| |
Almost Free 'Fashionable' Flower Pots Growing up on a farm on a tight budget, my mom always seemed to conjure up something from nothing when it came to ‘fashioning’ our home. Plants always played an important role in bringing life to every room in the house. Around this time of year, she would re-pot her overgrown plants and, while dividing them, create new houseplants to give away to others. I guess I’m a chip off the old block because I do the same thing.
During our long winter here in the Midwest, I admit that on more than a few dark nights, I indulged my sweet tooth for ice cream. I always buy the small containers, so if I eat the whole thing I don’t feel as guilty! I washed and dried the containers, and thought I might use them for something down the road. Well, that time has come! They are the perfect size for a flowerpot!
Whenever I shop at the Goodwill Retail Store & Donation Center near me, I scout for things that might make craft projects more fun and decorative. Recently I found these wall decals, still in the package, for 99 cents each! They were absolutely the things to help me renovate this so-called “trash” into new and beautiful “treasures.” With a few simple steps, you can convert your containers too! Let me tell you how:
- Clean and dry your ice cream containers.
- Using leftover spray paint from other projects, take the containers outdoors and place on old newspaper. Paint the lid inside and out, and the container on the outside only. I had a little bit of silver and half a can of black.
- Cut a small hole for drainage in the bottom of the container. Since there is a little depression on the bottom, it leaves a room between it and the lid, which will become our saucer.
- Now comes the fun. Using the decals, I overlapped them on the containers to create new patterns. I simply cut away the parts that were too big for my containers to give it a custom look.
- I filled the bottom with some gravel for drainage and to cover the hole, filled the containers with leftover potting soil from last year, and planted my spider plant cutting as well as some parsley and a begonia I wintered over from last year.
Who needs fancy designer containers when you can make your own from things you find at home? Remember: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle is not only a saying here it Goodwill! Have fun using stickers, decals, and whatever you find at Goodwill or have around your home to create your very own planters. When all was said and done, the total cost of each planter was less than 20 cents each!
Amazing, isn’t it? I’d love to see what you the reader make out of your “trash.” Send me an email and picture and you might just end up in this column! Happy spring!
askbjorn@goodwillsew.com
Save this Article (PDF)
|
|
|
