Gardening, creativity, and upcycling go hand in hand for me. To me they are a movement of a natural expression. Nature is always cycling and recreating, and we are part of that. So in addition to garden-specific posts, I’ve let the creative impulse unfurl here at The Compulsive Gardener as well. This page is dedicated to posts about upcycling and creativity.
Check back often for a growing body of blog posts on repurposing, upcycling and sharing inspiration through colors, paints, and fabrics and more. A fertile cross-pollination of gardening and recycling if you will!
What do you do with old T-shirts? Fabric scraps? Old DVD’s? The posts below are dedicated to, or include, creative endeavors.
Upcycling in the Garden: Creating a Rustic Stone Wall From an Old Sidewalk
The update on “The Rockery” — a redesigned entrance garden featuring a rustic dry-stacked stone wall made from a repurposed concrete sidewalk. We chose plant selections for shade and deer…
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Finding Peace in the Garden During Dark Days
To immerse myself in the healing garden, I’ve started a new project–reviving a neglected front garden, using repurposed cement “stones” from an old sidewalk to build a rockery and creating…
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The Sensory Pleasure of Houseplant Foliage
Of the many eventualities I tried to plan for in the garden back when we first began planting 20 years ago, gardening-without-knees wasn’t one of them. Back in late May,…
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Upcycle Leftover Paint In A Garden Sidewalk
Summertime in the garden bespeaks the sensual delights of picking juicy tomatoes, finding yourself danced over by butterfly shadows and basking in the radiance of sun and sunflowers. It’s also…
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Upcycled Micro Bags & Bins — Made From Plastic Bag Trash
Though this is primarily a garden blog, I like to toss in a few posts about creativity and upcycling from time to time, since those also inspire me and feel…
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Upcycling Old T-Shirts Into Rugs
What to do with old t-shirts? Time to retire your old garden clothes? Upcycle them into fun rugs!
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Bring the Garden to You — coping with pandemic isolation by creating art from the garden
Is pandemic life of isolation or inclement weather getting you down? Bring the sanctuary and refuge of the garden indoors with calming and creative outlets like painting garden scenes from…
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Upcycling an Old Ladder-back Chair Into a Playful Garden Picnic Seat
Upcycling a ladder-back chair with fabric strips for caning and refinished with whimsical painting.
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Scented Herb Bundles & Winter Bouquets
Winter harvests from the garden include scented herb bundles for wood fire kindling, and ikebana garden bouquets.
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