DIY Wine Barrel Fountain
by
Zest it Up
9 Materials
$40
30 Minutes
Easy
This is an incredibly fast and simple way to bring some ambiance to your patio or outdoor space. A quick trip to the hardware store and you will be set! You will have the magical sound of trickling water in thirty minutes, no sweat! We love repurposing and finding purpose to our junking! This time, I decided to take an old half-barrel and bring some magic to my patio. At first, I tried to just fill the beast with water; but being an old barrel, it continued to leak slowly for several days. Solution to my problem? Crazy simple! I ran over to Ace for some pond liner and some staples.
Supplies
- vinyl pond liner (Hardware Store)
- staple gun (Hardware Store)
- half barrel
- small pond pump (Hardware Store)
- vinyl hose (Hardware Store)
- aquarium rocks (Hardware Store)
- pond plants
- metal pails
- drill
It may be a bit cumbersome to get the liner straightened out, but that is part of the beauty of this project! I simply trimmed and stapled away, knowing that the weight of the water would hide imperfections. If you want to get technical about ecosystems, the folds allow for areas that will house happy, healthy pond bacteria. Ummm, yep, sounds gross, but it's a fact!
There is no graceful way of doing this. I simply spread the liner inside of my barrel, trimming as I went and stapling to secure it.
I may go in later with some upholstery tacks to hide my staples, but I was way too eager to start my little pond.
I also wanted the splash of water, so after filling my pond, I submersed a small water pump that I picked up at Miner’s. A simple $30 purchase that was going to bring some magic to my space.
Things are looking good. Color: check. Pump working: check. Now for a little flare.
Luckily, I found some classic Corona buckets. I loved the casual and funky feel of the buckets, so I decided to make my fountain with the help of a drill.
It literally takes seconds to put these buckets together, but I wasn’t crazy about the tin sound of the water splashing in the buckets…so I simply added some pebbles to give a more rounded sound.
Top off with water, add some fish and water conditioner, and you are set!
Fill the bucket with water! You can see the pond plants I added for some extra color and the rocks at the bottom!
Love our fountain!! I was super happy with the results! So were the kids, especially since we now have a couple of fish happily swimming away. Magic achieved!
XO,
Chanda
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
Comments
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3 of 15 comments
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This needs more pictures!
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Ha! I love your name! That is my daughter's nickname! Short for Evangeline. Yes, totally agree about more pictures. if you click on the website link, you will find our original post with many more "step" pictures. Hope that helps! :)
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