| Author | Content |
UniQueTreasures
Beaumont, TX
(Zone 8b)
May 15, 2008
09:59 PM Post #4957603
| Connie and I had some fun creating an Ostrich Topiary today. She got a wild hair and made one last night. She created a thread in the Garden Art forum here. http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/848199/ It turned out fabulous! I just had to have me one of them for my own yard, so today we got busy. When I see what she went through by herself, I am amazed!
Janet
ps Read on to see how we created this topiary
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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UniQueTreasures
Beaumont, TX
(Zone 8b)
May 15, 2008
10:00 PM Post #4957609
| We started by making a copper basket. We took flexible copper and bent it into a circle. Then took a smaller piece and fit the ends together. Welded that together. We cut 12 lengths of heavy gauge copper wire to use for ribs. Then cut them in half and welded them to the circle. We made a smaller copper circle from sheet copper and formed a small circle the same size. We tacked them together and then hammered them to use as the bottom of the body/planter.
After adding rigid copper legs this is what we had.
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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UniQueTreasures
Beaumont, TX
(Zone 8b)
May 15, 2008
10:03 PM Post #4957620
| We used a huge flexible piece of copper for his neck. This piece fit over the same size of rigid copper we used for his legs. We'd flattened most of a piece of that and added the legs and then attached it to the bottom of the bowl, leaving enough sticking out to slide the neck tube over.
We added a pretty little copper bowl for his head.
This is a back view of the completed ostrich. You can see his neck in this photo.
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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UniQueTreasures
Beaumont, TX
(Zone 8b)
May 15, 2008
10:04 PM Post #4957626
| Edited to add:
We welded little curls for his nostrils and also wires to hold the glass eyes on.
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We put rebar stakes into the ground to have him standing upright.
Once he was completed, I brought him home and planted him. This is how he looks now.
This message was edited May 15, 2008 9:06 PM
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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UniQueTreasures
Beaumont, TX
(Zone 8b)
May 15, 2008
10:05 PM Post #4957629
| Close up of his head 
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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UniQueTreasures
Beaumont, TX
(Zone 8b)
May 15, 2008
10:07 PM Post #4957640
| Here's his body/planter 
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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UniQueTreasures
Beaumont, TX
(Zone 8b)
May 15, 2008
10:08 PM Post #4957648
| We had a lot of fun creating this fella. He's almost as tall as I am.
Janet
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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Gourd
(Zone 4b)
May 15, 2008
10:12 PM Post #4957669
| I knew I shouldn't come to this forum.. I love that fella.
That is just gorgeous.. you all are so creative and can fabricate whatever you envision.. What talent you both have.
A. |
UniQueTreasures
Beaumont, TX
(Zone 8b)
May 15, 2008
10:39 PM Post #4957809
| Thanks Antoinette. Connie and I have so much fun when we work together on a creation. |
Gardnerkett
Pass Christian, MS
(Zone 8b)
May 18, 2008
08:52 PM Post #4970958
| That's so cute! Keep up the great work, love seeing all your new creations! |
UniQueTreasures
Beaumont, TX
(Zone 8b)
May 18, 2008
09:13 PM Post #4971074
| Thanks Cath! I grin every time I walk out my back door and see him in the center of the island.
I had to remove his tail. That plant was just too heavy to stay put until it rooted. I'll have to figure out something else to use that looks "tailish". The coleus that are planted in the body are a trailing cultivar so the basket will eventually be covered over. I'll just take cuttings if it gets too long. |
