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trianglejohn

Plastic Pot Statues

trianglejohn
21 years ago

I made these Garden Statues out of old plastic pots, pvc pipe and small trashcans, they were then painted to look like rusted metal with some 'Rust' spray paint. The folks at the fair loved them and my display won many awards and I got an offer from the local botanical garden to teach a class how to make them this winter. Enjoy!

Image link:

Comments (13)

  • DerekQC
    21 years ago

    Great creative idea John....a real eye-popper :-)

  • ceebee
    21 years ago

    Very nice, John.

  • gardenbug
    21 years ago

    I am so happy to see this follow up! I've enjoyed the process without any pain!

  • Dora Vann Snider
    21 years ago

    Would you please share how you made them??? They are sooooo neat!!!!

  • trianglejohn
    Original Author
    21 years ago

    Ok - but keep in mind that I just sort of made them up as I went along. I found some plastic pots that nested inside each other so that I could stack them, one on top of the other. I used a small dremel saw (hand held battery operated carving tool) to cut eye holes and mouths in the two pots (eyes in the bigger top pot, mouths in the smaller bottom pot). I then used regular old hot glue to glue them together and to draw curly-cue designs all over them. I cut noses out of small plastic square pots and hot glued them onto the faces. I then wired a halloween plastic bowl that I had cut into a sort of crown shape with a pair of scissors to the top of the head - this was after I dangled two plastic practice golf balls that I had cut and decorated as eyes into the eye holes so they would wobble in and out of the head while it blew in the breeze. After all the glue designs dried I painted the whole thing with this new spray paint called 'Rust', its a two part technique that uses an orange spray paint and a rub-on purplish latex stain that when it dries looks alot like rusted metal. Then I stuffed grass plumes into the tops to make it look real "Fall" like. The two statues were done the same way with flower pots and pvc pipe arms and legs.
    You can read my whole garden decoratin' story over on Garden Writers forum under 'Competition Gardening'(I thought it would make a good magazine article), there are some photo links there and at the following post in this forum "Another Plastic Pot Statue" (or something like it). The best part is that they are sort of light weight so setting them up and moving them isn't a problem. The local Botanical Garden is buying some of them and hiring me to teach a class on how to make them this winter. Who would of guessed?

  • annafl
    21 years ago

    What a great project and fun idea for a class. Wish you lived closer! Great way to recycle plastic pots and create smiles at the same time! Thank-you for sharing your creations with us.

    Anna

  • Dora Vann Snider
    21 years ago

    Thanks for the info. I got my husband a dremel tool last year, so it can really be put to use. Am going to try some of those. We have classes at my daughter's greenhouse and this would be a fun project for us to do. Wish you lived close enough to teach some classes for us!!!! Let us know how your classes go!

  • jennyo
    21 years ago

    you should also do a video so that people who can not attend the classes can purchase (me being one). I envy creative people

  • gardningfool
    20 years ago

    Very Impressive!

  • ChlorophyllJill
    20 years ago

    Awesome pots!

  • smileyface
    20 years ago

    Very creative idea! You are truly gifted!

  • stjohnsgypsy
    20 years ago

    Awesome............................

  • Carole_NSW
    20 years ago

    Enjoyed firstly your pics John - wonderful creativity at hand - and what a great application using the rust-paint on your plastic pots! Then your follow-up with your how-to's, very interesting and informative. Congratulations on your success and where it took you.

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