More Garden Crafts, Less Plants

The rain returned today, after a long spate -- two glorious weeks, I think -- of wonderful sunny warm weather. So, instead of playing in the garden, today I've been playing in the garage. Well, they both start g-a-r.

I've been collecting things for a while for this project, which is a rustic hanging planter for my fence.

Wood shingles, old tins, various embellishments, little nuts and bolts

My inspiration was this picture, which I pinned on Pinterest. The picture itself actually comes from the blog Driftwood Ramblings by Desiree. She hasn't written a new blog post in quite a while, I guess she's taking a break, but please visit her blog to check out the great posts she has already written.

I've had the green shingles for several years, over three actually, since they came with us from Massachusetts. I got them from a friend back east who had removed some of her siding for a house project, and offered me an assortment of the old wooden shingles. I've had ideas off and on since then for ways to use them, but never followed through on any of my ideas till now. Thank goodness I hung onto them, huh? Let that be a lesson to you -- never throw anything away!

Hmm...what can I make with an old tin, a tiny cookie cutter, and an old shingle?

I started by drilling a hole in both the tin and the shingle so that I could attach one to the other.

Sorry this is such a crappy picture.

If you try this, BE CAREFUL when drilling the tin. You'll make tiny sharp metal splinters, which can get in your eyes or go under your skin. Wear goggles.

Wear goggles to protect your eyes.

You don't want this stuff getting in your eyes or under your skin.

I inserted a little bolt through the back of the tin, through the hole I'd made in the shingle, and then threaded a nut onto it to hold the tin in place.

I then did the same with the little cookie cutter shaped like a bird, and attached it to the shingle. I miscalculated a bit on the hole for the bird, and it ended up a little higher than I liked.

I figured I'd need something else to fill the space between the bird and the tin, even with a little succulent plant in place. I thought maybe the tin lid would work, just propped in back of the plant.

But with the plant in front of it, you couldn't see it. Plus if I left it unattached, it would surely get blown away. I wasn't sure how to attach it with bolts, without really mutilating it.

So I went upstairs to the computer and played around with fonts and words till I had one I liked, in the right size. I printed it out, and used it as a model. At first, I tried using a paint pen to go over the piece of printer paper, which was attached with tape to the wood, hoping the black paint pen would bleed through. But that didn't work. So I just did it free-hand.

Erm...it kinda looks like it says "graw." Ah well...

I drilled two holes in each side to attach it to the fence later with screws.

Then I made another one!

By the way, if you try this project, don't forget to drill holes in the bottom of the tin for drainage. This was a really easy little project, once I got started. The hardest part was finding all the bits and pieces. I had to haunt thrift stores and junk/antique shops for a couple of weeks.

I'm glad the rain came back, so I could give this a try.  But now I want it to stop, so I can see how they look on the fence!