Handcrafted Metal Solar Garden Flower

Hello and welcome to our "Do It Over Designers" Blog Hop! The "Do It Over Designers" is a group of creative bloggers who love to recycle/upcycle/ DIY, hosted by  Ann @The Apple Street Cottage. It happens the 4th Saturday of every other month and it's all about taking something old and/or unused and 'doing it over' into something new. Sometimes Ann has a theme for the Blog Hop and for May, Ann decided on the theme, For the Garden: Where we are to upcycle something to put in a garden like containers, posts, a bench or chair, something unique as a bird feeder, birdhouse, birdbath, a trellis, stepping stones, get creative with a tree stump? You get the idea!

I decided to make a handcrafted metal solar garden flower primarily made out of soda cans (that I got from my son), plus the metal bottom of a candy container! It's something fun, sustainable and colorful for that special place in your garden, patio, or anywhere with your own outdoor setup! Powered by free solar energy, it absorbs sunlight during the day to create an incredible and relaxing lighten environment during the night! Sounds really cool and beautiful, doesn't it! Here's how to make one:

Gather the following materials:

• Soda cans
• Recycled candy container (round metal bottom)
• Utility/X-acto knife
• Scissors
• Flower petal templates
• Glue
• Acrylic spray paint
• Magic marker 
• SuperWeld Glue
• Solar globe light 

Disclosure: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites, this post may contain links. I may receive a very small commission at no cost to you! Plus Google Adsense provides a platform for me to monetize my content by hosting ads from Google's network of advertisers. The money I earn helps pay my crafting expenses. Thanks so much for your support!

How To:

Begin by washing out the cans to remove any sticky residue and let dry. 

Using an x-acto or utility knife, start by making a slice big enough for a scissor blade and then cut the tops and bottoms off with scissors. 

Next, cut through the length of the can to open and cut off any metal slivers or jagged edges.  *CAUTION:  Be very careful with the sharp edges of cut cans.

Roll the cut aluminum piece in the opposite direction .  .  .  

smoothing it out over something like a table edge or counter top to help remove the curl of the can.  

I wanted to make a solar flower mimicking a zinnia so I cut out one of the petals from this free image I found online and .  .  .

enlarged it to about 5"x3" and placing it on the soda can metal to . . .

cut out. I was able to cut out two petals per soda can. It was easier for me to just hold the template in place and cut the petals out instead of tracing the image outline first with a marker and then cutting it out.

And as I was cutting them out, I arranged the petals in a circular pattern to see how many I would need:

I knew I needed a base to attach the flower petals to, so I looked in my recycled bin and pulled out this candy container that's turned upside down so you can see the bottom that I will cut off. 

 Using a utility knife to remove it.

The base (diameter) is a little over 8" wide and the circumference is 19.5", which makes for a nice size solar flower base to glue the petals on.

The flower is beginning to come together!

I did cut out a few more smaller, 3"x1.75" petals to fit around the center you'll see later.

And now it's time to paint the petals and base outside!

It's been awfully hot (in the high 90's) these last few days so it doesn't take long for the paint to dry. 

Once dry, I marked each petal with lines, using a marker, like the template had. Afterwards, the petals needed to be shaped a bit so I rolled the tops and .  .  .

 bottom edge of the petals using the tube of a magic marker.

Then glued the petal bottom .  .  .

to the metal base.

And continued gluing on the petals around the base.

Once the first row was glued on, I started the second row. After gluing on a few petals, I placed the solar light (3.93"D x 3.93"W) in the center for spacing the petals and .  .  .

after gluing on the smaller petals! I think the solar garden flower looks gorgeous and I love the colorful glow of the solar light!

Outside on the patio!

Darkness, just before the rain!

I'm loving this outdoor patio and garden look!

This handcrafted metal solar garden flower is .  .  .

a charming garden accent by day and a magical glowing centerpiece by night!

Before you go, don't forget this is a blog hop and all of the designers have some amazing and very innovative projects to share with you.

Be sure to visit all of this month's creative projects by the 

 "Do It Over Designers"  listed below:

Tania  @  Little Vintage Cottage

Patti @  Pandora’s Box

Gail @ Purple Hues & Me

Anita @ Unique Creations by Anita

Julie @ Sum of Their Stories

Cara @ Vintage Style Gal

Ann @ The Apple Street Cottage

Sara @ Birdz of a Feather

Kim @ Exquisitely Unremarkable