My Recycled Birdbath

For those of you who do not know, my mother lives in an apartment in the lower level of our home. She has her own private living area, coming and going as she likes. She has her own porch and flower beds which she tends with loving care. Flowers and birds are her ongoing spring and summer joys. In fact, the picture above is her door mat. I thought I would take a picture of it so you can share in her joy. She has at least 8 different bird feeders, including one for the hummingbirds and two for the finches. She finds great joy in sitting in her porch and watching all of "her" birds. She decided years ago, that she needed a birdbath. She realized after a few months that the birdbath idea was not what she thought it would be. Too much was involved in taking care of it, and keeping it clean. She asked my husband to put it back out of the way, behind her big pine tree. There it remained, in hiding year after year. Yesterday, I asked my husband to bring it up to our garage. I scrubbed it thoroughly, and left it to dry. At KMart, I purchased a round glass top from the curtain and tablecloth section of the store. It is sold to place on top of the round cardboard decorative tables sold there. I also purchased a bag of "Cotton Breeze" potpourri. It is a blend of branch balls, dried mushrooms...and other decorative pieces.

I poured the potpourri into the bowl of the birdbath, added a strand of teenybulb Deco Lights, topped the display with the round glass piece from KMart, and now had a coffee table for my screened-in porch. I sat my lamp on the glass, and was happy with the results.

This photo was taken early in the evening, to give you an idea of how the finished product looks.

This photo was taken late in the evening. The touch of the teeny lights, along with the lamp, creates a cozy feel, to our much used porch. If you ever find an old birdbath in your travels, you may think about taking a few steps to transform it into a coffee table, whether inside or out on the porch. If it had not cleaned up as nicely as this did, I would have sprayed the whole thing with my Krylon "Make It Stone" textured paint, to give it an attractive finish. I did not have to do that since mine actually cleaned up beautifully. A fun recycling tip from me.