The Avant-Garden Shop: Your Garden & Bird Store

GARDEN GATE: Episode 270 – Dog Bite Steel – Turning garbage into ART! (July 7, 2023)

  We had a lot of fun recently going to Dog Bite Steel in Uxbridge to pick out some new pieces! The shelves are now overloaded with these unique pieces made with recycled oil and propane tanks. J.P Schoss designs, cuts, and welds everything by hand and his wife Brenda paints them! Come down to … Read more

Just hangin’ outdoors…

We pride ourselves on supporting Canadian artists, including six – four from Ontario and two from B.C. – who make beautiful outdoor wall art made from high-quality metal. Some designs are intended to rust, while others are powder-coated steel so they won’t. Metallic Evolution Based out of Guelph, John and Heather have been designing and … Read more

Garden Gate: Episode 222-Time to relax

  August is the month to relax and enjoy! Come and browse the shop and see all of the beautiful things we now have in stock. Solair chairs, outdoor carpets, flags, bird houses, door mats, wall art, wind chimes and so much more.   We’re very happy to say that most of the items that … Read more

Garden Gate: Episode 221-Dog Bite Steel recycled art (July 30, 2021)

Recently we made a trip to visit artists J.P. Schoss and his wife Brenda Tucker from Dog Bite Steel in Uxbridge. It’s always a fun day! We have a nice visit, pick out new pieces for the store, fill up our truck…then go for a nice lunch in Uxbridge. It’s an all day adventure! Brenda … Read more

Garden Gate: Episode 119 – A mini “studio tour” in the shop

CHEX TV airdate: July 7, 2017 Click link to watch this episode online Often customers ask how we find some of our artists. It can be a lot of work researching online or we can happen to find them during a studio tour or while we’re on holidays. On this episode I tell you a … Read more

Garden Gate: Episode 53 – Once around the shop for Christmas gift ideas

Chex air date: Dec. 19th, 2014 Click link to watch this episode. We have so many beautiful things in the shop, sometimes it’s hard to choose! ?But we are here to help! Guys love our beer glasses, thermometers and rain gauges. Tilley hats and tools too! ?That’s just a start – watch the video for 2.5 minutessteamwhistle of tips!

Garden Gate: Episode 51 – Recycled socks. puppets and mittens!

CHEX TV air date: Friday Nov. 28th, 2014 Click link to watch video here. On this episode of the Garden Gate I’m talking about recycled content in some of our products. ?Instead of using new materials, these businesses all use recycled materials to make their products. ?This means less pollution in the environment and also that items are being reused before they are recycled! daffodilOur fun Happy socks for instance are made from recycled cotton T-Shirts! Leftovers are recycled into rags mats and other products. ?If a sock isn’t made quite right then it is made into a hat! You should see these fun and colourful hats! Scarves, mittens, baby and kid socks are also available. We also carry some really cute puppets that are made out of recycled wool sweaters. ?The puppets are made by sewers in Toronto. ?One of the owners (Josh Title) has even appeared on Martha Stewart Living! ?Josh showed Martha how to cut the fabric and put the puppets together. ?Puppies, elephants, cats, birds and even moose can be found in the shop!dog-600x600 ? And most recently we added a line of mittens made in North Bay. ?The owner Josee, has in her first year of business, recycled over 1000lbs of wool sweaters into beautiful mittens! ?She is an excellent sewer matching up patterns from really weird sweaters and turning them into warm and fun mittens that she calls SMITTENS! turquois And closest to home are some crazy metal animals and Christmas trees made out of recycled propane and oil tanks. ?Every one is unique. ?These come from Dog Bite Steel in Uxbridge, Ontario,dog with bone

Dog Bite Steel artist from Uxbridge

If you’ve been in?our shop or perused our website, you’ll know that we carry A LOT of works by Canadian artists. Here is some information on one of my favourites! Click on the link below to watch a video of the artists. Dog Bite Steel is a business from Uxbridge with works by Jean Pierre … Read more

The Avant-Garden Shop