How To Create Whimsical DIY Garden Decor

With just a few paint supplies, it's so easy to transform your average bronze metal yard decorations into fun whimsical DIY garden decor for the backyard deck.

How To Create Whimsical DIY Garden Decor

Deck Makeover - Project Eight 

Refreshing our outdoor living space on a beer budget!

I bought two bronze metal garden animals almost twenty years ago at Giant Tiger, a Canadian discount store chain. While the nodding metal cat and dog garden ornaments with springy head and tail are adorable they were hardly noticeable tucked in between the ferns around our deck.

Inspired by this ceramic vintage camper flower pot that I handpainted with my daughter at a ceramics studio on Mother's Day...

I brought the metal animals out of the fern grotto and onto the deck to be on display in front of our new privacy screen (more about that project next week).

These are the materials I used to turn these simple bronze metal animals into whimsical art. I've included a Materials List towards the bottom of this post.

Spray Painting Red

First I gave both the cat and dog two coats of Rustoleum Ultra Cover Paint & Primer spray paint in the color colonial red.

Adding some green

Then I started with the same seafoam green paint I had leftover from the DIY Birdhouse Sign and went crazy with the tip of a retractable pencil to create polka dots on the dog's droopy ears and the cat's hind legs and back of the head.

On the dog's hind legs I stenciled flowers using a couple of self-adhesive reusable floral stencils.

I also painted the eyes, springs, and the cat's nose this color.

Accenting with yellow

Next, I painted the cat's whiskers and around the eyes of both animals in light yellow.

While I had the jar open I painted the tips of each tail as well.

A pop of turquoise

For punch, I added turquoise like the vintage camper, on the paws, cat's ears, and the dog's nose in the color pool blue.

Once the paint was completely dry I sprayed two coats of satin clear.

I love how with a bit of paint and a rainy afternoon spent indoors at my dining room table brought my 20+-year-old bronze metal animals to life and gave them such personality.

As promised, here is the materials list. It contains affiliate links for your convenience so you can see what products I used or recommend to make this project. What that means is that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, I may receive a small portion of any sales at no additional cost to you, which supports the costs of running this site. See my full disclosure policy.

Materials List

• Bronze Metal Garden Animals (alternative)
• Colonial Red Rustoleum Ultra Cover Paint & Primer Spray Paint
• Satin Clear Rustoleum Ultra Cover Paint & Primer Spray 
• Light Yellow and Pool Blue Satin Acrylic Craft Paint
• Seafoam Green Craft Paint 
• Stencil Brush
• Small Art Brushes
• Pencil Eraser Tip (for polka dots)
• Self-adhesive Reusable Floral Stencil (alternative)

Do you have any bronze or metal garden statues that you could add some whimsy to? If you don't, I've included some adorable ready-made options below.

Deck Makeover Series Recap

Project One - DIY Birdhouse Sign

Project Two - Budget-Friendly Deck Restore
Project Three - Easy DIY Solar Fence Lights
Project Four - How To Stain A Super Easy DIY Outdoor Rug
Project Five - A Quick And Easy Way To Re-Stain Adirondack Chairs
Project Six - A Playful Headboard Garden Bench
Project Seven - How To Add Charm To Boring Outdoor Red Cushions
Project Eight - How To Create Whimsical DIY Garden Decor
Project Nine - Deck Privacy Screen From Repurposed Doors - coming soon

I share my projects at these fabulous link parties.