Hi, LadyB!

Boy, have you hit upon a topic that's popular at OUR house. For years, Mark referred to himself as a bamboozler. He made loads and loads of stuff from bamboo, some of which he used to sell at Sea World's gift shop. He doesn't do a lot of it any more, but from time to time, he surprises me with something new.

Of course, like many gardeners, I use lots of bamboo outdoors as stakes, trellises, etc. But here are a few photos of things Mark has done with bamboo.

Curtain rods:

In my breakfast nook, where only a little shows...

And in the library, where the length is showing right now (though that will soon be hidden behind a cornice box trimmed with bamboo and grass cloth.) This particular piece is very crooked and we have selected a straighter one to replace it soon.

Canisters...the tops pop out and they are used for storage of small things...paper clips, stamps, coins, etc.

Pepper mills and salt shakers. I have several in different sizes.

"Jackets" for Bic lighters....

...and ballpoint pens.

And my favorite thing of all, mirror and picture frames. This one has an insert of grass cloth and is in our foyer.

Close up:

He has also made toothpick holders, ceremonial pipes, ashtrays, miniature birdhouses and more.

We have a ceramic planter thingie somewhere that says Bamboo Bungalow, which used to hang on his "shop," and I have been meaning to put it by the front door for a long time. Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm going to go dig it out and hang it up.

Thanks for this topic! It's been fun remembering just how many things he's made from bamboo, which he learned to love during his tour in VietNam. (It was the one good thing he brought home with him.)

Marcia

WOW Marcia, Mark is one talented guy!

Marcia your husband is my hero! I absolutey love the mirror and the curtain rods.. Now why didnt I think of that instaed of buying rods, everything else in the house is so natural looking it makes perfect sense.

The Salt & pepper mill is so cute I think I like it better than my princess house ones and I paid big for those..lol

Thanks so much for posting the photos it really gets me thinking.. Anyoone else have pictures to share?

Thanks for the subject! I've been meaning to post on the junk forum. I found some bamboo and want to do something creative OUTSIDE and must involve having no talent! Here's the mess I have just waiting to be transformed.

LadyB and Cindee...I will pass on your compliments to Mark. He IS pretty handy, I must say. And very creative in some areas. And if he can't fix it, it ain't broke!
*grin*

I do love the things he's made with bamboo, and if I remember any others, I'll take some extra pictures. Glad you enjoyed seeing them, and I'm waiting to see what others post. I have just cut some slender canes to put cobalt blue bottles on outside, thanks to a photo someone (sorry, can't remember who it was) posted here not long ago. Any other ideas will be fun to see.

Marcia

Hey Laura, someone on the forum staggered heights of bamboo and made a really interesting border with the pieces. It looked cool. I just can't remember, now, who it was.

staggered hieghts of bamboo, driven into the ground make a very nice border. And, if the poles are long enough, you could buy a spool of galvenized wire and make a fence. Lotsa' work, but something that would keep the dogs out of the veggie patch and that could be worked on at one's leisure.
I use very thin sticks of bamboo (1/2" or less) as stems for my nite lite garden flowers. (Donna, you have a couple of those, don't you?)
As for the mirror, it's just lovely and I've thought more than once that I'd love some split bamboo to enhance a rather blah bedroom suite. It would even cause me to actually get those pieces stripped and sanded and sealed.
Hmmmmm, and in the bathroom, a bamboo frame and some velcro would hide the water damage on the bottom edge of the mirror over the sink. LOL!!! given time, this place would resemble Tarzan's tree house! cora

Yes, I like the idea of using it as a border. I'm using stacked flagstone as a border but the use of the bamboo as a point of interest at various places in the flagstone will break up the horizontal with some verticle. Thanks y'all.

i make all of my trellis's out of bamboo. They are different sizes depending on what i need them for. the trellis's are the basic retangular shapes you would find in the stores. They are super easy to build and look ten times better than the store bought ones.

this week i'm building a bamboo teepee for a pipvine to crawl up. should be interesting....

-chris

These are bottle tree saplings,some bamboo some rebar some coppper
{{gwi:900700}}

Must have been you I was referring to, GP. I knew someone had put cobalt bottles on bamboo canes. I just love that look, and I'm going to add a few to my garden, too. My favorite color accent! Yours look great!

Marcia

WOW these projects your husband made are really nice. Do you grow your own bamboo? I have a couple of different types in pots - Buddha Belly is one type but it doesn't look big enough to do those projects you have done. Another type is yellow groove but I think that's a spreading bamboo

Barb, we do have several varieties of bamboo growing, but the projects made with the BIG stuff (the canisters, for instance) were made some years ago with bamboo Mark found growing in a wild area. There are quite a few varieties which will get that big around (or more) over time. One of the ones we ARE growing has new canes at least 3" thick already. It's clumping bamboo, though, and whenever any canes grow out a bit too far, I just cut 'em off. I have designated an area for it, and I don't plan to let it get wider than that area. Running bamboo, we mostly grow in containers. It's my favorite, actually, because I love the leaves all the way to the ground. But I don't want it popping up 20 feet away from where I planted it, so it stays in pots.

We have some Buddha's Belly, too, but the one we have doesn't get real thick. It DOES make beautiful, sculptural looking canes (kinda short, so far) that look good as decorative stakes in potted plants.

Marcia

I was watching HGTV this afternoon featuring all the new ideas for outdoor living. One of the features was a bamboo house (I forget what it was used for) and it was covered with bamboo attached vertically all over. If you have a lot of bamboo, it would be a good project to cover an old shed or just add accents - maybe the corners and the door. It caught my eye right away.

Marcia, ditto on Mark's beautiful bamboo pieces.

Ginny

Here's a sample of what I'll be doing with my bamboo. I'll still be using the flagstone and use the bamboo to give some interest. Thanks for the suggestions

Laura, that is so nice. I would do the same if I had bamboo and flagstone. Love the look.

Ginny

I haven't done this, DH was intending to but settled into his recliner instead LOL. You can take small bamboo and cut individual cells so one end is closed. Bundle them together and hang up some where. The bees make a little hive. Still have the bamboo, think I will suggest giveing the recliner a rest.

Hopeful, I've seen that done for carpenter bees, too. Gives them a place to live that doesn't involve them drilling into your house or garage. They are great pollinators, and I think I might try that, as well.

Thanks for the reminder!

Marcia

Luara I really like the look of the mived flagstoe with the bamboo. I have large river rocks bordering one large bed along the back feence and was just saying I needed more rocks do manybe if I split it up with bamboo I could use some of the rocks further down.. Hmm food for thought for sure.

I have carpenter bees as well and that is a great idea, just need to find a place to put them.

Ginny what a plan..LOL My husbnad is going to think I am crazy. We have an old metal shed that badly needs repainted so maybe instead of buying paint we can cover it in bamboo.. The lot is absolutely filled with clumps the size of my car and so tall its not even funny. Just need to steal away the truck from Max and get the saw out!

Thanks everyone for your ideas its really inspiring...