Chicken Wire Christmas Tree

 

Whew! I just got back from Open House at the Antique Mall and I'm pooped! It was loads of fun to see how everyone " dressed " their booths for the holidays! Naturally, I had to get in on the action too.I wanted to do something a little less traditional in my booth. I wanted a FRESH vintage vibe so I made a Christmas Tree out of chicken wire and decorated it with burlap garland, vintage lace, vintage postcards, and holiday hankies! 

 I used wooden clothespins to " hang"  the post cards and hankies to the wire. 

Isn't this Poinsettia hankie lovely? It's from my mother in law's collection.

  I made the top out of a small bunch of dried Hydrangeas from my garden and more burlap and lace! It came together sort of willy- nilly but I think it works!

This part of the post won't make it into Artful Blogging Magazine but I wanted you to see that I used a tomato cage for the inside structure of the tree. I wrapped the chicken wire around the tomato cage by laying the cage on it's side and rolling the wire around the cage until it was entirely covered. Because the shape of the cage isn't the same width from top to bottom I had some spots with overlapped wire which I cut to size with wire cutters. To attach the pieces I used the needle nose pliers and my fingers to pinch it all together. Kind of a crude tutorial I know, but it's not fine art folks!

It was a fun project and something I can continue to use for display in my booth as the seasons change.

 And, if you didn't catch my Beach Farmgirl Blog this week I'm sharing my Christmas Holiday Mason Jar Project with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint!

 Here's to " making" a wonderful Christmas!

Rusty Redo~ Chicken Feeder Flower Garden

 Today started out wet and cloudy after a full day of rain yesterday.  It finally cleared late this afternoon and I promptly went out do get started on a fun container garden I've been wanting to get to.

  One of the very first estate sales Boz and I went to this spring was located on an old farm. The property consisted of the house, a huge barn with greenhouse and a very large chicken coop. By the size of it one could only imagine that they raised chickens for meat and eggs as part of their farm business.

 I didn't have much on my list that day but one thing I hoped to find was an antique/vintage chicken feeder. I was actually more excited to check out the chicken coop more than the house!  Lady luck was with me because it's the first thing I saw and bought. I don't need it for feeding my girls. I wanted one to use as a planter! 

See the little openings all in a row? They're perfect for plopping in pansies. This particular feeder is two sided with an opening in the middle. It must have hung down the center of the coop so the hens could feed from both sides.

 

 Pansies seem to be more popular than ever this year and I can see why. They have the cutest little faces and come in the prettiest variety of colors too.

How to plant my chicken feeder was a no brainer. I just plopped on plant per opening into both sides of the feeder then added soil into the middle of it until the plants on the sides were covered and I had enough of a base to add the top layer of pansies to the feeder.

homemade compost

 Now it's spilling over with pansies and the girls are going no where near it!

The pansies look a little droopy here, but with some water and sunshine they'll perk up in a few days.

 Sharing with Tilly's Nest Down Home Blog Hop
Heidi and Dolly's Country Homemaker Hop  
Fishtail Cottage : Cottage Garden Party 
Savvy Southern Style: Wow us Wednesdays
Bramblebeberry Cottage: Time Travel Thursdays

Join Burlap and Bling on Facebook!

 Dear friends,
I don't know about you, but I can't get enough of seeing other peoples stuff...So, I created an open group on Facebook where we can click and share all day and night to our junk lovn' hearts content.

Welcome one and all to my new group Burlap and Bling...your place to share your posts, projects, EVENTS for all things antique, vintage, rustique, and flea market romance whenever the spirit moves you!

Load up the truck with all your finds and head on over! I'll see ya there!
Sharing with Knick of Time Tuesday

Pick'n Good Garden Art

Blooming Bathtub

Happy Earth Day friends! What better way to celebrate this important day of awareness than looking for new ways to GO GREEN IN THE GARDEN? My pickin' friend Kelly, from " out west " is doing her part to GREEN up her Garden with no poisons, or nasty pesticides in sight! Her re-claimed bathtub is bubbling over with giant Geraniums and sweet alyssum. 

 

 Kelly hosted my cousin's baby shower at her house and I couldn't help but notice her farmgirl green touches in every corner of her yard ( and inside too ). Here she is perched next to her vintage Tea Pot Tree in her cactus garden. Turns out she's been collecting them for years.  Kelly ( and her talented hubby Billy ) have caught the Up -cycling fever and like many of us  they have rooms stuffed to the gills with " projects in waiting ". They're on the look out for the perfect location for their new shop in Reno or Sparks Nevada. 

Kelly and her Tea Pot Tree

Milk Cans

Everyone needs a corner sink in the garden, don' t cha think?

Old rusty bed frames and gates make the perfect trellis for climbing plants.

 

How about a vintage sewing machine propped in the garden as a reminder to sew seeds of kindness and creativity where ever you go?

  This not so snowy snowman made from misc parts is a reminder that temperatures can still drop bringing a chilling end to a sunny warm day.  

That's where this old wood stove comes in to play... Toss in a log, sit back and relax and let your creativity sprout in your GREEN garden yard too! 

 Aren't these some great GREEN ideas? 

Which one is your favorite? I know! It's hard to " pick "! 

What's the coolest UPCYCLED garden art you've seen or created, or would like to create? 

Linking to:

 KnickofTime Tuesday # 83!  

 Tilly's Nest Down Home blog Hop! 

PJH Designs