This is a really fun thread. I like to see what everyone has in their garden and how thoughtful about art and creative you all are. I often think I'm going to "make" some garden art but then never get around to it. I don't decorate the garden with a whole lot of art. I have a few decorative stakes and then a few glazed birdbaths and some copper sprinklers that I use more for decoration than watering. My mom has a very cute piece of garden art. The story behind it is that we were at Hever Castle in England and they were selling all kinds of cement statues. We fell in love with so many of them. My mom couldn't part with this guy. Hever Castle was down a hill so we had to hike back up the hill, carry him on the rest of our tour and then carry him home on the plane. He weighed between 30-35 pounds so it was like carrying a little person around. He was well worth it though!

Pinecone-If you will Google Shekeres and Mbiras you will get hundreds of sites with instructions for making these instruments.Your 6th graders should have a lot of fun doing this.I have a DGD in the 6th grade and she really enjoys crafting with gourds. Good Luck.......Lillie

Add me to the list of those who love this thread. Five or so years ago I found myself at a New Years Eve party at the home of a sculptor and painter. Within a few minutes of arriving, I understood the joy of living with a lot of art. A number of my friends are professional artists, and I'm fortunate that they've been generous. Plus my mother was an artist, and I'm an avid photographer. So I have lots of meaningful pieces on my walls. But this house doesn't have all that many walls (some were removed, plus we have big windows), and now my cousin, a painter, has started sending me wonderful portraits of the two of us as children, as well as paintings of my gardens. And I've been working on my dad's eminently frameable b&w photographs from the 1940s. Oy! Where will I put everything?? With your help, I'm sure I'll think of something.... Susan

Ah! :) Then I suggest that you add small white shelves (stagger them on the wall) to the wall above the pub table -- and then add bits of large and small white coral to them! And then add a very large white seashell to your pretty mirrored table .... And perhaps add a vintage seaside travel poster to the wall to the left of the sectional ....