Heartfelt and Homemade: Sun Dish

Everyone loves something special made just for them.  The only problem is, is that sometimes it will just become another thing that people need to store in their homes.  For some, as clutter thresholds are diminishing, it could be hard to 'store' a beautiful custom gift.

So, lets make something today that will have a permanent home....outside!

I love, love, love these custom glass sun dishes for the yard.  They are stunning to look at in the sun, add ambiance to a garden, and can be placed nearly anywhere outside for all to oggle :)

In order to make these, you will either need to find 3-4 varying size dishes (preferably glass) and a spoon in your home, if you are lucky enough to have an overflow of beautiful dishes you don't use.  Or, if you like to do what I do, I go thrifting to find unique and wonderful dishes.  I normally wind up stacking them right there in the store so I make sure I am going to get the outcome I am looking for.  Grab your spoon while you are hunting!  You need one to bend.  Normally, dishes will range from .50 to 4 or 5 dollars.  You can make these special gifts for as much or as little as you please.  I only spent $5 total on this sun dish pictured above.

Things you will need to complete a sun dish:

E600 glue.  This stuff rocks.

3-4 dishes of varying sizes

1 spoon

Step 1:  Gather all your dishes, spoon, and glue.  Wash and remove any tags that might be hanging around.  

Step 2:  Carefully glue each glass piece onto the other.  You will need to let the completed sun dish dry for 24-48 hours.

Step 3:  After your sun dish is dry, it will be time to add your spoon to the back.  This allows it to stand upright.  Bend your spoon in half and glue the rounded part of the spoon to the back of your sun dish (as shown below).  This might take some trial and error to see where it needs to be placed to help the dish stand up.  Please trial it BEFORE you glue it down.  After it is glued, let it sit for another 24 hours.

Step 4:  It is time to revel in your unique, one of a kind $5-10 gift that is going to make someone super happy!