Make a tea pot bird bath by using thrifted items from Goodwill.  This whimsical piece of garden art is surprisingly easy to make.

Make a tea pot bird bath by using thrifted items from Goodwill. This whimsical piece of garden art is surprisingly easy to make.

I’m creating a Mad Hatter inspired garden at my home, so of course I’ll need lots of tea cups, tea pots, and saucers to decorate with.  Thanks to Goodwill San Antonio, it’s easy and inexpensive to find the items I need to craft with.

I fell in love with this lamp at Anthropologie, and I knew
the design idea would be perfect for the “Alice in Wonderland” inspired garden I’m creating.  I tweaked the design to change it from a lamp to a bird bath, and I love the end result.  (PS…check out my tea pot dessert stand for more Wonderland inspired fun!)

Make a tea pot bird bath by using thrifted items from Goodwill. This whimsical piece of garden art is surprisingly easy to make.

I immediately headed to my local Goodwill store to find the items I needed.  As a fabucrafter (a fabulous budget crafter) I always check Goodwill first to find the items that I need for my craft projects.  As usual, I was not disappointed.  I had tons of items to choose from, and found everything I needed for a few dollars.

Ready to learn how to make your own Anthro inspired bird bath for cheap?

Supplies needed to make this tea pot bird bath:

  • Bowl
  • Tea pot
  • Various cups, containers, and saucers
  • Large plate
  • Ceramic glue
  • Spray paint

(Click on page 2 to keep reading)

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55 COMMENTS

  1. Wow, This is so wicked coolio!!! I have been waiting and wanting a project for my front rock garden and your share has got to be just the one! I love everything you chose to do with it from the shapes down to the celery color! I had no idea you could spray paint dishes! Whoo hoo! Thank you so much for taking the time to share with story and pictures! I love our Goodwill store too and showed them my love at their half off all donated items on July 4th!! Christine

  4. I LOVE this, I have to make it! Thank you for sharing and I love that you shared the photo’s too! I was thinking it could, also, be a tall plant stand…and…….. 8)

  10. That is a perfect solution for your mother’s garden and looks wonderful, too. Another thing I’ve seen used is those big old-fashioned standing ash trays, since smoking isn’t as common as it used to be. I’ve been on the lookout for one myself.

    • I have passed up so many of those ash stands, wonder what I would do with them! Now I know! Thanks for the tip!

  15. Love this idea! Thank you so much for sharing it. I am going to paint mine white to match the garden bunnies through the yard. What kind of primer will work here?

    Thank you.

  19. I have made a ton of these, they are so much fun to make. I pick my dishes up at yard sales, flea markets etc. so much cheaper then Goodwill (who are so overpriced). From experience I have learn that you need to use a very heavy dish on the bottom for stability. I find heavy pie plates, or even better the glass plate that goes in the bottom of a microwave ( every charity shop has them)
    works best. I use a lot of decorative wine glasses (ever yard sale has them) , candy dishes anything with color or clear engraving gives that extra sparkle. I did one in all crystal and it turned out beautifully and the sun reflecting off it was lovely. However being the klutz I am I tripped over it while in storage in my garage and destroyed…………………:(

  20. I love this idea and I think it would also be useful for someone that smokes …( NOT ME ) but I do have friends that smoke and I think they would love to have this on their front porch where they go out to smoke ….really a sweet piece you made here …now I will be on the lookout for some old cups / saucers / and teapots …LOVE IT !!!!

  22. I need to make one for my birds! I like the idea someone said about putting concrete in the vessels to make it more sturdy. The animals in my area tipped over my last birdbath and shattered it! Argh!!

  23. Absolutely love the whimsy of this project and the color, so lovely. I also thought it was a matched set. This would go perfectly with the the terra-cotta Cheshire Cat I painted. Did you mention what glue you used?

  46. Hi there. Delighted by the whimsy of this!
    I have a few questions about this….
    1. what did you use as a “primer”?
    2. what type of spray paint did you use?

    Looking forward to trying this when we can get out & about again.
    Hope you are all well & finding lovely ways to get through this “storm”…

    Thanks in advance!

    • Thanks for stopping by and I’m glad you enjoyed this project! On this one I used an Adhesion Promoter that is made for cars, but since then I have used the cheap $1 white spray paint from Walmart. It hasn’t let me down yet and it’s such a cheap alternative. The only downside is the nozzle/sprayer is cheap and my index finger is always sore after using it. 😂 I use a variety of spray paints but most of the time use Rustoleom’s Universal Spray Paint. That one is made for slick surfaces like glass and metal. I hope that helps!

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