Man Builds Incredible Triceratops Lawn Art out of Daughter’s First Bicycle

ELIZA MURPHY
Man Builds Incredible Triceratops Lawn Art out of Daughter’s First Bicycle (ABC News)

They say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and that couldn’t be truer of Andy White’s incredible animal lawn art.

“I’ve always liked making things and turning things from my imagination into something that’s real since I was little kid,” White, 45, of Columbia, South Carolina, told ABC News of his elaborate sculptures.

“There’s something about working in the medium of metal and taking things that are pieces of old stuff that are either discarded or may have my own memory attached to them and turning them into something new to keep around for my kids to enjoy. I like the process of creating something new from stuff that’s old and giving a new life and a new meaning.”

So far he’s created a 9-foot-long Tyrannosaurus Rex, a friendly rabbit, a moderately-sized dragonfly, a snail and a triceratops.

“The triceratops has pieces of my daughter’s first bicycle in it,” he explained. “I like having things around that remind me of different parts of my life. This is a way that I found I could get rid of most of that, but leave little things that I know what it is, like listening to a song or looking at an old photo. I will keep them around or chop it up, or I’ll pick up other people’s crap off the road.”

Dinosaurs on Couple's Front Lawn Yard Turns Heads in Planned Community

Dug the T. Rex Dinosaur Is The Most Epic Lawn Art Ever

A professor by day, White enjoys welding the large animals in his downtime to unwind, but isn’t interested in taking special orders for others.

“It’s nice when people like my things, but other than that I really don’t care,” he said of his personal hobby. “As long as my family likes them, it’s all that matters. They’re for me. People ask me to make a sculpture of their dog but I don’t care about that. I’m going to enjoy the process and enjoy the product. It’s not my job. It’s something that I love doing.”

He doesn’t keep track of how long the animals take him to complete, but said the T. rex was the most complex at about 40 to 50 hours.

“I’ve never really kept track,” said White. “A few hours on a weekend, or I’ll take a day off work when I just need some mental space. I’ve never tallied up the numbers. It’s just fun and it doesn’t take effort.”

As for how long he’ll continue turning his lawn into a playful junkyard zoo?

“My yard is only so big,” he joked.

Latest Stories

  • Political aides who ran Trump's Washington frustrated at 'tarnished' legacy

    For four years, Republican staffers and agency chiefs worked for President Donald Trump to keep the federal government humming and, in many cases, dismantle Obama-era policies they believed ran counter to free-market principles. In the end, the political aides departed Washington this week with their legacies forever linked to a president who refused to concede a democratic election and instead inspired a mob of rioters to confront Congress. It was, as several Cabinet secretaries and political aides said in their final hours, regrettable.

  • World leaders react to Joe Biden's inauguration

    World leaders have reacted to a "new dawn" in U.S. politics after Joe Biden was sworn is as the 46th president of the United States. Historic allies in the EU and U.K. have struck the most upbeat tone, with Ursurla von der Leyen, president of the EU Commission, saying there's a "friend in the White House" after four years where transatlantic relations often were strained. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson congratulated Biden ahead of the inauguration ceremony.

  • Vice President Kamala Harris' inauguration outfit featured 2 Black designers

    Vice President Kamala Harris started her new role with a sophisticated -- and meaningful -- look. The vice president's ensemble was created by Black designers Christopher John Rogers and Sergio Hudson. "Thank you, Madam Vice President," Christopher John Rogers wrote in an Instagram post. "We are so honored and humbled to have played a small part in this historic moment."

  • Jill Biden to make history as 1st first lady to hold paid job outside the White House

    First Lady Jill Biden will make history as the country's first first lady to hold a paid job outside the White House. Biden -- who worked full-time as a community college English professor during her eight years as second lady -- has said she plans to continue teaching during her time in the White House.

  • Joe Biden, Kamala Harris send 1st tweets from official White House accounts

    After taking their respective oaths of office Wednesday, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took part in a second transfer of power by taking the reigns of the official @POTUS and @VP Twitter accounts. "There is no time to waste when it comes to tackling the crises we face," Biden wrote in his first message from the @POTUS account. Vice President Kamala Harris was more succinct in her inaugural @VP message.

  • Blended families see themselves in Kamala Harris as she becomes 1st stepmom vice president

    When Kamala Harris took the oath of office Wednesday to become vice president, she became the first woman and first woman of color to serve in that elected position. Harris also made history as the first stepmother to be America's vice president, a moment that blended families across the country said they were planning to watch with joy.

  • Howard University honors VP Kamala Harris with 49 bell tolls and 'Black national anthem'

    Howard University in Washington, D.C., -- tolled 49 times to honor the historic moment. Harris, who is of Black and South Asian descent, became the first woman vice president and the first person of color to hold this office after she was sworn in on Inauguration Day by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. The bell at @HowardU, VP @KamalaHarris' alma mater is ringing 49 times as she's sworn in as the 49th Vice President of the United States.

  • Key moments from the inauguration of Joe Biden as 46th US president

    The ceremony that made Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States was an inauguration like never before. Also absent were the morning traditions involving the outgoing and incoming presidents and their spouses meeting on the North Portico of the White House and sharing a limousine to the ceremony. Two weeks after an angry mob of pro-Trump rioters stormed Capitol Hill, some attendees even wore body armor.

  • Garth Brooks performs 'Amazing Grace' at Biden's inauguration

    Garth Brooks performed "Amazing Grace" at the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday. Following Biden's first speech as president, the country music legend took to the podium to sing the popular tune. The two-time Grammy winner, 58, announced Monday he'd be singing on-site at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., for the swearing-in ceremony, joining previously announced artists including Lady Gaga and Jennifer Lopez.

  • Lady Gaga stuns in custom couture for Biden-Harris inauguration

    Lady Gaga knows how to make a grand entrance, and she certainly did for the 2021 presidential inauguration. The iconic singer powerfully made her presence known wearing a custom Schiaparelli haute couture look as she sang the national anthem into a gold microphone. Gaga wore her hair in a braided updo and rocked a striking bold red lipstick.

  • Trump issues last-minute pardon to ex-husband of Fox News' Jeanine Pirro

    With less than an hour before his term ended, President Donald Trump on Wednesday granted one final pardon to Albert Pirro, a longtime New York businessman and the ex-husband of Fox News’ Jeanine Pirro, one of Trump’s staunchest cable news supporters. What was possibly Trump’s final act as president reflected a recurring theme in his final months in office: delivering clemencies to scores of personal friends and political allies. The decision to pardon Pirro came less than 12 hours after what was thought to be a final batch of 143 pardons and commutations -- a list that included Steve Bannon, Trump's former chief strategist.

  • Michelle Obama wears purple at inauguration in show of unity

    Former first lady Michelle Obama attended the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris Wednesday wearing a magenta, monochrome suit. Obama's suit reportedly was designed by Sergio Hudson, a Black designer from South Carolina who also designed the heels worn by Harris on Inauguration Day. The magenta shade of Obama's suit was seen as a nod to unity as the new Biden administration enters the White House.

  • 22-year-old Amanda Gorman becomes youngest poet to read at inauguration

    Amanda Gorman made history Wednesday as the youngest poet in recent history to read a poem at a presidential inauguration. Gorman, 22, read her own poem at the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. "I was like, 'Well, this is something we need to talk about,'" Gorman told NPR's Steve Inskeep ahead of the inauguration, adding it had been "really daunting to begin the poem" given how divided the country seemed after the 2020 election.

  • Jill Biden wears American-designed ensemble for 2021 inauguration

    Jill Biden is starting her new role as the first lady of the United States in high style. For the 2021 presidential inauguration, she wore a custom Markarian matching coat and dress set made in an ocean blue, wool tweed. To top her vibrant ensemble off, she wore a statement pearl necklace with Swarovski crystals and a pair of neutral-toned pumps.

  • Biden assumes presidency at Capitol saying 'democracy has prevailed'

    Joe Biden took the oath of office just before noon on a cold but bright and sunny Wednesday at the U.S. Capitol, becoming the 46th president of the United States and culminating a nearly 50-year career in politics and a lifetime of tragedy and triumph. Democracy is fragile.

  • Officer who fended off Capitol mob escorts Kamala Harris to inauguration

    On Wednesday, he aided in the peaceful transfer of power that those protesters had resisted, walking alongside Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, soon-to-be second gentleman Doug Emhoff, into the 59th presidential inauguration ceremony. Goodman was also made an honorary Deputy Sergeant at Arms for Inauguration Day. On Jan. 6, Goodman led the mob on a chase in an effort to divert it away from the unguarded Senate chambers, where Senators, staff and reporters took shelter.

  • Melania Trump departs White House wearing luxury black dress and pumps

    President Donald Trump and Melania Trump shared their final farewell from the White House this morning. For their send-off, Melania was seen wearing an all-black ensemble consisting of a cropped Chanel jacket adorned with gold buttons and a Dolce and Gabbana dress. The first lady also kept a pair of dark shades on as the couple addressed the nation before their departure to President Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

  • The significance of the Bible Joe Biden is using on Inauguration Day

    When President-elect Joe Biden takes the oath of office Wednesday, he'll do so using a Bible with 127 years of family history behind it. Biden, who is Catholic, has used the leather-bound, 5-inch thick book, which has been in his family since 1893, each time he's been sworn into elected office during the course of his career. Biden's late son Beau also used the family Bible when he was sworn in as Delaware's attorney general.

  • Inauguration 2021: Women are wearing pearls and Converse sneakers to honor Kamala Harris

    Kamala Harris is breaking barriers as the first female U.S. vice president and many of her supporters have found a special way to celebrate her. For the 2021 inauguration, women across the country are wearing pearls and Converse sneakers to symbolize Harris' historic moment alongside President-elect Joe Biden. Harris was seen wearing her go-to Chuck Taylor shoes and pearls on the campaign trail.

  • What happens inside the White House on Inauguration Day

    As the world celebrates the swearing in of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, a highly-orchestrated transfer of power is also taking place behind the scenes at the White House. There, dozens of White House residence staff are quickly transforming the White House to the Biden's family liking by the time they return Wednesday evening as president and first lady. "There's a moving van that is positioned in one direction to take the belongings of the outgoing president and first family to leave the White House," Anita McBride, who served as chief of staff to first lady Laura Bush, told "Good Morning America" four years ago, when Donald Trump was entering office.