Simple skills and materials turn
copper sheeting into charming
garden stakes.

Getting Started

Modeled after antique weather vanes, these designs are first cut out, then hammered to achieve a distressed look. Finished size of the rooster is 13-1/2 x 15 inches; the pig is 10 x 15 inches; the arrow is 14 x 4 inches; and the sandpiper is 9 x 15 inches.

(For each figure)

• 18 x 20-inch piece of heavy copper sheeting (for stakes)
• 30-inch length of 1-1/2-inch-wide wood lath
• Three 3/4-inch-long brass bolts with corresponding nuts
• 9 inches of 3/8-inch-diameter jute rope (for pig's tail)
• Scrap of a 3/4-inch-diameter dowel
• Sandpaper
• Tin snips
• Saw
• Drill and bits
• Tracing paper
• Screwdriver
• Wrench
• Hammer
• Polyurethane (optional)