After I shared my newly painted gnomes last week, I remembered that I hadn’t shared a fabulous garden art makeover from two years ago. This was the summer that we moved into our new house and I was doing some clean-up around the backyard. I was trimming some unruly rhododendrons when I spotted something strange tangled in the innermost branches. After prying apart layers of leafy branches I was able to free the mystery object. I was so excited to discover it was a retro rabbit statue! My yard-work that day yielded two more pieces of what I was calling, “yard treasure”. One was a flamingo, sadly it was too far gone to rescue. The other mystery item turned out to be a retro poodle statue. Jackpot!
I gave these a thorough scrubbing and used the “jet” setting on my hose sprayer to make them as clean as I could, then let them dry. They were both made of a plastic vinyl rubber like substance which seemed really durable. We gave them each a fresh coat of white paint, using a good quality spray paint.
Once they were dry I took them inside to paint back on the eyes and accessories. It didn’t take long at all because they only needed a few small details to come to life. I painted the eyes black and the bows and collar red and that was all!
Now these “yard treasures” are sitting on the mantel of the backyard fireplace and they look great! I’ve been on the lookout for more pieces like them whenever I’m at a yard sale or thrift store but so far no luck. I would love to have a yard filled with funny vintage animal statues, but for now I’ll settle for two.
Created by Jess 