Is there anything more exciting than finding something good in someone else’s garbage? I love the idea of reducing, reusing, recyling–and, of course, as the designers say, “upcycling.”
My recent trash-to-treasure find was an old cast iron birdbath that was in the garbage pile at a neighbour’s house. I just happened to be out walking Cookie and there it was, calling to me. So, I lugged it home–and it was heavy–visualizing how lovely it would be when I cleaned it up and repainted it! The bad news is that, unbeknownst to me, the bath part on the top of the base had a hole rusted right through the middle of it. I didn’t even have to worry about how to get it off because one touch of my hand and it fell to the ground. Sigh…
Instinct told me to keep the pretty cast iron base and try to find some sort of basin to form the bath part. A couple of weeks later, on a Sunday afternoon drive in the countryside, we came across a little antique shop. There, like a star shining on a dark night, sat a huge, shallow, heavy glass dish…or something. It weighed a ton and the underside was coated with mother-of-pearl. The price tag read $10. Oh, yes! This was my birdbath!
The project couldn’t have been easier or quicker. I sprayed a couple of coats of Varathane on the underside of the bath to protect it from the elements. When it was dry, I spread two-hour epoxy on both pieces, sat the bath on top of the base, added a weight on top to ensure a good bond and then waited 48 hours for the epoxy to seal. By the way, I used marine epoxy because it can even glue things together under water. No worries about the rain affecting the bond on this birdbath. (The shimmering blue colours of the mother-of-pearl don’t show up in these photos…darn!)
So that’s it, that’s all, for now. Keep an eye on your neighbours’ garbage. You never know what trash-to-treasure items are waiting for you.
Thanks for stopping by!
Gloria
P.S. I’m still wandering around my yard looking for just the right place to display my beautiful new garden treasure.