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Trash To Treasure

Can anyone say totems or birdbaths

22 years ago

I went to the dump yesterday and brought home 2 truckloads of goodies this one man was throwing away a bunch of trophies he gave them to me and also said he had over 100 more that I could have when he cleaned out his bldg I'm in totem and birdbath heaven. Thats not counting all the other good stuff we found Got 2 bicycles to take apart and do some things with was I lucky or what?

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Comments (9)

Yellow22
22 years ago
I don't know but I pass them up at the thrift store...I've yet to see something made with them. I'd like to see what you come up with, maybe I'll give it a try.
toomuchglass
22 years ago
I see old trophies for pennies at garage sales. I can't think of anything to use them for ! Can you share any ideas for them with us ?
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Well, you are correct , there is not a FAQ on it that I can find , so I'll give it a shot describing how I make totems, first - shop for glass, looking for smooth glue-able ends (found out hard way not everything "pretty "is easy to stick together.) you'll end up with way more than you need for 1 , soooo, you'll have to plan on 2 or more ;-) get some GE silicone II sealant from walmart,Kmart,big box stores - stack your glass (or whatever) till you find the right combo that suits you , then start sticking them together, I prefer to start with the bottom piece, and build upward , leaving time between each piece to let it set up, as it can slip off center if you get in too big a hurry - I find I can go back about every 20-30 min and add more,I would guess it depends on what the temp is, I usually do mine inside,so temp is consistant. I also use an old tray to set mine up on, and lay the caulk gun on, in case it drips, wipe off excess GEII right away , as it will dry globby if too much oozes out when pieces placed together .I am like a crow , so I look for sparkly, shiny pieces , but its a matter of personal choice ,of type of glass, ceramic , or china, there are some beautiful totems here in the Junk yard, sure you will get some links to see. Good luck, have fun and show us what you make. Suzy
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Here I had thought of making a totem, but never thought of making a birdbath totem. I think I'll make a shallow version to put in my herb garden for the butterflies. I check this forum every day, but I never post much. I've been real busy with a major makeover to the outside of our house (roof, siding, doors, windows, painting), so I haven't had time for gardening and crafts this year. I'm taking some vacation from work in a couple of weeks, and I will definitely make time to create one of these birdbaths.
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Comments (15)
Lucky cousin and lucky birds! I agree with marlenee_2008 on the balance of the pieces. The colors are very pretty too - subdued so they don't take away from neighboring flowers but still a pretty neutral tone to be able to stand out on its own. I also like all the different textures. What a great idea to use a glass light shade for the bowl and to use a crystal knob to plug it up! Thanks so much for sharing!
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My daughter took a cheap birdbath (the white plastic kind under $10) and filled the top part almost to the top with a mix of cement, perlite, peat. She let it set up until somewhat settled. Then she took mosiac tiles and put them into the top...if it's too hard to put them in then you could just glue them and grout them. The cement will pop right out of the plastic when it's set up. She sets this cement/mosiac top on the cement base for a table like decoration for the garden. She also took the base and made her own base but you wouldn't need one since you have one that you need something to put on it! I put a copper colored bowling ball on top another cement base to look like a gazing ball. Obviously you want to make sure the thumb holes are facing down so no one sees them!!!
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donnainnc
Original Author
22 years ago
I took them apart and will rearrange along with old lamps and things to make birdbaths and feeders andgarden totems will post pics when I get them done
Carolina_pig
22 years ago
I can't wait to see what you come up with!!

Carolina
toomuchglass
22 years ago
VERY CLEVER IDEA (with the trophies !) I hope you can post pics when you are done :)
kalona511
22 years ago
Donna, looking forward to seeing pics of what you do with your trophies and bikes. Good haul!

Kalona
trashtricks
21 years ago
I reuse old trophies too, I have made staves for parades or attach to each tent leg when I do events. MSO aka one with couch makes me musical shakers out of them which are fun. if they are the trophy ladies I use them in my collage projects. I also have a marble orchard in my yard where I laid the marble pieces like brickswhich are now covered in weeds lol One of my friends uses the wooden base parts for musical sanding bars, and drum stick practice. I do have a totem of the wonderful holographic pieces in my corner of the living room. Sometimes the special oly,pics in the area will take them too as trophies for there participants.the double ended thread rods and connectors can be used for tons of other stuff too....including link to my DDP photoalbum which has some of the other projects I get roped into hope the link works

Here is a link that might be useful: dumpster Diversion Project
User
21 years ago
Trash tricks....

I really enjoyed your pics....how creative!!
ashli
21 years ago
What can you make with old bicycle parts?
We have 3 rusting bikes.

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