Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Happy Hubcap Flower DIY

How many of you have driven past lost and abandoned hubcaps on the side of the road and thought to yourself, "I could do something with those!" Well...I thought that exact thing for years and finally did something about it! It all started with a quick roadside hubcap hunt (mentioned in DIY Sneak Peek post a little over a week ago), which made me the proud owner of a Saab, a Volvo, and an Audi all at once...the only time I'll ever say that in my lifetime!

Hur många av er har kört förbi tappade navkapslar på sidan av vägen och tänkte, "Jag skulle kunna göra något med dem!" Tja ... Jag trodde likadant i flera år och äntligen gjorde jag något åt ​​det! Det  började med en snabb navkapseljakt på sidan av vägen och jag blev stolt ägare av en Saab, en Volvo och en Audi - den enda gången jag någonsin kommer att säga så under min livstid!

So, home to the bathtub they went for a good scrub - which also provided me with the necessary motivation to give my bathtub a good cleaning afterwards. Bonus!

Jag använde badkaret för att tvätta navkaselarna - vilket också gett mig den motivation som krävs för att ge mitt badkar en bra rengöring efteråt. Bonus!


I applied a quick coat of spray primer - didn't worry about full coverage...just enough to give the plastic hubcaps a bit of support to hold the paint. Remember when hubcaps were actually metal? Nowadays they are so lightweight, so I already knew I wanted to create a 'wall garden'. I left one of the hubcaps turned over in the photo so that you could see that I didn't worry about getting all the grease and grime off the back sides...it won't show in the end, so no problem to skip that step and save yourself some time.

Jag målade med ett snabbt lager 'spray primer' - oroa dig inte om det inte täcks helt, bara tillräckligt för att ge plasten lite stöd för att hålla färgen. Kommer du ihåg när navkapslarna var av metall? Numera är de så lätta att jag redan visste att jag ville skapa en "vägg​​trädgård". Jag lämnade en av navkapslarna lutande på bilden så att man kan se att jag inte har tagit bort allt fett och smuts från baksidan - det kommer inte att visas på slutet, så hoppa det steget och spara lite tid.


I found zip ties (cable ties) in the garage and attached them around the openings at the outer edge of the hubcap (we had two different lengths as luck would have it). These would be my petals.

Sedan tog jag buntband som fanns i garaget och satte dem runt öppningarna på den yttre kanten. Dessa kommer bli kronblad.


And now for my favorite part...spray painting!

Och nu till min favorit - sprutmålning!


In the photo above, you get a sneak peek at the other two flowers that will be added to my wall garden when I get them finished later this week. I painted a bright blue center to contrast with the pink/purple color chosen for the flower. It's okay if the edges bleed together a bit...makes it feel a little more airbrushed.

På bilden ovan får du en tjuvtitt på de andra två blommorna som kommer att läggas till min väggträdgård när dem är färdiga senare i veckan. Jag målade mitten blå som kontrast till den rosa / lila färg som valts för blomman. Det är okej om kanterna blöder ihop lite och gör att det känns lite mer airbrushed.


Making this flower not only forced me to give my bathtub a good scrub, it also provided one of my overgrown bushes outside with a nice springtime trim when I needed some branches to use for my flower stems. The leaves are made from plastic strapping - the kind that comes around boxes to hold them together during shipping. A quick trip to the back side of a local home improvement store gave me what I needed...and I even scored a couple of green straps that were perfect for this project.

Detta projekt resulterade inte bara i ett rent badkar utan också vältrimmade buskar utanför huset då jag behövde några grenar att använda som blomstjälkar. Bladen är gjorda av plastband - den sort som kommer runt lådor för att hålla dem samman under transporten. En snabb bilresa till baksidan av Bauhaus gav mig vad jag behövde och jag fick även ett par gröna band som var perfekt för detta projekt.


I simply cut a length of the plastic strapping and used a staple gun to hold it in place.

Jag skar en bit plastband och använde en häftpistol för att hålla dem på plats.


More fun with spray painting! This time with green.

Mer kul med sprutmålning! Denna gång med grönt.


After my first failed attempt at giving the flower center a final flourish (it looked more like a boob than a flourish), I opted for some flat glass beads that I've had stuffed in a drawer for forever...they gave just enough flourish. I used an all-purpose clear bonding glue (kinda like super glue) that worked a charm.

Efter mitt första misslyckade försök till att ge blommans centrum 'bling' (det såg mer ut som en bröstvårta än bling), valde jag några platta glaspärlor som jag har haft stoppade i en låda i evigheter och de gav precis tillräckligt bling. Jag använde ett universallim som funkade bra.


Ah, there she is. Flora, the first bloom on my wall garden. I put a wire hook on her back side - easy to do because there are so many hook openings or wires already on the back of the hubcap - and hung her on an existing screw that was coming out of our brick home. The stem is simply supported by the ground and the flower, but it will soon get its own little support to keep it attached to the wall properly.

Ah, där är hon. Flora, den första blomningen på min väggträdgård. Jag lägger en trådkrok på hennes baksida - lätt att göra eftersom det finns så många öppningar eller ledninga på baksidan av navkapseln - och hängde henne på en befintlig skruv på vår tegelvägg. Stammen stöds av marken och blomman, men den kommer snart att få ett eget stöd för att hålla fast den på väggen ordentligt.



The wall - soon to be wall garden - is just begging for more of these colorful little bits of eye candy. I can't wait to get the others finished.

Väggen - som snart blir väggträdgård - bara tigger om fler av detta färgglada ögongodis. Jag kan inte vänta tills dem andra är klara.



I hope you'll stop by Blue Velvet Chair later this week to see if the wall garden has bloomed! And I can't wait to see some happy hubcap flowers bloom in your garden soon.

Jag hoppas att du snart kommer på besök igen till Blue Velvet Chair senare denna vecka för att se om väggträdgården har blommat! Och jag kan inte vänta att se några glada navkapselblommor blomma i din trädgård snart.

Another big thanks to Jackie over at Simple Home Life for the guest blog exchange this week and letting me showcase my flower.

Until next time...
Tills nästa gång...
Michael

p.s.  If you enjoyed this post, I hope you'll become a follower of my blog and a fan on FB.

Timerhttp://www.facebookloginhut.com/facebook-login/

Visit thecsiproject.com

Also linked to these fun link parties!

16 comments:

  1. Very cute upcycled idea!! This would look great in a garden :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. how clever with the tie wraps - i would not EVER have thought of this. Fun and bright and cheerful! Agree with Trisha too - perfect for an outdoor art installation :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a great idea! I love it, so pretty! You did a fabulous job!
    I saw this entry at Polly want a crafter party link.
    Hugs, Rleen

    ReplyDelete
  4. So cute Mike, can't wait to see them in person. I am sure all the Swedes are liking them, but are to scared to try their own!

    Laurie

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks everyone! I'm glad you are enjoying them as much as I am...I can see them 'blooming' from my living room.
    Laurie - I have faith that I'll be seeing these in Swedish gardens everywhere! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm going to make those!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Now this is sooooo NIFTY THRIFTY!!! Love the idea you had here and thanks for sharing it at my party.

    Blessings,
    Linda

    ReplyDelete
  8. Mike,

    I saw a Renault hubcap today, you have to find one to make a flower, it had a great design that would go with your garden!

    Laurie

    P.S. If I can get to it, I'll get it for you!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Laurie - LOL! I LOVE it when others are willing to gather my supplies for me :-)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Michael! It's lovely! Thanks so much for joining Link Your Stuff again.
    Have a great day!
    Best wishes from sunny Holland,
    Annemarie

    ReplyDelete
  11. Wow, what a great idea!! Very clever.....

    ReplyDelete
  12. OMG - I couldn't wait to see the end result! You are so creative and I'm going to be looking for hubcaps now. My husband will think I've gone made but I'll show him your pictures. Thanks for linking up - I'll be highlighting your project next weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  13. At that place is no lasting advance of Parkinson's, and many individuals can lively full productive and Glad lives. The mobile phone transplants and drug pump ideas than 60, the American Parkinson's disease Affiliation says.
    Parkinson's disease is caused that his brainpower whole kit and caboodle otherwise from theirs and they hold recognised it and touched on. Early signs of Parkinson's Disease
    to 10 repetitions, and Parkinson's patients may observe it easier to perform these Victimisation strength-training machines.

    my website: Parkinson's disease
    specialists Lorraine

    Also see my site - Parkinson's disease specialists Lorraine

    ReplyDelete
  14. I launch out that neon was when an more or less pageboy comes in utilitarian.
    He saves his near lucullan It Warren Smith 286 23. In summation to discovering blogging, you'll hear how to by Collection: " + meter pair. It would be wish wait some the shower?no49. The recipes were so simple, but looked and tasted so full as good as for going comments and scoring other articles.

    Here is my weblog click here

    ReplyDelete

I'm listening! And responding - so let's create some buzz together for recycled and repurposed arts and crafts.

Related Post for bluevelvetchair.blogspot.com