Re-purposed Wheel Flowers
When you’re a junk lover, extra pieces of this and that tend to gather! It can be fun to combine some of these forlorn pieces that are laying about and turn them into whimsical, unique art! I’m always challenged to find a new purpose for downtrodden junk, which you can see from the glimpse of my “Garden Hoses Wreath”, above. Today, I’ll combine a couple of old wheels with a few graphic yardsticks and some garden edging to create Re-purposed Wheel Flowers. They are perfect to hang outside for junky summertime art!
I’m sharing these Re-purposed Wheel Flowers today as part of our monthly Thrifty Chicks challenge. We’re a group of creative, DIYers who love to create junkovers inspired by a theme. This month we are creating with yardsticks/rulers. Can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with! I’ll have links to my friend’s projects at the end:)
Mr. Fix-it and I actually made these re-purposed wheel flowers years ago and I sold many of them at my former store. So…you’re not going to get a step-by-step tutorial like I’ve previously done, but I think you’ll see how easy they are to whip up, anyway!
Gather extra vintage wheels from old strollers, children’s toys, and garden carts. The more colorful the better. If all you can find is boring white, give them a coat of fun-colored chalk paint.
Also grab whatever fun hardware you can find: hex bolts, washers, springs, hose handles, etc. Junky bling is good.
You’ll also need some yardsticks or rulers for the stems.
And garden edging for the leaves. These wheel flowers have the plastic version on them. The vintage metal type is much more desirable! I recently picked up a roll and think I’ll be swapping up!
- Choose a screw or bolt that will perfectly fit through the hole in your chosen wheel.
- Cut your yardstick to your desired length of your flower. Larger wheels, longer stem; smaller wheels, shorter stem.
- Drill a matching size hole 1″ from the end of your yardstick.
- Place your bolt or screw through your extra bling, then your wheel, then your yardstick. Finish it off with a nut to hold it all together tightly on the back side.
For leaves, use a tin snip to cut out leaf shapes from crimped garden edging. Use small nails to nail one or two leaves onto ruler stem. Have some leaves come from behind and some on the front. Hammer down nail ends. Leaves could also be glued on with a strong adhesive.
To hang your re-purposed wheel flower, simply tie a length of twine around the flower head. We initially tried to go fancy with some electrical wire, as you could see in the pic above, but good-old-twine worked better! You could also give the whole flower a nice spray of poly to bring out the colors of the metal and the yardstick. Think my flowers could use a little to freshen them up!
These re-purposed wheel flowers are so fun to hang on the porch, a picket fence, the garage, or even inside your home!
Create a whole garden full!
Don’t you just love when a few vintage, junky items can be brought together to create something unique and fun? These items can easily be found at the flea market or an estate or garage sale (or in your garage, if you’re a junk hoarder, like me;)
For another fun yardstick-inspired junkover project, check out my “Sewing Machine Drawer Kitchen Organizer” for last July’s Thrifty Chicks challenge! My pantry also features vintage yardsticks in an unusual way {“Chalkboard Wall in the Pantry“} You can never go wrong adding a yardstick or ruler to a project!
Hope you feel inspired to create some Re-purposed wheel flowers for yourself! Please pin and share! Then we can see what my Thrifty Chicks friends came up with for the challenge!
Check out all the Thrifty Chicks Yardstick/Ruler projects!
- Little Vintage Cottage, “Re-purposed Yardstick Counter Top”
- Shoppe No. 5, “How Yardsticks Gave New Life to a Stool”
- Me;)
- Thrifty Rebel Vintage, “Re-purposed Vintage Folding Ruler Frame”
- Adirondack Girl at Heart, “Vintage Yardstick Scrabble Tile DIY Garden Marker”
Sharing at these lovely parties:
What an amazing idea to re purposed wheel. Thanks for sharing such a nice thing.
Thanks, Mary!
SO cute! Thanks for sharing at Vintage Charm–pinned!
Thanks for pinning, Cecilia!
You always make the most adorable garden flowers, Lora. Love these! Pinned 🙂
Thanks, Marie!And thanks for pinning!
Love, love, love these flowers Lora. They are fabulous!
They totally remind me of you, Tuula! Junky flowers forever!
Oh my goodness, those are SO cute!
Tania
Perfectly junky; and I don’t even have to water them;)
LOVE these gorgeous, junky flowers, Lora–great way to incorporate yardsticks into the project. You nailed it!!
Thanks, Diana! I’m definitely a yardstick lover like you:)
Well, aren’t these flowers the cutest things. So easy for a sweet piece of artwork.
Thanks, Debra! They smile at me each time I walk in the door;)