Upcycled Glass Flower Art

This upcycled glass flower art tutorial is a guest post written by my buddy Heather from Massachusetts. She has posted so many good things over the years, it’s hard to keep track but some of her previous posts include a trip to Johnny’s Seed Company , DIY Flock Block Treats for Chickens, a Fun Story About a Bookstore, the Boston Flower and Garden Show, a Wicked Storm, DIY Garden Markers, and of course, oodles of posts about her garden.

Upcycled Glass Flower Art

It starts out the same way. I’m driving and have GPS on but forget to turn on the sound. Which isn’t usually a problem unless we get talking because we haven’t seen each other in months (so we have a TON to cover) and get distracted. Plus Mavis is hooking in the passenger seat so she’s not looking at the GPS either. Then bam, we’re like “did we miss our exit?”

Spoiler alert: yes. After pulling over, fiddling with my phone, getting back on track and resuming chatter we always trip upon a good place to stop. Always. Plus it’s super helpful I can bang-a-yuey like a pro! (J/k husband, I always find a quite road to turn around. 😉

As Mavis mentioned our first day was a marathon of bakeries, thrift stores, antique stores, and salads eaten in parking lots because we’re on a mission to squeeze every drop of fun out of the day.

One of the stops was a Salvation Army store in Brunswick, Maine. I went in not really looking for anything, but ya know, open to finding a surprise. Sure enough I found some glass that would be nice for my glass flower art projects and so Mavis and I checked all the shelves in the kitchenware section and I left with a box of glass plates, bowls and vases!

Girlfriends who are craft-enablers are the best, how can you say no? So here is How to make Upcycled Glass Flower Yard Art:

Supplies:

• A variety of glass bowls, plates, cups, etc  – colored glass is a bonus ($.20-$1 each)
• E6000 craft glue (around $3-4 per tube. Shop around on this, prices vary and it will last for many projects.)
• .375 – inch steel rebar (around $4 each, found at Lowes and HD)
• ½” flat boring wood drill ($5-6)
• A pile of old hockey pucks (Free – ask around)
• Rust-Oleum Universal Flat Oil Rubbed Bronze Metallic Spray Paint and Primer In One ($7 a can). It’s not flat black, not shiny black, but not brown, kinda natural. I love the color and used it on the yard swing I refurbished, my second-hand meal deck furniture, the giant windmill my son made for me in HS, some refurbished drawer pulls, and I’m about to change the color of the curtain rods we inherited with this house with that color too. So the $7 is worth it, but choose a color you will use on multiple projects so the can is not wasted.)
• Electric drill

Directions

First, run all your glass thru a cycle in the dishwasher, the glue sticks better if the glassware is clean. Then cover your work space (my dining room table) in paper because that glue will NOT come off.

Then pull out all your glass and start mixing and matching, multiple times until you find some combinations you like. Don’t think you have to use every piece of glass you have. I started with a dozen pieces and only made three solid flowers.

The next steps can be done in any order because the glue will take a solid 24-48 hours to set and can’t be moved.

• Spray the rebar outside. This keeps it from rusting and gives it a “finished” look I think.
• Drill holes in the hockey pucks ½- ¾ the way through with an electric drill and your ½’ drill bit. Use a clamp to hold it to something so the hockey puck won’t move. This gives the rebar a stopping point and “hangs” the flower.
• Stack and glue the drilled hockey pucks to the back plate or bowl, and then assemble the flowers together and weight them down. Pro-tip: the glue has a bit of suction and will roll which means you’ll come back to find your flowers all crooked. Go ahead and use extra hockey pucks to prop the  stack from moving.
• After 24-48 hours of drying, it’s time to attach the rebar. Squirt a nice glob of glue in the hockey puck hole and insert the rebar. I laid mine down on the floor in a side room where they wouldn’t be disturbed. I also propped up the end of the rebar with another piece so the poles would dry level’ish in the pucks.

Let this glue dry for another 24-48 hours and you’re good to go. These make great gifts for you or friends. Note: bring your yard art into the garage or shed for the winter. I left mine out as a test (it was a mild winter in MA) and 50% of the flowers fell off the pucks.

It looks as though we all have a few days to try new things… so why not?

~ Heather