Making garden art is a lot easier when you have the essential tools and supplies on hand. Have a look at my favourites and how they are used for creating a variety of creative and useful projects.
For tutorials see, 50 Creative and Recycled Garden Art Projects.
Essential Garden Art-Making Supplies
I don’t like to keep a lot of supplies on hand because it’s easy to hoard them and not get things made, but I do hang onto stuff like:
- scrap wood and wire
- hinges, door handles, door knockers, hooks, hangers
- unusual scrap metal items
- marbles
and anything else that is interesting and weather-resistant.
Here’s stuff I use every day:
1. Glass Gems / Flat Bottom Marbles
If you’d like an idea of the projects you could make with these flat-bottom marbles, see Glass Gem DIY Craft Ideas.
This all started when I made a junk art chandelier with marbles wrapped in wire about twenty years ago.
2. Acrylic Craft Paints
I use acrylic craft paints constantly for various craft projects. The quality these days is very good including the Martha Stewart brand. Look for paints that are recommended for a variety of surfaces (glass, metal, wood, plastic) and suitable for outdoor use.
Use them to hand-paint rocks and stones or make custom hand-painted shoes.
3. Acrylic Paint Brushes
Wash and dry your brushes immediately after use! My mom was an artist with a healthy respect for good art supplies (and taking care of what you have). Good brushes can last a lifetime with proper care.
Safety Gear
4. Safety Glasses
Don’t monkey around when using power tools and equipment. Always use safety equipment.
Related: 28 Charming Recycled Garden Junk Ideas
5. Work Apron
A good work apron is a great idea. I do not want to confess the number of times I have wrecked favourite clothes because I was too eager to work on a project instead of covering up first.
6. Paint and Pesticide Respirator
If you paint or spray paint, protect your lungs! A good respirator is a smart investment.
Tools and Supplies
7. 16 gauge wire
I buy this stuff by the roll (look for it at local home improvement stores—cheap) and use it for all sorts of things including supporting plants on trellis to garden art making. The lower the gauge number, the thicker the wire.
I hang onto all sorts of scrap wire to make things like this repurposed garden art chandelier (with wire-wrapped marbles). I also use it for climbing vines, supporting fruit bushes, hanging bird feeders, and more.
8. Needle Nose Pliers
A good pair of needle nose pliers and wire cutters go hand in hand with my constant use of wire in projects.
9. Work Gloves
Protect your eyes, lungs, clothes, and hands when working. Always try gloves on before buying them. It’s essential to get a good fit so you can handle materials easily and have a good grip. So many work gloves are made for giant man hands = not good!
10. GE Silicone II | Waterproof adhesive
This is my first choice adhesive for garden art projects. Make sure you get GE Silicone II for gutters and flashing (clear drying, waterproof). It’s much less expensive to buy it in cartridge form and use a caulking dispenser than it is to buy handy tubes.
- Projects using this product include garden art balls and garden treasure jars.
- Here’s more tips on making sure things stick.
For more options see Glue Resource Guide | Choosing adhesives for outdoor garden art projects
11. Cordless Drill
My first electric drill was quite good and that was a shame because I like to use things up before buying something new! When it finally died, after many years of hard work, I got a good quality cordless drill and it’s so much easier to not have to mess with extension cords. In hindsight, I wish I had purchased two at once because the sale price I got was cheaper for a drill and battery than it is to now buy the battery on its own, so consider this if you’re buying one: it’s great to have a backup battery.
12. Screwdriver and Drill Bit Kit
There’s really no way around it: you need different types of drill bits for different surfaces: metal, wood, masonary, and ceramics (diamond drill bit).
13. Diamond Drill Bit
This is the key to drilling through items like ceramic plates: diamond drill bits. I have found that some surfaces are fairly easy to drill, others will not budge, so it’s hit and miss when creating garden art flowers. You can see instructions with a short video of how I drill through plates here:
14. Miter Saw | Double bevel sliding compound miter saw
This is the saw I use for making garden trellis, arbors, raised garden beds, birdhouses, privacy screens, gates, and wooden tomato cages. In other words, everything.
The bevel and miter features mean you can do all sorts of angled cuts.
It’s also nice to have a good orbital palm sander for smoothing rough cuts and a jig saw for curved cuts.
15. Other tools include basics like screwdrivers, hammer, pencil, measuring square, tape measure.
For a big list of garden art projects with tutorials, click here.
~Melissa the Empress of Dirt ♛
Next
- 50 Creative and Recycled Garden Art Projects | This will keep you busy!
- Garden Art – No Power Tools Required
- Garden Art Flowers | DIY flower projects.
- Garden Balls | Create decorative orbs.
- Garden Signs | Projects and ideas.
- Glass Garden Art Projects | Reuse household glass items for art.
- Glass Gem Projects | Create with dollar store glass gems.
- Hand-Painted Art Projects | Grab some craft paints and go.
- Plant Tags & Markers | Creative and functional ideas.
- Tool Art | Create yard art from rusty, old tools
- Totems | Create garden art totems from thrift shop finds.
jacqueline fowler says
Good day to you.
I just have a couple of questions. I view the guide on how to make the glass art. It was the one with the blue vase inside the glass containers. I noticed there was a hole in the glass plate that you glued the votive holder. When you are glueing the pieces together do you have to have a hole.
I would like to build some of these from your pictures, thank you. I am starting out. I have some glass vases already. Any pointers, I would appreciate any that you can share.
Melissa J. Will says
Hi Jacqueline,
Good question!
No, the plate I used already had a hole (it was from a layered serving dish stand). I only intentionally make a hole if I need to thread something through to make the whole thing stronger (e.g. for assembling dish flowers).
This shows how to make dish flowers: https://empressofdirt.net/makeglassflowers/
Here’s the tutorial you probably saw already for totems: https://empressofdirt.net/how-to-make-glass-garden-totems/
This shares the best types of glue to use for various outdoor projects: https://empressofdirt.net/glue-outdoor-garden-art/
You’ll find as you start making them that you get familiar with the different types of dishes and start knowing which ones are easy to drill (and which ones are not).
You’re welcome to leave questions if you need any help.