Do you have an old piece of stockade fence hanging around the house? If so, these scraps can be transformed into a beautiful piece of garden art. Let’s get started!
Step One
Using a hammer, knock the back of the fence pickets away from the cross boards being careful not to break them.
Step Two
With a circular saw, chop saw or hand saw cut the pickets into the desired length.
Step 3
Drill two holes near the top of the picket for a hanging wire.
Step 4
For a smooth finish, sand the pieces with a sanding block, sandpaper or electric sander.
Step 5
Paint the boards with a base coat using some leftover paint or leave unfinished, depending on your project.
Step 6
Now for the fun part! Round up some paints, paintbrushes, wire, and beads if you have them. If circumstances permit, head outside and look for something in nature that you would like to try to paint. Otherwise, a photo will work just as well.
Step 7
You can paint simple flowers by placing your wet brush repeatedly around a center point. Of course, you don’t have to paint flowers. You can try anything you would like!
Step 8
Once your piece has dried attach wire to one side at the top. Here we used 25 lbs galvanized steel wire cut into a 12” piece. If you have beads string them onto the wire to desired length, leaving enough wire to attach to the sign. Snip off any extra wire using pliers or wire cutters.
Some More Creative Inspiration
Here are some finished projects using a few variations of wire hangers. If you like the spiraled hanger, bend your wire around a pencil before attaching the second side.
We hope you are able to enjoy a bit of time outside in nature and capture the moment with your special creation. Please share pictures of your upcycled stockade fence projects with us on Facebook or Instagram!
This project was created and photographed by Cissy Stanko, a member of the Bok Tower Gardens Education Department.