Recycled Dishes

Vintage Mismatched Thrift Store Finds

They're gorgeous, and so appealing; vintage dishes and plates that are one of, found in the thrift store or hidden in a basement, or at a garage sale. 

They need to be seen and displayed, but you don't have the right decor in the right colors, or enough room to show them off.  Here are a few ways to give recycled dishes a new lease on life.

To use them whole, make a mushroom solar light, lamp base, or a garden totem.  The glue you use can be removed if needed, and the piece is undamaged, but you can enjoy it for as long as you like.

For chipped or broken pieces, keep going; smash them up and make them into a mixed media mosaic, combined with gems, terrazae, and tiles in complementing colors.  The jewel-like result can be startling.

It's a shame to put the finished art work up on a roof, but the resulting pieces are spectacular.

A form made out of concrete (like a finial or globe) can be covered for a garden sphere or gazing ball, or use a bowling ball or other object. The smashed dishes can be combined with gems, tiles and anything else to make an encrusted cannonball.

Patio stones, tiles or a table top are perfect to showcase the beauty of smashed pieces. 

Collect all the same color and type, or mix and match for a rainbow effect.

Think outside the box, don't be confined by what others have done with their old dishes; the colors and textures of a box of thrift store bowls and teacups will inspire you to greatness.