FARGO — A really bad year prompted Marlene Olson to discover a really good thing.
In 2018, Olson was hit by a quadruple whammy. She was diagnosed with breast cancer, her father died, she underwent double-knee replacement surgery and a long-time family pet crossed over the Rainbow Bridge.
The Fargo woman, an RN by vocation, was not one to sit and feel sorry for herself. Instead, she sought an outlet to keep her hands and mind busy.
Inspired by garden crafts she saw on Pinterest, Olson began cobbling together old household items — teapots, unused plates, hub caps — to make whimsical garden stakes, planters and other bling for her backyard garden.
She was doing it for relaxation and a bit of unofficial art therapy. But when people saw her creations, they urged her to sell them.
“I was like, ‘Oh, who would want to buy my stuff?’” she recalls.
She was finally convinced to haul a few things to a small vendor show and was surprised how well they sold.
Before she knew it, Olson had created a side business, Garden Art & More, which managed to be fun, fulfilling and self-funding all at the same time.
Marlene Olson shows some of her creations in the backyard of her south Fargo home on July 17, 2025. Olson’s business, Garden Art & More, consists of bird baths, chimes, decorative garden stakes and other one-of-a-kind items she creates out of old glassware, china, kitchen utensils and curios that were thrifted, found at estate sales or bought on sale online or at local stores.
Chris Flynn / The Forum
Now retired from her 44-year nursing career (and still cancer free), Olson has more time these days to fashion bird baths and feeders, solar lights, gazing balls, chimes and other garden decor from thrift-store finds, estate sale deals and garage-sale treasures.
“I can’t sit,” says the Hatton, N.D., native. “After working for all those years steady and raising a family and being at their activities, I always have to do something. I like to be on the go.”
But even now, Garden Art & More isn’t some hard-driving, bottom line-obsessed venture.
Marlene Olson’s garden art is often whimsical. Here, she attached a pink pig teapot onto a glass plate and an upside-down bud vase to create a decorative garden stake.
Chris Flynn / The Forum
It’s remained a one-woman operation (two, when husband Jerry helps out). Her “storefront” consists of vendor shows, made-to-order pieces and several sales each year in the garage of the Olsons’ south Fargo home. (See below for upcoming events.)
And although those who make similar types of art sell their creations for considerably more, Olson prices her items in an affordable $15 to $25 range so that most anyone can enjoy it.
“I am not really a business person, just a crafter,” she says. “I sell my things for about what I put into them and I do it just because I love it — never to make money.”
Work priced so almost anyone can afford it
Then again, Olson’s business isn’t about cha-ching. It’s about the joy her work brings.
It’s the time an older woman bought something, then thanked Olson for keeping her prices affordable.
Or when a small boy pedaled his bike to Olson’s house to buy garden decor for his mom for Mother’s Day. He only had a few crumpled dollars, although the item was marked in the $20 range.
Olson sent him home with the decor — and the knowledge that she made one son and his mom happy.
“He made my day,” she says.
Sometimes, people will be so touched about a plate, cup or cookie jar in one of Olson’s pieces that they’ll be brought to tears.
“People will cry or you can just see the grin on their faces because it was something their mother had or their grandmother had,” Olson says. “So that’s my satisfaction right there.”
Marlene Olson’s garage in south Fargo is filled with glassware art she makes and sells through her business, Garden Art & More. ‘I don’t do it for money,’ Olson said. ‘It’s my hobby, my therapy, my fun.’
Chris Flynn / The Forum
In the interest of keeping prices low, Olson rarely spends more than $5 on a piece that will be used in her handiwork. But sometimes she unknowingly incorporates a more valuable vase or plate into one of her sculptures.
Marlene Olson makes garden art out of glassware, china and curios that were either thrifted, bought on clearance or found at estate or garage sales. She sells her creations under the name Garden Art & More.
Chris Flynn / The Forum
A few years ago, one of her clients noticed a collectible piece in one of the items she bought and asked Olson if she thought it could be removed.
Olson told her it was unlikely, as she uses E6000 glue and makes sure all items “cure” untouched for 72 hours before selling them. After all, she doesn’t want to make something that falls apart.
“But you know what? It’s better for people to see them and enjoy them than have it sitting in a box,” she says. “So I don’t even worry about that. I just figure if it if it’s fun and it goes with something, I’m going to use it.”
Regular thrift-show patrols yield surprises
Olson regularly visits thrift stores, estate sales, online auctions, local stores and sometimes her own closets to find pieces for her work.
She keeps it all in check by not buying something unless she has an idea on how she can use it.
“I have a stash of parts, but I don’t buy randomly,” she says. “ I kind of know everything I have and my husband says, ‘Boy, I don’t know how you remember all that you have,’ but I do.'”
Sometimes, her patient patrols of second-hand stores unearth unexpected finds. Like the time she found a frog teapot and then, a year later, a matching frog teacup at another store.
Marlene Olson regularly visits thrift stores, where she sometimes finds matching pieces at different times. She found the frog teapot here first and the frog teacup a year later.
Chris Flynn / The Forum
Speaking of which, frog-themed decor outsells all over types of decor by leaps and bounds. “I have made so many frogs. Frogs sell. So whenever I find a frog, I buy it,” she says.
Other top sellers are bird-themed decorations and “anything bright,” she says.
The Olsons’ backyard is a wonderland of these creations. A stately cottonwood provides a central stage for many of her past projects.
A big cottonwood tree in Marlene Olson’s south Fargo backyard showcases many of her garden creations, including decorative garden stakes, a gazing ball made from a bowling ball, bird feeders and bird baths.
Chris Flynn / The Forum
Wind chimes — fashioned by the metallic, multi-colored keys from a child’s xylophone set — are strung from a branch where they clink pleasantly. Flowers made from layers of multi-colored plates “bloom” from garden stakes and solar lights repurposed from glass tumblers peek out among the hostas and tulips.
2/10: Marlene Olson regularly visits thrift stores, where she sometimes finds matching pieces at different times. She found the frog teapot here first and the frog teacup a year later.
Chris Flynn / The Forum
4/10: Marlene Olson calls these garden art creations she made her “ladies.”
Chris Flynn / The Forum
10/10: Marlene Olson fashions old glassware, china and curios into garden decor like this bird bath, which she has displayed in her backyard for years.
Chris Flynn / The Forum
The public can get a glimpse of Olson’s work at two upcoming events. One will be during Kindred (N.D.) Days Saturday, Aug. 9 and the other will be the
Aronia Berry Fest
Saturday, Sept. 7 at the Nelson Aronia Farm by Amenia, N.D.
Olson likes this chance to connect with shoppers and maybe make a sale or two. “Everyone is always in a good mood,” she says of these vendor events. “You can just see the grin on their faces. That’s my satisfaction. “
Contact Olson at marannolson@yahoo.com
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