# Decorating outside with junk!



## Junkman

Around here the new thing is to decorate your porch, yard, flower bed or entry with old farm items. One neighbor has a flower type bed with an old (probably holey) wash tub on its side, partially buried with a bucket sitting in it with dark mulch around it and some flower pots with small plants, and.. some old jars on their sides. Lots of baskets on their sides with flowers pouring out. I have an old wood kitchen chair I painted red, on my stoop and I put a pot of flowers on it. (Lots of them around here.) And unfortunately we have a couple really busted stone jars I use in the flower beds. Saw one lady had a real twin iron bed she had filled inside with dirt and flowers.
This year I plan to do something with a rocker my DH picked up at a sale that he did not see was glued and braced together too rough to fix. Sometimes I put out a couple of hay bales and put some antique things on them.
Any ideas from you ladies? Jklady:bored:


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## sapphira

Thank you for starting this thread. I bought a book about three years ago and all the landscaping projects in it are large and way way above my head and means. I need small, simple (yard sale item preferably) ideas. I know there are many on here who successfully put together some interesting "scenes" if you will, of spring and summer ideas and winter looks. I hope a lot of people come on and tell about them. S


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## nduetime

I use old unusable sleds and ice skates to decorate in the winter. Kind of a nostalgia look to them. 

I also like to put ceramic type birds and animals in my garden and around the farm. If there is a broken part oh well, that part goes into the ground. Picture pigs rooting with their snouts deep into the ground b/c the snout actually broke off and you get the idea. 

I have three different types of tiered metal plant holder/stands that I am going to spray paint this spring/summer and use to hold some annuals to decorate with out by the garden and/or in plain areas that the soil is not good enough to plant in for whatever reason.


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## mustangsally17

http://www.robomargo.com/yardart.html
http://www.robomargo.com/bench.html
There are a few ideas on these sites. I also have an old wash tub for flowers and an old chair i used a jig saw and cute a circle out of the seat replaced it with chicken wire and moss and planted flowers in it, also I glued a tea cup to the saucer with E6000 glue and glued it to a sturdy limb stuck it in the ground and yes, planted flowers in it. ummm I also planted flowers in a bird bath and made a window box out of twigs, branches and birch bark..


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## Timberline

I mounted an old chicken 10 hole nest box on the outside of my coop. It's cute with a plant in each hole during the summer. Saw it done in a magazine and was glad to find a use for the old nest box.


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## newfieannie

out under the snow i have a washtub and a pump over it. on the other side of the yard is a large coffee pot i got off a ship. i do have lots of antique milk cans and pots around summer time but have them all in the shed in winter. i already got a chair like Sally mentioned . i just have to cut a hole in it for when i start again in the spring. i'm always looking for more. ~Georgia.


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## PonderosaQ

GardenWeb.com has a Garden Junk Forum. There are more ideas there than any of us has time to make. Lots have nice clear step by step directions as well as great pictures. A great way to have fun and not spend money..or very little. Glad you brought this up as it is a good time of year to get going and make some nice perky things before the garden needs our attention.


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## GrannyG

Will be redoing this old metal table top....it is sitting on the legs of a wash tub holder....intend to put the table top on an antique table to use in the house for rolling out my dough....










and this is an old bowling ball covered with rocks...in my garden...


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## GrannyG

An old satellite dish becomes a garden of water hyacynths and floats old duck decoys...

















when the flowers bloom, they are so pretty....


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## jwal10

I have a large iron kettle that is cracked with an old pitcher pump beside it, full of bulbs, later plant summer flowers. Milk cans, kerosene cans, 10 qt. galvanized buckets and an old garden wheelborrow with the iron spoke wheel. Plant flowers in anything that will hold one....James


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## LonelyNorthwind

jwal10, your yard sounds beautiful!
I too plant in anything I can find (I love beachcombing!). The harbormaster in town's finally figured out I'll take old battered skiffs, they make perfect garden containers. The peas are growing in commercial truck tire rims. I inherited another skiff last fall so I'll have one more garden soon's I get enough dirt made. Yippee!


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## Tinker

Great ideas everyone! Sally, you always find the best links--I just love the chicken bin flower box, & the bird baths from old lights in your 1st link. Thanks for sharing!


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## Gayle in KY

I stuck the top half of an old tv tower in the ground for my hops to grow on. I had a couple old bowling balls and put those inside the tower, on the braces. There is a doll's head on top. 

Took some old chains from hubby's chainsaw and put them on the side of the shed to make a smiley face. It doesn't exactly look happy, though. In fact, it's kind of creepy.


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## Jokarva

I love the Garden Junk site, lots of good ideas there.

Used to see old bowling balls for free here and there, I started bringing them home, digging a hole half their depth and burying them all over my garden. They're just little spots of random color, and it keeps the balls out of the landfill.


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## Pamela

I love this thread ! My yard is full of discarded things Full of plants in the summer. Almost everything I look at, I think about where it can be used outdoors for garden decoration. Sally, the sites you listed are great ! Thank you.


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## willow_girl

The deck at my last place:









And at my current place:









Yeah, I'm a packrat!


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## shanzone2001

I love planting in old metal tubs, fish baskets, old chairs, etc. I found an old chandelier at a thrift store and hung it from a tree.
I also love to find wood crates, rusty wheelbarrows or buckets to plant in. My favorite planters are old teapots and spitoons.
Last year I bought an antique ironing board and a wood ladder to put pots on. I also found a wood bench on the side of the road in a trash pile.










I love the headboard/footboard idea, too!










Here is another chandelier hanging over 2 chairs I found.


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## shanzone2001

willow_girl said:


> The deck at my last place:
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> And at my current place:
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> Yeah, I'm a packrat!



You are very creative...love it!:bow:


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## GrannyG

Love seeing all those beautiful green plants.....so waiting for Spring and flowers...with all these wonderful ideas, a whole new Junque Redoux is on my agenda...thanks for sharing..


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## willow_girl

Thank you. Yours looks great, too! 

I just rescued an old wooden stepladder from someone's trash last night. It's an 8-footer with round rungs on the support side. I can't decide whether to put pots on the steps or (since it's rather wobbly) face it with chicken wire and use it as a trellis for green beans! 

Oh, the possibilities! :hysterical:


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## shanzone2001

I say green beans...what an awesome idea! I love it! You have to show us pics if you do it!


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## Peacock

So gorgeous, and inspiring! We've been trying to acquire "eye candy" here and there but I'm not much of a designer. I always worry about the weather damaging things or my hubby grousing about having to mow/trim around it.


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## willow_girl

A lot of the stuff I use comes out of the trash, so when it gets too weathered, I just chuck it. There is always plenty more to be had! 

The washstand in the above pics came out of the dark recesses of the basement of my Gladwin (MI) farmhouse. (Gawd knows how long it had been sitting down there!) As you can see in the 2nd pic, nearly all the chippy blue paint has come off it now. 

Here's another quick and easy project if you happen to live in a rocky area! I had intended these stone cairns as birdbaths, but I think they were used more by thirsty cats. I dry-stacked the stones and topped the piles with interesting bowls from yard sales and thrift shops:


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## SueMc

Chalk Creek said:


> I mounted an old chicken 10 hole nest box on the outside of my coop. It's cute with a plant in each hole during the summer. Saw it done in a magazine and was glad to find a use for the old nest box.


CC, I was at an auction recently and saw a 10 hole nest box sell for $75! Most of the nest bottoms were rusted out too.


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## willow_girl

Here's a little project I just did this weekend, a miniature birdbath made out of a couple of thrift-store candy dishes, a wine glass and glass pebbles (even got those from the TS!). All it took was a bit of silicone sealer to hold it together, and VOILA! It stands about a foot tall:


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## newfieannie

oh ,i could go for that. i probably have all i need for it. not sure what is seperating the top from the base. is that copper wire.? i'm only seeing 1 candy dish. i made a few last year from a link Sally posted. ~Georgia.


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## willow_girl

No, that is the colored stem on the wineglass, Georgia! It has a candy dish on top, wineglass (upside-down) in the middle, and another clear glass candy dish for the base. 

You should post pics of yours, too! 

I love these little projects; they're so quick and easy. Plus they give me an excuse to comb the thrift stores for interesting bits and pieces!


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## BackfourtyMI.

Been decorating with old junk for years, I guess I never thought about it being in style.

I have an old plow out back by a bench with hosta's around it, old chair with a birdhouse on top on the porch. I love the old metal headstanchions that were used for cows, they are great for putting or building a birdhouse in the middle of. I have one hanging on the front of my porch now & about 8 old stanchions in the barn just waiting to make more.
Old shovels, rakes, hoes', etc. make great garden decorations too, you can attach a peice of wood at the top with a cute saying, wrap grapvine around it, etc. & put them in flowerbeds, etc.
Old license plates are great roofs for birdhouses or feeders too & then they aren't in landfills.

I also use old iron gates, doors, etc. at the back of my flower beds for decoration or for vining plants to climb on or tall flowers to be tied to so they don't break.

I'll have to take some pictures of some of these things when the snow melts.

Love the old nestbox idea. I seen one at an antiques store, it had 8 nestboxes & made of wood. It was in really good condition & I really wanted it to hang on my kitchen wall or on the back deck railing to put plants or nik nak kinds of things in the boxes.
Didn't buy it & have regretted it ever since.


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## BackfourtyMI.

Here is something not covered in snow right now.

Excuse my porch, I really have to stain it this spring & the stanchion birdhouse has been hanging out there in front now for about 4 years. You can see the bottom perch has come off. I have birds in there every year.


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## aftermidnite

Just some of the things I have reused and recycled and used in my yard here in town over the last 10 years ..

The gate was picked up on a country road ..the bird houses were ones I collected and decided to use outside Two of them are hand carved from a solid block of wood and withstood 2 years out in the weather and are now back inside on a shelf .
The white rods seen to the side were gotten from a dumpster when a wedding planner went out of business (was a wedding arch ) and had someone bend them into hooks and they are now in the back yard on either side of the nickle plated iron foot board I use as a trellis for my beans .The bowling ball (I think this picture has it at the bottom ) was picked up curb side and the "stand " is a sewer tile pipe I use for plant stands ..


Will post a few more when time isn't crunched ..


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## momtaylor

I love the yard decorations. My uncle was a plumber and sunk an old tub in his yard for a fish pond. Then he placed a toilet by it and planted ivy in the tank and petunias in the bowl. It really was pretty once it all filled out.


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