How To Make a Unique Thrifted Garden Ornament

I love to add ornaments and decorative things to my garden and flower beds. Sometimes I use vintage sculpture and architectural pieces which are great, but I want share how to make a unique thrifted garden ornament.

These ornaments are easy and very inexpensive and add so much character to your gardens.

As most of you know, I love thrifting, so it was fun to scour the thrift stores and be creative with pieces to make these.

For the base piece, you can use a flower vase, like the ones from the florist.

These are usually very easy to find at thrift stores and garage sales or you may already have one. It needs to be at least 7-8″ tall because your pole/rod will slide up through this to hold your garden ornament.

supplies for a thrifted garden ornament

For this project you will need the flower vase and then 2-3 other pieces, and some type of adhesive.

You can use liquid nails, but get the clear kind if you are using clear glass pieces for your ornament, otherwise the white adhesive will show. You can also use E6000.

For this particular ornament, I used a parfait glass instead of a flower vase. This will work because it’s about 8″ tall.

Next, I used a small clear salad plate, a small clear glass bowl, and a candle holder. Most of these pieces are $1-$2, so this is a very inexpensive project.

directions for making a thrifted garden ornament

First, you will add a generous amount of adhesive to the bottom of the vase, then attach the salad plate.

I turned the salad plate upside down and the next layer, the small bowl, I attached right side up. No particular reason for this, it just added a little more interest by alternating them.

The final layer was the candleholder to the top.

Be sure and add a generous amount of glue to each piece before you attach them. You will need to let them sit for several hours so the adhesive will dry really well.

The fun thing about using a small candleholder for the top piece is that you could actually put a votive candle in it.

If you’re entertaining outdoors, you could light the candle for a little outdoor ambiance.

Another option would be a small bouquet of flowers. Wouldn’t that be sweet to have several of these ornaments filled with flowers for an outdoor garden party??

This particular ornament is one I made years ago. For this one, I only used 3 pieces. A vase, small glass bowl (turned right side up) and a candleholder on top.

For the pole/rod, I typically use copper pipe. You can find this at Home Depot or probably most home improvement stores.

I found a piece of pipe that has a twisted/spiral look to it, at a flea market, so I used it for one of mine (shown in the first pic in this post). You can use any type of pole, rod or pipe, as long as it is sturdy and will withstand the weather.

If you don’t have a garden or much yard space, you could always use them in a potted plant. Just cut the pole down to be a height in proportion to the pot size.

Wouldn’t it be cute to make several of these to use along a walkway for an evening dinner party?

Add candles to them, and voile’, you have instant ambiance. Your guests will be very impressed and feel welcomed!

Just use whatever you like and be creative! If you try your own garden ornament DIY, I would love to hear about it.

blessings,

Be sure and Pin It to remember it….

shop the post