GRAND PRIZE WINNER: Josephine Perez of Arlington Heights creates her Fantasy Flowers by melting old vinyl record albums in the oven, then painting and assembling them into flowers. The flowers can be staked in a garden or flower bed, or attached to fencing or a shed. She also makes mushroom caps that can top jars nestled in the dirt.
Our readers were up to the challenge. The Daily Herald teamed up with Lurvey's Garden Center in Des Plaines and WINGS Resale Shops to offer an Upcycle and Recycle Contest. Garden artists were encouraged to reuse items that might otherwise be discarded by crafting them into a whimsical yard display.
The entries we received ranged from vinyl records melted and transformed into vibrant flowers, to antique kerosene cans used to create bird houses, to spent shell casings assembled into a windchime.
We chose one winner (the vinyl records-turned-flowers) and five runners-up from among contest entries.
Lurvey's Garden Center then took these winning entries and used them in its garden display at the Chicago Flower & Garden show. The Flower and Garden Show continues through Sunday, March 26, at Navy Pier. For more information on the show, visit www.chicagoflower.com.
Josephine Perez of Arlington Heights earned the grand prize for her "Fantasy Flowers," created from old vinyl records. She received a $200 gift card from Lurvey's Garden Center and two tickets to the Chicago Flower and Garden Show, as well as two seats on a bus trip hosted by Lurvey's to attend the show.
The five runners-up also received two tickets to the Chicago Flower & Garden Show.
RUNNER-UP: Lois Kinney of Kildeer finds a clever use for railraod spikes by pairing them with markers for a clever and useful herb garden decoration.
RUNNER-UP: Marcia Chester of Barrington creates concrete steppings stones with the help of her son, who has multiple disabilities. He breaks up colorful plates with a hammer and uses the pieces in the concrete mold. They also use other finds, such as bottle caps.
RUNNER-UP: Sandra Gudenkauf of Wheaton combined an old drawer with a vanity mirror and added a "welcome" sign to create a clever flower display. The red metal decoration on the drawer handle is a water activator that cows would push with their snouts to get water into their trough. That and the welcome sign came from her in-law's farm in northwest Illinois.
RUNNER-UP: Joe Kudelka of Elk Grove Village has made many birdhouses by using antique one-gallon kerosene cans, and adding a cedar roof.
RUNNER-UP: Noreen Lake of Des Plaines used four different sizes of spent shell casings to make a wind chime, connecting the pieces with fishing line, adding decorative beads and supporting the lines with a recycled plastic ring.