft paper (or paper of choice). Don’t worry if the spiral is a little wonky like mine…just don’t stare at it too long.
2. Now cut along the wonky line and cut the spiral from the square.
3. Then start rolling the spiral from the outside until the whole spiral is shaped into a flower.
4. Use a bit of hot glue on the last piece of the spiral and place it on a twig or piece of wire.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Repurposed Vintage Glass Insulators

Tags

Battery Powered Tea Lights, DIY, Electric Glass Insulator Ideas, Electric Insulator Luminaries, Electric Insulators, Tea Light Ideas

 

I just love these old telegraph and electric glass insulators. They were first produced in the mid-1800′s for use with telegraph and electric lines. You can find them at almost every antique market and there are tons of ideas floating around out there on how to repurpose. One, which I love and will try, is to repurpose into a hanging pendant light. However, if you don’t have a 1/4 inch diamond drill bit and drill lubricant tucked away in your work shop then try my quick and easy project.

Buy some battery-powered tea lights, place an insulator over the light and you’ve created a beautiful glowing table setting.

Easy, right! Stick with me crafters…another idea is to wrap twine around the insulator to create hanging luminaries.  Place the battery-powered light within the hanging insulator and you’ve set the mood for a fantastic back-yard gathering. Wouldn’t these be great for an outdoor wedding! PS — for obvious reasons, I strongly suggest you use battery-powered tea lights for the outdoor luminaries.

Or…add a little water, some flowers and…

Enjoy your weekend and happy crafting!

Faux Flowers in Faux Water

Tags

DIY, Fake Flowers, Faux Flowers, Faux Water, Floral Resin, florists, Gifts, roses, Silk Flower Arrangements, Silk Flowers in Water Illusion

Faux flowers in faux water…okay, not something I normally tolerate. However, I was looking through a high-end catalog and there they were…silk flowers in, get this ‘water illusion’. Let me tell you, they were outrageously expensive but admittedly looked stunning.

Being a crafty and thrifty person, I was determined to create my own ‘illusions’ but for a fraction of the cost. Here’s how you can do the same.

You’ll need:

• Floral resin. You can buy it on-line (here) or at your local craft sore.
• Popsicle or chop sticks.
• Wire cutters.
• Clear vase of choice.
• Faux flowers from the craft store or you can rescue some from a thrift store.

Here’s the how-to:

1. Clean your vase well.
2. Using a wire cutters, cut the faux flower stems to the appropriate stem length to fit into your vase.
3. In a well ventilated area and following the manufacturer’s instructions, mix the floral resin in a disposable bowl using a popsicle or chop stick.
4. Pour the resin into your vase – for mine I poured approximately an inch of resin into the vase.
5. Insert the flower into the vase and allow the resin to dry and harden for 36 hours.
6. Done!

Yes it's a fake (sorry) faux flower.

Creative Container Gardening

Tags

Crafts From The Garden, Creative Container Gardening, DIY, Galvanized Bucket, Globes, Impatiens, Lunch Pail, Maidenhair Fern, Sap Bucket, Small Backyard Gardening

Many of my unusual items have found a second life as gardening containers. For example, this simple galvanized water pail filled with daisies.

The hanger on this rusty and crusty old sap-gathering bucket came in handy for attaching it to my garden fence, before a miniature rose was added.

Because Impatiens love growing in wire baskets, I removed the disintegrated table top on this side table, made a chicken wire bowl to fit within the opening, lined it with moss and added potting soil and the plants. Voila! A portable garden!

This was my dad’s lunch box. Sorry dad…not a fan of sandwiches so I planted maidenhair ferns in it.

And lastly, my garden-in-a-globe hanging planter. Here’s how you can make your own. With a knife, carefully cut the globe in half. Drill or poke three equidistant holes around the top edge for hanging and one hole in the bottom for drainage. Coat the inside and outside of the globe with a clear weather-resistant finish – Mod Podge Outdoor Glue is fantastic. Reinforce the hanging holes with rivets. Use S-hooks to fasten equal lengths of chain to the holes. Attach the other ends of the chains to another S-hook to serve as a hanger. Place a few light pebbles in the bottom for drainage then add potting soil and plant of your choosing.

So crank up your imagination and start planting your own unique mini-gardens!

Orchids

Tags

centerpieces, DIY, florists, flower arranging, Moss, Orchid Potting Soil, Orchids, River Rocks, Unusual Centerpieces, vases

Lately I’ve had this urge to experiment with Orchids. Not anything involving lab beakers, chemistry equations or anything dangerous mind you. More like something creative and classy. Speaking of chemistry, did you hear about the chemist who was reading a book about helium? He just couldn’t put it down. One of my dad’s goofy jokes…sorry.

For this experiment you will find all of the ingredients at your local nursery, craft store, or back yard. You’ll need:

• Orchids
• Large glass container
• Potting soil for orchids
• River rock
• Sheet moss
• Sticks
• Twine

Now for the ‘how to’:

1. Place a layer of river rocks on the bottom of the container then line the sides with sheet moss. Using clothes pins, clip the moss in place at the top rim of the container to keep it in place.
2. Fill the vase with orchid potting soil.
3. Insert the orchids into the soil mixture.
4. Remove the clothes pins and finish off the creation with more moss to hide the soil.
5. Stake the orchid flower stems with sticks (I used curly willow branches) and tie them off with some moss secured with twine. PS: the moss/twine suggestion looks much better than the standard orchid clips usually sold with the plant.

Most orchids come with care instructions but my best bit of advice to keep them gorgeous for weeks on end is to keep them out of direct sunlight but in a well-lit area.  Water them once a week by placing three ice cubes (that’s 3 cubes per plant) on the soil.

Recycled Glass Lovelies

Tags

Acrylic Enamel, DIY, Painted Glass Vases, Recycled Glass Vases, Recycled Goblets, Unusual Centerpieces, vases

Having a slew of vases, jars and chipped & mis-matched goblets stashed around the house has its benefits. Well sometimes… I either transform them into something lovely (hopefully) or they collect dust. Not a fan of the latter, I decided to paint some of my vases and chipped goblets to transform them into these painted vases.

The process is easy and here’s what you’ll need:

• Liquitex Glossies High Gloss Acrylic Enamel (buy here)
• Rubbing Alcohol
• Foam Brush
• Cotton Balls

Here’s how ya do it:

1.  Collect/hoard glass jars, vases, and goblets.

2.  Thoroughly clean glass with soap and water then using the cotton balls, swab the inside of the vessel with alcohol. The alcohol will remove any last bits of oil or grime and preps the glass to accept the enamel.

3.  Mix the paint. I used three parts white to one part aqua to get that delicious ‘Tiffany Blue’ color.

4.  When the glass is dry, start painting the insides of the vessel using a foam brush. If the opening of the vessel is too small for the brush, you can pour a small amount of paint inside and swish it around. For my long-necked vases, I did exactly that. I then turned them upside down to make sure the paint was thoroughly distributed inside the vase.

5.  Let the paint dry for at least 24 hours. Finally, heat set the glass by placing in a cool oven and bake for 45 minutes at 325 degrees.  Remove the glass after the oven has cooled and your done!

Just lovely!  Happy crafting and enjoy your weekend!

Serene Green Garden Container

Tags

Crafts From The Garden, DIY, Moss, Organic Gardening Magazine, Unusual Centerpieces, Unusual Garden Containers

Photo by Christa Neu

As consistent warm weather approaches, it’s time to start planning our gardens. And if you have a small back yard like me, I like to get a little creative with some of my containers. I created this simple moss urn for an Organic Gardening Magazine story. It is super easy to assemble and it requires low-maintenance. Follow these simple steps to create your own serene green garden container:

Step One
Gather the materials: a container with a drainage hole, growing medium, and moss. Pots made of porous terra-cotta or concrete will help keep the soil cool, although those made of other materials also work. Harvest moss from your backyard, or call friends until you find someone who has a patch of moss you can harvest from. Or, you can order live moss on-line at mossacres.com.

Step Two
Fill the container with the growing medium. I used compost and commercial potting mix. Press firmly to compact it, and mound it into a dome.

Step Three
Press small patches of moss onto the medium and arranging them to completely cover the surface of the potting mix.

Follow-up Care
Water as needed. Even if the moss dries out, it will quickly revive once you resume watering.

Grocery Store Flowers and Cabbage

Tags

alstroemeria, Cabbages, centerpieces, design, florists, flower arranging, Flowers In Cabbages, Grocery Store Flowers, Inexpensive Flower Arrangements, Thrifty Flower Arrangements, Unusual Centerpieces, Unusual Flower Arrangements

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!  Here’s a little project that literally took minutes to create (minus battling the grocery store crowds).

Carve out a cabbage, put a bit of water in the carved out hole, then insert some grocery store flowers, like these Alstroemeria, commonly called the Peruvian Lily.

Who says cabbage is just for coleslaw.