How to Make a Canopy Rod and the Saga of the Canopy

By the end of this post, I'll show you how to make some neat-looking canopy rods from dowels and wood flowers. But first I'll clue you in on the process of budget and reality meeting design and expectation.

As you might know by now, I've been working on a room for my mother-in-law. The room was originally one of the girls' bedrooms, but they have graciously agreed to share in order to have almost unlimited grandmother time while she's here. We've had a canopy that has remained in the room through all of its many transformations (from toddler bed to queen size to twin). Now I wanted to change it up a bit.

It's better if I show you this part in drawings. Below you will see the original plan for the room. The canopy would be hung from a single rod in the middle and draped gracefully across the edges of a wooden bed we planned to make.


The wooden bed got put on hold. Neither my husband nor I seemed to have the time available to build it and it would require both of us and more tools. So I considered buying an iron daybed frame with some baskets for storage underneath.

The budget did not allow for an iron daybed, so for the time being, the mattresses would remain on the floor. The drawing below is how the canopy was arranged above the bed when I started my final preparations just hours before Abuela was to arrive (although I forgot to draw the back part of the canopy that is against the wall.)




So my new plan was to install metal hooks where the corners were attached (currently the corners were hung on large command hooks). From the outer corners I would suspend the rods I had made (coming up in a bit, bear with me or just scroll down) on safety wire. I would suspend the middle rod on shorter pieces of safety wire from two more metal hooks.



The hooks I bought? Not the right kind at all. The first one I installed pulled out of the ceiling way too easily. I had no time to run to the store, so I thought of running the safety wire from the command hooks and trying to suspend my wires from there.



You guessed it. Too much wire. It looked atrocious. Also, procrastination is a killer. Thirty minutes before time to leave the house, I settled on the following arrangement.


Safety wire suspended between the command hooks, but hidden by the front part of the canopy. I won't tell you how many safety pins are holding up that canopy, but you probably wouldn't know unless I pointed it out. I used only one rod in the center that raised the middle of the canopy significantly.




So it's not quite what I had intended, but the canopy turned out well. Maybe by the time we get around to placing the bed in there we'll have the right anchors to redo the canopy.


Even though I only used one rod in the final design, I had made three. Without further ado, here's how I made them:

 

 

 

 

 How to Make a Decorative Canopy Rod

Or a pretty support for a tomato plant or a walking stick for a child ...you get the idea.

Materials:

• 3 dowel rods, 3/8" diameter, 3' length
• 3 small wooden applique flowers
• 3 small nails
• black paint
• silver paint

 1. Attach flowers to ends of dowel rods. 

Easier said than done, I think. The dowel rods were quite difficult to hold while hammering a nail. I ended up driving them into the ground and letting the dirt do the holding.
 

2. Paint the dowel rod black. 

Don't worry about painting the flower parts just yet.

3. Paint the flowers silver. 

4. Allow to dry thoroughly. 

Or use a hairdryer if you're impatient or in a hurry.

5. Add black to silver flowers.

Have a damp rag or paper towel at the ready. Paint the entire flower black, making sure the paint is pushed into the crevices. Then use your damp rag to rub off as much black as is desired.





And that detail is what is at the center of our canopy.

Fairy Garden 2013

Fairy Garden 2013

Some of you may remember our fairy garden from last year. If not, see our "Making Our Very Own Fairy Garden" Part 1 and Part 2 for setting up the barrel planter and our cute little mushrooms.

I'm not sure if our fairies migrated to the evergreen Holly bushes, left for warmer climates, or hibernated, but at the end of winter, our little garden looked like this:

We knew we had our work cut out for us. 

1. Clear the Debris. 

We wanted a clean start for our garden. We carefully removed all the river rocks, washed them, and set them aside. We got rid of all the plant debris. The fence and ladder pieces we set aside to be repaired. 

2. Repair.

Our fence and ladder pieces needed a lot of work, but nothing was a match for a new bottle of wood glue and a little patience. Sadly, the bench could not be saved. We're looking to buy another or perhaps might make one. 

3. Build the House. 

This year we decided to build a house for our fairies to live in. My husband had built the front panel for a different project quite some time ago. I found some shelf scraps and built a little three-sided structure. 

 

We then attached the front using some leftover hardware. 

 

 

We cut down a scrap piece of moulding and added it above the front. 

 

Finally, we applied our shingles with wood glue. We used canvas stretchers that came with the canvases for my painting projects. 

 

4. Shop! 

We love adding accessories to our garden. This year's purchases included a beautiful bridge from Petsmart, which is probably my favorite addition. It's made for an aquarium and has held up to the outdoor conditions pretty well. From the dollar store we bought a resin dog, artificial grass with butterflies, more river rocks, and a mirror to use as a reflecting pool. All of these were installed using river rocks as pathways and a riverbed leading to the reflecting pool.

5. Plants.

Last year we didn't have much luck with the moss, so we decided to skip it. Instead we planted several flowers including violas, petunias, and lobelias. We bought a few extra plants, so we had two secondary containers other than the main fairy garden. 

 

Pretty simple this year. Other than the house, we didn't do much. After a few weeks, our garden looked even better. This year was a pretty rough tornado season. A couple of days, we weren't sure what we would find when we returned from taking shelter. On both days, the fairy garden (and our house) survived. The ladder blew off once, but other than that, everything was still in its proper place (despite trees and fences being blown down in our neighborhood). We are very blessed and thankful.

This Fairy Garden has been entered into the 2013 Fairy Garden Contest on the Magic Onions. Check out all the fairy gardens here and maybe be inspired to make your own!

Making a Rustic Wisteria Trellis

Our latest project has been a rustic trellis for the wisteria in the front yard. After researching various sources and drawing inspiration from Pinterest, we collaborated to make this project.

Collaborated is such a neat and simple word, but it really doesn't capture the amount of combined thinking we did on this. First, my husband is a fan of clean lines and simple modern looks, with a farm-like rustic quality. I like ornate antiques and dark woods. Combine that with the style of our house (think suburbs with siding, white trim, shingle roof), our modest budget, and the poor trellis that has been already taken over by the vines, and you have quite the task. So, without further ado (if you want more "ado" check out my wisteria post here.)

Making a Rustic Wisteria Trellis

What You'll Need:

• 2 - 4"x4"x8' pressure-treated wooden posts
• 1 qt. dark walnut stain (optional)
• 1 25' roll rabbit fence (ours is wire, the widest holes are 2" x 4")
• staples
• u-nails
• 1 bag concrete

1. Check and Measure. 

The first step is always to check with your local digging hotline to make sure you aren't going to burst a pipe or hit a power line.

Second, measure where you want your posts to be. Ours are about 12 feet apart, I wouldn't recommend any wider than that because it will be difficult to tighten the fence.

2. Stain the Posts (Optional). 

We had originally intended to leave the posts as-is, but they looked very green against our tan siding. We decided to go for a dark walnut stain and I'm quite pleased with the results.

 

 

 

3. Dig the Holes

We  My husband dug the holes about 2 feet deep. Word of advice if you get into some tough clay: fill the hole with water and allow to soak overnight. My husband actually bent our post-hole digger on this project.

Also, you might look into buying a digging bar, but that requires quite a bit of muscle. If all else fails, you can rent an auger, just be careful if you're in close proximity to your house. (Our project was way too close to the house to consider this option.)

4. Mix the Concrete and Install the First Post. 

Being rather old-fashioned and cheap in terms of construction methods, my husband mixed our concrete by hand.  The concrete adds stability to the posts.

When thoroughly mixed, pour a little concrete into the first hole. Set the first post in the hole and use a level to ensure it is straight. If necessary, use a sledgehammer to drive the post into the concrete. Add a layer of rocks and gravel, then fill the hole with concrete.

5. Attach the Fence to the Second Post and Install It.

Stretch out your fence material. For our project, we used two lengths of fence. Be sure to measure and allow an amount for wrapping around the edges, so that the majority of your staples and nails will be on the back of the posts. Before installing the second post, wrap the rabbit fence around the outside of it and secure the fence to the back of the post the back using u-nails. Then install the second post using the same method as the first.

 Now allow the concrete to set. We waited a week before proceeding. You might need to put up a brace to support your post.

 6. Finish Installing Fence.

When your concrete has set, wrap the fence around the other post and secure using staples and/or u-nails.

7. Attach Wisteria Using String.

The string also helped anchor my existing trellis to the new fence trellis. I'm sure the fence will be completely covered next spring. 

And that's it! I hope this gives you some ideas for taming your climbing plants and filling up a long vacant wall.