What kinds of things do you have to decorate your gardens? I confess to having several statutes, as well as a very whimsical object. I will try to get Kim to post the picture she took of it.
I have several animals: ceramic frogs, turtles, a Cheshire cat, dormouse, white rabbit and Alice in Wonderland make a tableau in front; a fairy at the bottom of my garden, and many mushrooms. What do others confess to?
Any concrete geese owners?
I have a toad and a mushroomy thing, so far. My problem is that the dogs keep carrying things off - they have to weigh mor than 5 pounds and be bigger than Ned's mouth! Hard to find a hefty garden fairy, but I am looking...
lol
I must confess. My gardens are severly lacking in the art department! LOL I do have a big steel bunny someone brought me and it is still in the garage. If I put art in the garden, do I have to dust it too?? LOL
Wow, a steel bunny? That sounds cool! I love the little statue on the left side of Kathy's picture here; it's Alice in Wonderland, and it's the original Alice from the first editions.
I'll get Mr. Tree posted tonight - thanks for reminding me! :)
I have frogs in one garden, and angels and cherubs in the rest. Not many yet, but I'm working on my collection slowly as they are offered on ebay. I'm doing the frogs in one garden because my daughter loves them, and angels in the rest because I love them and they make me feel peaceful when I'm out there weeding. Now if I could just get the darned plants to grow! LOL!
I don't have anything in my new circular garden yet, because it is a memorial garden to our dog, who's dog run was in that place. I want to do something with German Shepherds in that area, and am looking for a local artist who could make me a wooden garden sign that says "Mindy's Garden" with a picture of a German Shepherd on it. Our dog was killed last summer by two other HUGE dogs that came in here and attacked her , so this garden is a tribute to her while she was on her chain. We didn't let her run when we weren't home or asleep so she didn't have a chance. But, that's another story.
So, I have frogs, angels, and soon will have german shepherd dogs.
I posted Mr. Tree, Kathy: http://davesgarden.com/showthread/271147.html
Joan, there is a catalog called Puttin' On The Dog (see http://www.puttinonthedog.com ) which offers hundreds of dog-themed things. Some of them include hand-painted signs. Maybe you can find a fitting tribute to your Missy there. :) Here's a link to their list of German Shepherd items: http://www.puttinonthedog.com/cgi-bin/potd/breedlist.pl?breed=84
Geeze, I wish I wouldn't have read this thread on my favorites while I was taking a break from the house thing. I don't have time to look at the hyperlinks Kimberley, and I want to.
Can somebody post a bump or something for next time I come so I can remember to get to it?
Bump. LOL - too soon, I know. Why don't you add it to your watch list?
Dang! My break times are starting to come closer and closer. LOL! It must be getting late. I have added it to my watch list so I won't lose it. Thanks
Joan,
send me a picture of Mindy...how big do you want your sign?I majored in Graphic Design.
Here's what I have pictured in my mind...nice sign with vines and greenery with German Shepherd lying in the middle.Maybe some parts cut in relief so they'll stand out better.
Would you like this for your Name My Greenhouse prize?
Mel, did you decide on a name for your greenhouse? I think I must have missed something. BRB, gotta go check a different thread.
I'm back! Melody, I love the name and slogan you picked for your greenhouse. How exciting! I won!
I would love a sign for my prize!!! Thank you. No hurry though, you can do it next winter if you want. I'm just working on this garden now, and it's a long way from decorating yet. Mindy looked like your typical german shepherd dog. She was fatter than they normally are though. After we had her spayed, it seemed that she gained weight so easily. I guess I can relate to that. LOL! I'll look and see if we have a decent picture of her, but I kind of doubt it. I haven't been much of a picture taker in the past. I was thinking of using any picture I could find for it, not one of her.
This message was edited Friday, Jun 14th 11:57 AM
I have lots of "stuff" in my gradens. Several statues; a little boy jumping a fire hydrant, a kneeling littlegirl, a pouting girl. Out of Metal-3 frogs playing muscial instruments, a large butterfly, a turtle, a sundial, two smaller concrete frogs, a fat buddah and a regular buddah;
nothign to do with religion, I just liked it. A gazing ball, a bird bath. I collect suns and hang them on my fence along the deck. My biggest is about 4 foot overall and the smallest is 10" in diameter. I have 8 so far.
My artsy side took a sewing machine in a cabinet,I had gotten at an auction for $3. don't know why in the world I bought it, so after it sat in the garage for a few months I figured out what to do with it. I took the machine out of the cabinet and took off the lid. THe hole left by the machine was just the right size for a planter that I had. I painted the cabinet, put the planter in and filled it with wave petunnias and sat it out in one of my flowerbeds.
So far it is looking pretty good.
I have a childs' chair that I painted and plan to put out there somewhere and let vining things twine around.
We put out a large urn on the one corner of our lot to mark the boundry and to keep cars from cutting the corner. Our lot is bordered by two allies. One at the back and one the length of the lot and it is well used.
Well that is about it. I know I am windy but when I start talking about my gardens I get carried away. So please bear with me.
Oh-----------But no concrete goose!!!!!!
This message was edited Friday, Jun 14th 1:05 PM
Joan, I am so happy for you that you won Melody's contest! Even though you don't like to take pictures, would you take one and post it after you get your plaque put in your memorial garden? I know we all would like to see it.
Naturegal, your garden sounds full! Can you post pictures for us to look at? I love the idea of the sewing machine cabinet for a planter! That is one I hadn't heard of before. Now I know what to do with mine too! LOL Sure not useful if it is going to wait for me to sew with it!
Kathy
I like that sewing machine cabinet idea, too. If it has drawers, you could have them full of soil and partially pulled out, with trailing plants spilling out of them. That'd be pretty cool. :)
I will take a picture when the garden is done, it's still a work in progress. I just started it this spring, and am planting things now. It doesn't look like much yet. Most of the plants you sent me Kathy are in there too. I have an obelisk in the middle of it and HAD morning glories growing on it, but they decided to die. :( So, nothing is growing on that right now.
I can post pictures butI have just a regular camera, not a digital so I have to have them developed and I get a CD which I can then send pics. So it will be a little bit before I am able to send any.
gardenwife...Baker's Acres, as you call it, is really nice. Lots of plants and flowers to choose from and all sorts of goodies to look at. Very healthy looking.
lupinelover...Was I anywhere close to your abode?
Bobbi
Nature, yeah, I am in a southwest suburb of Columbus: downtown is 6 miles from me! I wish I had known. I haven't been to Baker's, but they put ads in the local paper in the spring. They are a riot! Beginning in early April when other nurseries start to put out their tender annuals Baker's put ads in for their nursery talking (in a really funny way) how it is too early... don't plant tenders outside yet... resist the urge... final frost is still likely... then in late April their ad says, OK, OK, if people insist, they will sell them, but don't plant them yet! These ads are about 6 paragraphs long, and you can just see the writer chuckling as he works. I will have to check out their catalog! I am sure it is as funny as their ads.
Have you seen the forum for a Ohio get-together this fall? Mikepiper put the thread in. I would love as many Ohio and surrounding area neighbors to come! I don't travel well, so can't make it to the roundup; a whole lot of other people can't, either; this will be a (local) one.
Hey, Naturegal - Have you ever considered using a service like Snapfish at http://www.snapfish.com for your film developing? I've been using them for about two years and I've been very pleased with the quality of my pictures.
The prices include one set of prints, your negatives, and an online album of the roll. They give you your first roll's developing and prints free, too. Here's info from their site on pricing: http://www.snapfish.com/default/jsp/popups/help/help_pricing.jsp
So, you could send in a 36 exposure roll and get a single set of 4x6" prints, plus all of your pictures available online in an album, for $6.00 total.
I don't know what you pay to get your pictures and photo CD, but I thought you might like to know about this. Until we got the digital camera, I used Snapfish exclusively for my developing and had great success with them. The prints have great color and are on good paper.
One thing I really like is how easy it is to order reprints for friends and relatives; they keep high-resolution scans of your pictures and will print and mail them directly to anyone. You can send friends to the site to view your albums order their own prints, too. Plus, you can upload your own scans or digital pictures and have them printed at reasonable prices and sent wherever you'd like.
If anyone's interested in joining Snapfish, I'd appreciate it if you'd zap me an e-mail; they offer members 10 free prints for each referral. But that's not the only reason I'm posting this - mainly I am a very satisfied customer! :)
Thanks guys for the info.
Gardenwife.........I wouldbe interestetd in the Snapfish photo service. You mention joining, is there a membership fee and if so, how much.? I checked out the hyperlink and like their prices.
Lupine....Yes I have been reading about the Ohio roundup and would like to go. Depends when it is. We will be on vacation Sept. 15 thru 21. WE are going to Gatlinburg with 3 of my siblings and their spouses. We have rented a cottage up in the mountains.
Hoping to make the get- together though if at all possible. My DH will come with me, now isn't he great. Gardening is not his thing. But he does the heavy labor for me. He is into racing, especially formula 1 cars.
Best go now. Bye
Nope - no membership fee at all. Zap me an e-mail and I'll send you a special link. You can get 10 free prints for uploading a photo of your own to your album, too. I just love them. :)
I have lots of weird things for garden art and some very normal stuff too. I have quite a few wood pieces with unusual or interesting structure (natural). I have large clay lamps with lamp parts removed (they look sort of urn like), cast iron tea pot with hinged lid (bottom partially gone), another cast iron pot with crack down side, 6 or 7 ft piece of old iron fence (built a bed around it), several copper art pieces(sprinkler, rain gauge, flower, butterfly bath), ceramic butterflies on steel rod, old bushel basket (bottom out) laying on its side, sea shell and fish fountain, numberous clay shell pieces with and without plants, clay urn (bottom out), large clay clam shell containers with potted plants sitting in them. Got DH working on some rusty farm junk to create some very unique pieces of garden art. Got a metal bed frame and metal vanity with mirror I'm still trying to figure out where and exactly how I want to use them. Just remember, somebody ask this question.
Ginger, just curious, but how do the wooden objects do in your garden? Do you use any wood preservatives or anything, or keep them undercover in bad weather, etc.? I have been thinking of things like you describe, but don't want to risk anything nice. I do have a couple redwood benches, etc, but those aren't art, they are chairs!
Kathy
Some of it is lighterd (the stuff you start fires with) so it doesn't rot very easily. But some of it isn't and although I keep meaning to put Thompson's waterseal or something on it, I haven't yet, and it's just a matter of time before it deteriorates(sp?). Fortunately I have the ability and help to get more neat pieces when these get to bad. If I can figure out how to post a photo, I'll show you the kind of stuff I'm talking about.
I am assuming that Rescue Heroes scattered all over the yard don't count?? LOL
I have a concrete hippo at the edge of one of my ponds, and a large, iron, snail sprinkler, and one of those copper, twirling, butterfly sprinklers. I used to have a ceramic/resin snail and baby but my son smashed it...so I will not be getting anything that is remotely breakable. I think the hippo is too heavy to mess with of it would have grow legs too. I made a garden bench last year from a twin headboard and footboard that is in my little retreat. I would love to get a statue of 'David' one day. I am currently working on some stained glass stepping stones. I have the stones made and the patterns downloaded but not glass cut yet. Anybody done these and have any advise I would be appreciative! LOL
Scmetterling, tell us how you made these when you are done! I have made the regular stepping stones but never any with glass or stained glass. They sound gorgeous! Will you really be able to step on them when they are done? Or more for decoration?
Ginger, to post a photo, start a new thread and at the very bottom is a space to download a photo.
Kathy
No one has mentioned a pink flamingo .... I know I am NOT the only one with a PTB (pink tacky bird, as DH calls it). I also have some turtles, a concrete St. Francis holding a bird (no, I'm not Catholic - I just liked it), and a copper butterfly about 4 feet tall.
Silly me, I bought a 4' tall wooden whirling garden ornament in Oregon recently, but it wouldn't fit into my luggage, so I gave it to the shuttle driver who took me to the airport. She seemed pleasantly surprised. And hopefully, I learned something about buying large objects while traveling ....
everone's things sound so wonderful. i'm just beginning but i have some resin statues, one of a boy holding a puppy and what i call the Morton salt girl. a raccoon, an easter bunny holding a basket, he's all dressed up in pastel clothes and big white shoes. i also have some smaller bunnies, and a turtle with a frog and then a snail on top of that. i've made little scapes with an old 1950's florist planter of a little animal driving a truck. I also made a florists shop, called the petal parlor for a little duck. i used a terracotta pot upside down and painted it. the duck stands to the side of the door and i used some brick pavers for a road and put some flowers around it for "trees and landscaping". i also have a few painted rocks. two my friend made me one is a vase of flowers that says happy anniversary and the other has a picture of a doggies face on it. a bronze sign designed to look like a cat that says "boots" on it. this is his grave marker.
i forget what else. oh yes plant markers i've painted, a lady bug, grasshopper, bee and then i faux painted some larger wooden stakes and bugs to look like a distressed copper. lots of painted birdhouses. oh yes and a yellow caution road sign that says Pekingese at Play
how do the ceramic pieces bought at Big Lots hold up? i've seen them and would like to try this.
i also have a lot of ideas and haven't had the time to make them yet. i just saw my girlfriend next door took a childs wicker baby carriage and put a red geranium in it. looks great sitting on her front steps.
laterl.....time to garden.
Debi...Sounds like you have a good imagination. I particularly like the Florist shop idea. Sounds really cute.The baby carriage idea is great too.
I have never tried ceramics outside. Afraid they would get broken too easily.
Just went to a garage sale w/sister and bought an octagan shaped two tiered end table. Will make a perfect plant stand for my Black Sweet potato vine. Have to paint it first, of course. Got my bench painted and back in business as a plant stand. IT is sunny yellow & 2 shades of soft green, with orange accents. Might sound garish but it is rather pretty.
A fellow member of the garden club I belong took a birdbath that was cracked and wouldn't hold water and planted it with hens & chicks and other succulents. It really looks neata. I have a cracked birdbath and think I will do the same.
That sounds like a good idea! I have some of my hens and chicks in little pockets in my stone walls, and I have a birdbath that is cracked, so maybe I will give that a try!
i need to come up with a good idea for my hens and chicks . keep the ideas coming. :)
i saw the idea for a florist shop, from something they were selling at Michael's Craft Store. It was a Toads Tavern or something like that. a mushroom with a sign on it. well it cost something like $18. nope. so i came up with the idea of painting a terra cotta pot, upside down. i've got to get my dh to fix the camera so i can take some pictures.
debi z
A friend and I took a house and garden tour in German Village in Cols., OH Sunday. THe houses are close together and they have little gardens in between them. The gardens are usually long and narrow. There are some really beautiful gardens there. Shows what you can do in a small space.
There were 10 houses on the tour and we walked it all & saw all of them. I was pretty proud of myself because with my PD I can't always do that. It was a little hot but nothing like today. It is 92 here. Sorry, I stray from the subject of this thread.
There were some clever ways of using different items as
plant containers. It was really neat.
I make ceramics; I made a toad house in the shape of a frog, his mouth is open, which is where the toad can go to hide; something like that would be very cute with hens and chicks... especially if it were a hen!
Lupinelover....That sounds real cute. Just imagine..a frog with a mouthful of hens & chicks.
Nature, are you going again this Sunday? Another tour of German Village, this time sponsored by Columbus Park & Rec. And this one is free!
If so, e-mail me; maybe we can meet?
Kathy
