Garden Dish Flowers...by Deanna

 Back in January when I flew home for my sister's wedding, I sat next to a woman and I'm not sure what started it but we just hit it off and talked the whole flight. Normally I try to avoid talking to my seat mates and just read a book (trust me, I have some nightmare stories about being forced into talking to strangers on planes! The worst was an 80 year old man that would. not. stop. talking. And telling me his personal life, and his love-life troubles in details (yikes!)...I put on my headphones and he kept tapping my shoulder to tell me something else!!), but Deanna and I discovered we have so much in common that I loved talking with her. 

Anyway - the point of all this is that she gave me a great project for the blog and I thought I lost it. I mean she emailed me lots of instructions and photos but then I couldn't find them! I've been really bummed about that...and then - I found her emails! So I can share this really cool idea with you - I haven't made these yet myself but I definitely will now that I have her instructions, I just wanted to share this with you as soon as I found it so you can get right to making them (and before I possibly lose this again!).

Deanna, if you are still reading the blog  - I'm SOOOOO sorry it's taken me this long to post, I really do love this idea and so enjoyed talking with you :).

She stacks dishes - plates, saucers, bowls, cups, whatever - and glues them together with a strong glue like E6000. Then attaches pvc pieces to the backside of the bottom dish in order to stand them on a pipe that she pushes into the ground. They end up looking like big pretty flowers you can "plant" outside.

Here are the directions she mailed to me, along with her photos. Don't you love this?

Ok, let’s see…  I attached the pieces together using E6000.  Less messy than epoxy.  I am sending a few more pictures for the back method.  Some people have used hockey pucks with a ½” hole drilled or even wood, but that will rot over time.  I went looking at the hardware store and decided to use PVC parts.  I attach a ½ plug to the back of the plate and then use a ½” elbow (with no threads) to attach to the plug and set onto a ½” pipe.  I used conduit pipe from Lowe’s which is inexpensive in comparison to other metals. It is a choice whether to paint the pipe green or leave it original.

pvc plug glued to the
underside of the bottom dish

then attach a pvc elbow

Only problem I have had is a few times the E6000 did not hold the PVC plug to the plate long term because of the finish on the plate.  So I have then used plain old Super Glue to glue the plug to the back of the plate and have not had any problem with that coming off.  The elbow just sits on the pipe and is easy to take off when you are ready to bring the plate in for the winter.  Another thing to be aware of is I found some really cute plastic/melmac plates.  They look adorable but the sun does fade them with time so be careful what materials you choose.

As I said on the plane, I have found the best place to get plates for this is Goodwill because it is nice to be able to see what looks good together before purchasing.  If you start finding different pieces all over, it is like beads – they are all pretty and you end up with way more than you need!  Ha ha.  But it is a fun project and I think you can get away with about $5 each if you shop carefully.  Great to give as a gift or do a nice grouping in your own yard.

I think these are so cute - what a clever idea! Thanks again Deanna!