Funky Junk Turned Functional

Did you ever need something to do a task only to realize you had what you needed all along?  Since I’ve been re-working my garden beds, I needed a watering can for areas that the hose doesn’t reach.  I know I had several at one point, but they have mysteriously disappeared!  Y’all, it’s been years since I’ve used them, so there’s no telling where they went.  Anyway, I remembered I had this watering can I found at the 100 mile yard sale.  It was a little piece of funky junk I just had to have!  You’ll see why I called it funky junk below!

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 The Funky Junk

I found this old metal watering can way back in October during the 100 Mile Peanut Pickin’ Yard Sale.  What was funky about it?  It had a plug!  At some point it had been modified to hold what looks like a water pump.

I originally bought it thinking I could use it as garden art or maybe even fix the pump.  Right now, I need an actual watering can!  First I removed the pump, which was just held in place with a wing nut & bolt.  Check out those cobwebs!  Ug!

I realized the plug would not come back thru the hole in the side.  It may have if I removed the rubber ring, but it was pretty stuck on there.  I decided to cut it off – it doesn’t look very useful anyway!

Once I had all the extra parts removed, I gave it a good cleaning with soap, water, & an old scrubby sponge.  I also tested it to make sure it would hold water.  It does!

If this was going to be garden art, I would leave it in all it’s old metal glory.  However, I need to be able to find this easily when I forget where I left it!  Ahem.  Time for some paint – don’t worry – I’ll leave some of the funk!

Painting the Junk

I’m using the same aqua & orange I used for my topsy-turvy pot planter.  I removed the sprinkler end & turned the watering can upside down.  One coat of aqua please!

My old mini greenhouse makes an excellent paint shelter!  The cover has come apart making it useless as a green house.  I was hoping to salvage the zipper at least, but it’s broken too.

Next, I spritzed the bottom & some random spots with orange.

I like where this is going!  Once it was dry, I took it inside (in the coolness!) to see what else I wanted to do.

You can see the top & sprinkler head is still the original metal.  That keeps it funky!  I thought about decoupaging some garden art on the side.  The catalog from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange always has awesome garden themed art.

As much as I loved it, it was too big!  The veggies on the back looked promising…

I cut some out & tested them out, but they just weren’t working.  I decided to pull out some scrapbook paper to see what I could find.

This swirly bit would be great!  That reminded me of the stencil I used on my cork board makeover, which also reminded me of my gold metallic lustre.  Perfect!

The stencil has a sticky back, but it did not stick all the way on the round surface.  I had to hold it and rub on the lustre at the same time.  It looks kind of like water splashing!

The details are a little smudged, but I like that look & it was just the extra it needed.

I did a little on the other side too.  I started to fill in the hole at the top, but it holds plenty of water below that level.  I’m not the Hulk!

I rubbed some gold on other little bits here & there.  Once I was satisfied, I sprayed it with a clear coat just to help protect it.  This watering can is sure to help me look forward to watering my plants!

And here’s the other side…

Does anyone remember the movie Robots?  My son loved that movie and we even had a Robots themed birthday party.  This paint job reminds me so much of the robots in that movie!

Well, I hope y’all enjoyed my funky junk turned functional today!  Tomorrow is Earth Day, so make sure to get outside & enjoy the Earth!  Have a great weekend!

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