Hello everyone! I hope you are enjoying summer and finding some joy in your gardens as these times of trial and suffering we are facing seem to be neverending. For me, creativity is the key to staying positive, and I have been trying to tackle little craft projects that have been on my to-do list for some time using supplies I already have at home.

About eight years ago I purchased this pretty garden stake at Hobby Lobby. This is the only fuzzy picture I have of how the stake looked originally. It had a small Frenchy rose and post card image under resin. Over the years the resin broke and the image completely faded. I continued to use the stake in my garden because I liked the overally style and rusty-chippy look of the stake itself, which had faded from a rusty cream to a rusty white.

I actually forgot to get a before picture (I always seem to forget the before pictures!) but here it is when I was just getting started sponging on some decoupage.

I got the idea to give the stake a makeover when I was cleaning out my craft bin and came across this outdated calendar that I kept for craft purposes.

It was one of my favorite all-time calenders (another amazing Dollar Tree find) with beautiful French vintage images that are perfect for crafting. When I flipped the calendar over and saw the small images on the back, I noticed that they looked about the same size as the missing image spot on the garden stake. With a little Mod Podge  (affiliate) I knew I could give the garden stake a new (vintage) look in no time.

I wanted to use this image, but it turned out to be a bit too big. I decided to cut out the butterfly to save for a future decoupage project. Then I just pieced together the pretty flowers as a collage to fit the empty square on the stake. 

Using the pieces I had left over after the butterfly was cut out, I played around until I could fill in the entire blank square. I brushed the Mod Podge directly on the stake with a foam brush where the image would be, and also on the back of each cut piece. After I positioned the pieces in place I covered the entire collage with another light coat of Mod Podge.

I love how this quick and easy garden stake makeover turned out!  After it dried I took it out to the garden and played around with using it in a few different spots. Here it is stuck down in my big galvanized bucket of herbs. Even though there is a slight visible seam in the collage and the images don’t exactly match up, the stake will always be viewed in the garden from a distance, so the “imperfections” are barely noticeable. 

A couple of days ago I used it to stake some tall flowers on a newly planted Yarrow that needed some help straightening up.

For now I am loving it in my colorful superbells petunia basket which is sitting on my new potting bench. This area doesn’t get heavy rain since it is up against the garage and under part of the roof overhang, so I think the image will last for a while. By the way, I will be sharing my new potting bench and progress on our new backyard cottage-garden landscaping over the next several posts, so I do hope you will visit often!

The whole project took less than 10 minutes and didn’t cost me a dime since I had everything in my craft stash. Fast and free…that’s the ticket! Now I am ready to move on to decoupaging some old flower pots. Have you used decoupage for any fast and easy craft projects for spring or summer? I love hearing from you, dear readers!

Thanks for visiting!
Amber