Friday, April 20, 2012

DIY recycled container planter

Last year I brought back empty coffee mate containers from the office to use for the garden but didn't have a chance to use it. Now that I have too many plants in some containers I thought I'd make recycled container planter.
Coffe-mate container before the transformation
These drainage holes were made using nails, but I made bigger ones with a drill
Painted red and blue
Not quite the best designer...but solid color was a little boring so tried to add a little bit more
Using empty chinese take out container as planter saucer.
Swiss chard transplanted in recycled planter.
This would be such a fun thing to do with kids. I almost called up my friend to borrow her child's hand to put hand marks instead of the stick flowers. I decided to put swiss chard in the containers. This is the 2nd time I transplanted these plants, so we'll just have to see if they survive the final move. Last year, I did not have much success with swiss chard - I'm not quite sure why. Hopefully, this season it will do better.

Update: Acrylic paint is not weather resistant. It rained and now the paint has bunched up. Since it did not peel off, I am going to try to put a clear water resistant film over it. Need to do a little research to see what is safe. 

6 comments:

  1. This is a fantastic idea. I think my neighbor hates that I use old kitty litter buckets because they're not aesthetically appealing. Maybe I'll give them a once over with some paint, and hopefully, they won't comment on them too much. Make them nice and colorful!

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    1. It does brighten up the garden. I also find painting quite meditative...almost like gardening!

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