Do You Ever Make Things With Your Yard Trimmings?

[Trellum]

I make artwork with dried flower petals. I have boxes of dried flowers for just this purpose. I was fortunate enough to have an aunt who lived on a flower farm and she would go out to the fields, pick flowers, and dry them for me.

That sounds awesome!!!! Could you please tell us what you do with those petals exactly? It would be even cooler if you could share pictures of your art over here, I'm so interested on this kind of art with things that are no longer in use by the plant/flower.

 

[claudine]

MStory, I'd love to see it too
My boyfriend had given me a few poppies during one of our first dates. I dried the petals and used them to make a picture, but it doesn't look too pretty. It's very dear to me though

 

[MStory]

Wow, artwork from dried flower petals sounds really cool. Did you do abstract art, or was it like a realistic portrait of a person made out of flowers?

Mostly abstract. One of my mixed media pieces that I did was of a snake in a tree. The snake was constructed of beads, the tree limbs of sand, and the leaves of flower petals. When you close your eyes and run your hand over the piece, you can actually feel the snake, tree and leaves. I've thought about donating it to an organization for the visually impaired.

 

[MStory]

That sounds awesome!!!! Could you please tell us what you do with those petals exactly? It would be even cooler if you could share pictures of your art over here, I'm so interested on this kind of art with things that are no longer in use by the plant/flower.

Petals have a variety of colours and textures, so you can pretty well use them to create any kind of image. I use a gel medium which is essentially a clear acrylic to adhere the petals onto the board. Here's the a snake I made with beads, flower petals and sand. Sorry the image isn't better.

 

[MStory]

MStory, I'd love to see it too
My boyfriend had given me a few poppies during one of our first dates. I dried the petals and used them to make a picture, but it doesn't look too pretty. It's very dear to me though

How did you stick them to your picture? Try gel medium. At first it won't look like it'll stick or dry clear, but it does and it lasts forever. Here's another piece I did called "Release" It uses sand from two different parts of the world, and flower petals. Again, not the best photo, but you get the idea.

 

[forextraspecialstuff]

I have collected branches and pine cones around the holidays and used them in my apartment. I spray paint the pine cones gold and put them in large apothecary jars. I also spray paint the branches gold and then lightly dust the tips with a silvery champagne glitter and place them in large vases by my electric fireplace.

 

[Mockingbird]

What great art ideas for flower petals. I never though of this! But I like it!

I use the reeds from the Tiger Lily for dried flower pieces and I gather some of the vines and dry them for wreathes. I look for pine cones, acorns and small pieces of wood and make bird food for the winter birds. You put peanut butter on the pine cone and roll through seeds, what type of seed depends on what type of bird you want to attract. Then you hang them on string far enough away from things the squirrels can use to get at them.

I take the sticks and make little hangers, in the spring I hang yarn scraps for the nesting birds to use. The like shiny ribbon, human or dog hair, cotton and yarn. Here is a picture of one I found on a blog, they used a wire whisk, which is very smart and inexpensive. I just tie together a stick box and use that. I think the natural branches are better for their little feet.

 

[DirtMechanic]

I am trying to decide if I will make pathway walls out of cut firewood/logs. I can chip the smaller material, but stacked along a pathway and fed sugar and protien meal my hopes are high that the "wall" of the pathaways will become a fertile shade garden.

 

[Silentrunning]

I sliced a chunk off a Sycamore Tree that I had chopped down and made a couple steps to get into my log corn crib. It makes it much better for me with my bum knee.

 

[roadrunner]

I make soil with my yard trimmings.

 

[Larisa]

My friends did it from plastic caps from bottles.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

In general, I don't make things from my yards trimmings. But, I have taken the tall Alliums when done and dry, and give them a nice light spray of gold paint and use them for a decorative touch to a vase.