Archive for The Gathering Place "The Gathering Place" is a web community where people can gather and make new friends, share ideas, enjoy a few laughs and learn about many interesting things together. It is a safe place where friends can correspond with each other about what they love.
Shall we swag now or shall we swag later?
Oh behave! I think not! When it comes to garden art one should not behave. Step out of the box and get a little creative. It’s your garden, a place of relaxation, of deep thought and a place of beauty, and we all know beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so that gives us a lot of leeway.
Oh My!
I have always been attracted to huge gaudy objects at flea markets, things that I would never buy but secretly Oooed. Boy, was I a happy camper when I discovered huge unappealing pieces don’t always look hideous in the garden. In fact some decor that you would never think to put in your home look great in the garden.
Swag Lamps
That brings us to swag lamps, not just any swag but the colored glass ones. Yes, you know the ones, I am guessing there are a few of you that still have them hanging from your ceiling. Unless the lamp has to stay because it matches your shag carpeting think about it decorating your garden.
No need for wires or bulbs, so take the lamp apart and totally gut out all the electrical mess. (*** Important note - Unplug the bad boy first.) If you put all the pieces together you should have a lean mean hanging machine or a fat glass ball on a chain. How exciting! Need to get even more creative? Use outdoor paint to gussy up your newest piece of hanging art.
Hanging Around
What’s so dyno-mite about using a swag lamp is the fact that you can hang it at any height. So much of garden art is low among the flowers, and the new hanging art will bring ones eyes upward. It really does tie a garden together. So, where do you hang it? Anywhere! If you do hang it from a tree please respect the tree and don’t have it so the tree eventually grows into the chain. Think girdle, need I say more? If you do add this nifty bit of art to your garden décor prepare to get noticed. It’s Groovy, baby!
Mary
Why didn't I hear about this before I donated mine to the Salvation Army thrift store? My swag lamps were amber hobnail types that sent light in all directions but were no good for trying to read. And they quickly went out of style. I can just picture a lighted one bobbing up and down from a limb in the breeze. It would have to be weatherproofed but it would look better there than it ever would have in my living room with it's 70's shag carpet that had to be raked like a lawn. Oh the things we fall for just because they are in style! I might be past that now.
God's Warrior
I got rid of mine years ago but I think that it would have looked cool in the courtyard hanging from a limb of the walnut tree. There is always the possibility of finding one at a yard sale. I guess any one who might see me buying it would think I was really living in the dark ages to want to buy it though.
Mary
There's always ebay if you don't want anybody to see you buying it. The price is probably more now than when they were in style, because now, like us, they are antiques!
