Thrifty Thursday: Dishes Into Garden Art

Happy Thursday everyone!  Here is the second rendition of my Thrifty Thursday series.   I'm excited about it, are you? Last fall after one of my daughter's soccer games we had stopped at this very small community center and checked out a bazaar.   They had your typical handmade items, but there was one thing that totally struck me as a great gift.   

This yard art. 

 I thought to myself, "I can totally make these for Christmas gifts."

And that is exactly what I did.   The girls and I went to our nearest thrift store, which happens to be Goodwill, and we ransacked the plates, bowls, votive holders, everything.   We placed them together in the cart, trying to match up and come up with the absolute best combinations possible.

We made a variety of garden art, along with my BFF, making some for her family.  Which her family just loved them.  They raved and raved about how they just loved the garden art.
My family, on the other hand, I'm not so sure what they thought.  My mom and sister live out of state, so I had to give them theirs in pieces and explain it to them over the phone and how to set it up.  Hopefully nothing was lost in translation there.  My mother-in-law loves all things unique and for the yard and The Mister's auntie, she loved her's an is impatiently waiting for spring to arrive so she can put it in her memorial garden.

To make the garden art below, here is what I had for supplies first.

 Supplies:

1 large plate
1 small plate
1 bowl
1 votive holder
2  copper bell holder's (1/2 inch)
1 re-bar (needs to fit snugly inside your 1/2 copper pipe) about 4 feet long
1 copper piping (1/2 inch) about 3-4 feet long
1 tube of CLEAR adhesive   


Make sure you clean all the plates and bowls.

Play around with your layouts.   I had bought enough for 5 gifts, that I was playing around with them and realized I didn't like some of the combo's so I just switched them around.

I used a silicon clear adhesive. 

Put a small line on adhesive along the small plate, to adhere it to the large plate.

Do the same for the bowl and the votive holder (if that is what you are using)

Let this sit overnight and make sure that it is fully adhered together.

Here comes the fun part.  I've done the hard work for you.  These 1/2" Copper Bell Hanger, is only at Lowe's.  I found it in the plumbing/piping section.  I've looked at a ton of other hardware and home improvement stores and nobody knew what I was talking about, except for the guys at Lowe's; which of course I would have never found them without the help of my cousin.  You can also buy them online at Amazon, here. 

Make sure that when you line them up, they are straight, that is how your copper pipe is going to attach to the plate.

Let it sit overnight until it is good and secure.   There is a lot of weight being held up by those two babies, we don't want them falling off.

And, voila!,  your finished product!

*The rebar is to be hammered into the ground about 1 foot and then the copper piping will slide right over it.  That way your yard ornament doesn't have to be hammered into the ground and can sit flush with the ground.