~IndigoEarth and WildHeart Art Studios~: ~Fun & Funky Garden Art Series~

~ Fun & Funky Garden Art~

"A Garden of Re-Purpose

As soon as the weather breaks I am always thinking of fun new or should I say "old" items for the garden! Anyone who knows me or has been in my gardens knows I like to think" outside the box" and decorate my gardens as do the inside of my house! I am always at sales looking at something and thinking... Hmm.. I can do something with that!My husband knows he is in trouble when he hears me say that or see the wheels turning in my head... He is a conservative person and thinks that everything belongs in its "TRUE" place... and many times that isn't in the garden. He could never understand why people put "chairs"in the garden, with a flower pot on the seat no less!! And dont make me explain to him the bathtub or toliet that seems to pop up in peoples gardens too~ You see.. its not an easy task to try and tell him why these things would look GREAT in the garden ( well not the toliet or tub.. but some of the other vintage type things)! I look at the garden as I do my living room.. I never get stressed about the garden because I feel that whatever doesn't work in one area can always be dug up or moved to another one.. Gardens are for fun and to relax in.. not to be stressed about!

I always have beautiful saying surrounding me in the garden area and love to make it comfortable for my family and friends and to enjoy and take in all the beauty surrounding them. Its like creating a paradise so you never have to leave home to relax!

This was my favorite spot at our last house.. the garden and waterfall area on the back patio~ I sure miss that and am still looking forward to having my pond at the house we are at now! I even strung little white lights around the plants and waterfall and at night it looked like a "fairyland"! I could sit out there for hours~

Creating areas of peacefulness and solitude are wonderful for turning your outside space into a sanctuary, a beautiful place to unwind~

And don't forget to have places for our feathered friends.. Birdhouses and feeders are always a fun place to sit and see what friends you can attract.

I have fun going to yard sales or even re-inventing something I already have but it looks a little tired and worn. I had this pottery vase that I sat in the garden and it looked nice until all the paint faded and I wanted something more than repainting it, so I used Adirondack Alcohol Inks to give it a boost before going back out in the garden. I also saw this cute little Gecko at the dollar store but didn't like the cheap look it had so I also used the alcohol inks to change the look and jazz it up!

Here he is ..all painted up and ready to go! No longer does he look like a dollar store gecko~

The process begins with dabbing the pot or other non porous items with the alcohol inks. I include the metallic colors as well since it adds a richness to the finished item. Adding the blending solution and re inking the pad helps to keep the colors fresh.I finished off the vase with purple fabric paint ( to absorb into the vase and for vibrancy) in the indentations and then used Distress Ink in deep purple to give age to the vase. I sprayed the bottom half with gold spray paint to refresh it and added acrylic glitter paint for a touch of "bling". I will then seal the vase to protect it from the elements when placed in the garden.

I just love re purposing old items and items that I can improve in some way with paint and other embellishments~ It is a wonderful feeling to find fun things and give them new life... So that is what this special series of blogs is about. I will be sharing ideas and techniques with you once a week on Friday evenings, all to help you make some awesome items out of "plain old found stuff" for your garden!! So join us for the summer and get some awesome new ideas and have fun "decorating" your garden!!