Giant Gladiolas

Turn your milk jugs into works of art

Gallery Curator: Dawn Chipman
Photographs by Ed Judice

Artists: Nancy Dick, Carolyn Williams, Debbie Kesterson, Wendy Minor, and Patty Mitchell, Passion Works Studio

Giant Gladiolas We certainly were curious when an 8-foot-tall box arrived in the FamilyFun officesand utterly delighted when we pulled out this humongous bouquet. The flowers are the brainchild of several folks from the Athens, Ohio-based Passion Works Studio, which provides collaborative opportunities for artists with (and without) developmental disabilities. Working with milk jugs was a natural for this group, according to founder and director Patty Mitchell, since making art from recyclables is one of the studio's specialties.

To create the blooms, the artists started with 75 milk jugs and used scissors to trim some into petals and others into leaves and stamens. After painting these parts, the artists threaded them onto plastic poles from a garden store.

Artists' Tip: Although the gladiolas look fabulous in this vase made from a recycled cardboard newsprint core, Passion Works also suggests that you poke the stems directly into the earth as garden sculpture.

How-to: For printable step-by-step instructions, download the Artist's Sketchbook. Your browser needs to be running the Adobe Acrobat Reader plug-in to view and print this file. Click here to download and install the free plug-in.