Garden Styles & Decor · In the Garden

Trash to Treasure: how to shop for garden delights

Trash to treasure. A votive candle holder is shaped like a little blue bird. It sits on a fence post in the garden
Blue bird votive candle holder. A cheerful presence in my garden

Trash to Treasure

We’d have fun shopping together! Going around to garage sales or thrift stores, we’d surely find a special treasure or two to take home for the garden. That’s precisely what this article is about. Turning trash to treasure: how to shop for garden delights.

Not sure what to look for? That’s ok! I’ll cover the types of things that make great accent pieces. Plus how to use them in ways you never thought of. I’ll show you some of things I’ve found and how they complement my garden.

Fortunately, the timing couldn’t be better. Because Spring is the best time to find goodies for the garden. Thrift stores operate just like retail, so they’ll have all their Spring and Easter stuff out on the shelves.

The ‘key’ for trash to treasure

The key to success when shopping for the garden is to know before you go. In other words, know what decorating “look” or ‘style’ you want to achieve. Is your garden formal or informal? Do you like Rustic? Shabby Chic? What about country cottage?

Shopping dollar stores is more than stretching your legs or stretching your budget. It’s also about stretching your imagination. You’ll see a lot of stuff on the shelf that doesn’t look like much. So, you’ll have to imagine it painted, or planted or as part of a vignette display. And that just takes practice.

For example, I found this plain old brass butterfly nik-nak. It had some greasy, gooey stuff on it, too. Certainly didn’t look like anything special. But almost ANYthing can be spray-painted!

Trash to treasure. A metal butterfly has been spray-painted bright colors. It sits on a rock in the garden
plain brass nik-nak after spray painting

I took it home and soaked it in hot, soapy water. Then, I took it out in the sunshine and played around with some different colors. That day, I learned a new spray paint technique and added a beautiful butterfly to my flower garden. What “critters” would you like to see in yours?

Get the creative juices flowing

Here’s another example. This cutesy owl is actually a metal kitchen trivet. He was just laying there on the shelf with a bunch of other cooking gadgets. Other shoppers overlooked him because, who needs a trivet, right?

But to me, he’s not a trivet! I love owls. I live in the countryside and have owls around. So, this little guy would fit perfectly in with my garden scheme. I snatched him right up.

Metal or cast iron trivets make fantastic garden art because they’re indestructible in any weather. They can be painted any color or left to get good and rusty if that’s what you like. Hang one up by the garden shed, on a fence post or on a tree. Ta-dah!

See how Kristen uses trivets in her garden

Indoor decor goes outside

In many ways, outdoor decorating is a lot like interior decorating. But you do have to use some discernment on what stuff is suitable for outside conditions. And what will hold up the longest after being exposed to the weather?

Materials made from metal, resin or tough plastic, ceramics are good choices for garden decor. Many things intended for indoor use can easily be used outdoors, just use your imagination. I glued a paper clip on the back of this plastic cookie tray and hung it up by my driveway address marker–50 cents. Trash to treasure really can be this simple!

Trash to treasure. An un-wanted plastic heart-shaped cookie tray makes a pretty garden decoration.
Caption: plastic cookie tray is pretty decoration

Another craft you can do with any plastic or melamine trays is to screw them to a wood survey stake and turn it into a cheerful garden decoration. The only thing to remember about plastic is that it fades in the sunshine. But it’s so cheap! If after a year or two it fades too much for your liking, you can always spray paint it with a paint that’s made to stick to plastic.

More trash to treasure ideas

You’ll always find someone’s discarded wood crafts at the thrift store. If you’re looking for letters, they’re considerably less expensive than buying new. Just sand and re-paint. You probably won’t find all the same fonts or sizes. Whatever word or name you’re spelling will just take on a delightfully whimsical look that way.

You’ll find decorative metal wall art among all the candle stuff. I found two matching ones that were just the right size for the window in my garden shed. Then I spray-painted it.

A frilly metal wall hanging is just the right size to fit under the window trim of garden shed to decorate the shed's window.
Caption: interior wall decor adds pizzazz to my garden shed

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As for candle sconces, you can glue a teacup over the candle holder and make a pretty bird feeder out of it. Just make sure it’s not one with a metal spike in the center.

Garden Rooms are all the rage lately. I’m not talking about indoor “sun rooms”, but rather a dedicated outdoor living space. Patios, back decks or your personal “she shed”, are other great places to embellish with trash to treasure goodies.

Anything that holds dirt makes a whimsical planter. Besides, it’s cheaper than buying planters from the garden center, and more fun, too. How ’bout an old teapot or coffee mug? Pots and pans? Even a colorful pair of rain boots…or cowboy boots for that matter. Whatever fits your theme will give pull the look together and make your patio or garden area look great!

Trash to treasure, pair of child's rain boots planted with flowers. Boots make whimsical flower pots
boots make the most whimsical planters

Final thoughts

Springtime is the best time to find treasures to use as decor in the yard or garden. Hopefully, with some inspiration and ideas, you can shop for your garden this summer. I so wish we could go together. Just a couple of things to remember:

  1. have a ‘theme’ in mind (and stick to it)
  2. Anything is paintable (or re-paintable)
  3. Exercise your imagination

Whether you hit the garage sales or peruse your local thrift store, I’d love to see what you made. Why not send me a photo and I’ll stick it up on our braggin’ board for everyone to see.

Have fun and happy gardening!

More great ideas for the garden

Bicycle decor that turns up the charm

The Art of the Flea Market Garden

The Rustic Garden: how to nail the look

8 thoughts on “Trash to Treasure: how to shop for garden delights

  1. Kris, how about incorporating a field trip to a local thrift store for those who want to learn what to look for and buy before doing a class with you?

    1. That’s an idea I’m working on. But I think I’ll start out with demonstrations and “make and take”. Something simple like a birdbath. SEE the post I wrote on making a birdbath–(type Bird Bath into the search bar at the top) The birdbath only requires 3 pieces that anyone can find. We’ll see how those go. But in the future, I would like to do a video. I don’t have the proper equipment right now, so that will have to wait. Thanks so much for your input!

  2. These are mostly trash to trashier. At least put some kind of creativity into sticking cake pans in the garden

    1. To each his own. Yes, one can get quite creative with practically anything. But for those who don’t feel like they are very creative, or don’t want to go to a lot of extra trouble or expense, some things can be used just as they are in the garden. And that was the point of this article.

  3. I love your ideas but how can u plant in things like teapots? There’s no drainage & if u drill a hole, won’t it crack?

    1. Good questions: Some people lay pebbles in the bottom of a tea pot so it leaves room for drainage (if used inside). A teapot is great for succulents as they won’t require that much water. If used as garden art, some people stick artificial flowers in it…just for looks. But yes, it is quite easy to drill a drainage hole in the bottom of a ceramic teapot. Not everyone will have the tools or be so inclined. But I drill holes in plates for making dish flowers. And I’ve drilled teapots too. It requires a special tool for a drill. It has a round tip like very rough sandpaper. The process is more like grinding than drilling. It must be done in water so the heat generated by the drill tip doesn’t crack the pot (or the plate for that matter). If you’d like to see how this works, here’s a link to an article I wrote about drilling: https://makeitagarden.com/how-to-drill-a-plate-for-garden-art/.

      1. This is my delight and the purpose of this website. Thanks for taking the time to comment!

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