DIY Glass Garden Flowers Tutorial (Garden Art)

Have you ever come across beautiful glass garden dish flowers in yards, shops, craft fairs and even on Etsy? They can often be quite pricey, starting at $50 and up.  

However, with this DIY tutorial, you can learn how to create your own affordable glass plate flowers by recycled glass dishes. This DIY project is not only affordable and extremely easy to make, but it is a wonderful garden art addition to any yard.

To start making your own garden glass plate flowers, you'll need to find and gather inexpensive glass dishes, bowls and candleholders.  You can find these items at yard sales, flea markets, thrift shops, antique stores or even in your own cupboards if you have any unused items lying around.

Then, it is time to recycle these neglected dishes into beautiful glass plate flowers. For more creative upcycling ideas using dishes, visit our DIY Dish and Glass Recycling page.

Learn how to make a glass garden flower by watching the great video tutorial through the link below, or keep reading this article for a photo tutorial with step-by-step instructions.

INSTRUCTIONS to make garden art flowers

These glass dish garden flowers are arranged with the larger dishes in the back and smaller dishes on top.  The larger dishes resemble the petals of the flowers and the smaller dishes resemble the centers of the flowers. 

Want inspiration, take a look at these Etsy Glass Dish Flowers.

STEP 1: GATHER Glassware 

Collect various sizes of glassware, plates, bowls, and small candleholders.  Mix and match different colors to make beautiful glass garden flowers.  Look in your cupboards, thrift stores, yard sales, and flea markets to find inexpensive and pretty glass to use.

If the glass you find is not suitable for the flowers, it may work for a garden glass bird feeder project. 

After collecting the glass pieces, wash them in hot soapy water. Allow them to dry completely.

STEP 2: Gather Pipe and other supplies

Take a trip to Home Depot or a hardware store to gather the other supplies needed for the project. For this project, I used a PVC drop elbow and a copper pipe for the stem.  The copper pipe weathers well throughout the season and will not rot like a wooden dowel or stake.

If you use copper tubing, which I like, you can easily adjust the length by using an HDX Junior Tube Cutter.  Watch our tube cutting tutorial to see how to use this handy tool. 

After gathering all the materials, follow the next steps to create the glass garden flower.

STEP 3: arrange and glue dishes

What adhesive/glue should you use to make glass plate flowers?

We recommend using E6000 glue to hold the plates together.  This weather industrial-strength adhesive will hold the plates together throughout the season.  However, bringing the glass garden art flowers inside during the fall and winter is recommended to keep them from being damaged in severe weather.

Arrange two to more dishes to make an attractive flower.  Layer the dishes from the largest to the smallest.  Glue each of the dishes together with a generous amount of E6000 glue. Allow the flower to dry for 24 hours.

STEP 4: Add stem holder to the glass plates

Add the PVC drop elbow to the back of the flower in the center of the largest plate.  This is how the garden glass flower will mount onto the copper pipe stem to display in the garden. 

Put a generous amount of E6000 glue on the back of the PVC drop elbow and attach it to the center back of the dish flower. Allow it to dry for 24 hours.

STEP 5:  Add copper pipe for the stem

After the drop elbow glue is completely dry, attached the copper pipe to the drop elbow as shown below. 

STEP 6: Display your glass garden flower yard art!

Take your garden glass flower to your yard or garden and insert it into the ground to display it.  These dish flowers are so fun to look at in your garden.  Make a bunch of them and display them in a grouping!

This is a fun, whimsical way to add art to your garden. It would make great Mother's Day gifts for Mom!

If you want more creative upcycling ideas using various materials, you can explore our  Green Crafts, Going Green page, which is filled with craft ideas that repurpose all sorts of items. It's a great way to turn trash into treasures and positively impact the environment.

ANOTHER FLOWER MADE WITH DIFFERENT SUPPLIES

For this flower, I used a coupling nut and a coupling nut rod.

OTHER GLASS RECYCLING PROJECTS

MAGNETIC PIN DISH

A magnetic pin dish is another craft for upcycling an old or thrift store dish. This dish also works great in the bedroom, office, and workshop to hold bobby pins, earrings, safety pins, paper clips, etc. How to Make a DIY Magnetic Pin Dish

SUCCULENT TEACUP PLANTER

An adorable DIY succulent teacup planter like this makes the perfect little handmade gift. DIY Succulent Teacup Planter