Garden Project

 The small shade garden in front of our house has troubled me for some time.  I can't seem to grow anything in this spot, or rather I grow it and something eats it!  I decided this year with my daughter's help to create some kind of sculpture garden.  We have been trying to figure out what to make for this space.  My husband said, "What would Howard Finster do?"  Since we both grew up in Georgia, we were fortunate enoguh to meet the legendary folk artist and to visit his Paradise Garden.

"Paradise Garden Located in Summerville, Georgia, is a maze of buildings, sculptures and displays. The Gardens were built from found objects and recycled materials ranging from bottles, bathtubs and toilets to bicycle frames and cast-off jewelry. The setting is a four-acre swampland that is drained by  numerous canals. " (http://www.paradisegardenfoundation.org/)


Well, we will have to see what we can do!  Here is a before picture of our garden:

Below are a few mosaics that we are working on for the garden:

I found some brick pavers in our yard when we moved in.  We collected random plastic toys and old tile bits and used thinset mortar to adhere them to the brick.  After 24 hours we applied the tile grout.  I bought a grout sealer to put on the mosaics - hopefully this will winterize them.

As we create more additions, I will post the pictures.  We have a few empty coffee cans laying around that are begging to be "upcycled"!

Summer Flowers

We are well into June and it has been a while since I posted.  The end of school was very busy - it looks like I have some catching up to do!  I am hoping to spend time on trying new projects this summer.

One thing I stumbled onto was paper flowers.  My niece's Bat Mitzvah is coming up and I wanted to find a handmade item I could contribute to the ceremony.  I was inspired by the tissue paper flowers on Rust & Sunshine's blog.  I like the idea of "upcycling", so I made this flower out of newspaper and hit the edges of the petals with spray paint.  We'll have to see what my niece thinks!