Planters for Pennies a Piece

If you have extra water jugs waiting to go to the recycle bin, you may just want to save them! If you think you may need some extra pots for starting seeds, or a very inexpensive planter to give as a gift this Mother's Day; or maybe you're in need of a super festive napkin holder, or candy bowl - these may be just what you are looking for!!

Let's get started on making them!!


Supplies you'll need:
Your basic crafter's tools...

If you'd like to use this as a planter you may want to add drainage holes first, as putting them in later may prove to be very difficult, structurally...

Then, we'll tape off the jug for a nice clean straight line, or at least as much as possible... It is very easy to gouge out a big piece of your jug with the slightest, unintentional pressure on the scissors in the wrong direction... Not to mention jugs are the most surreal cylindrical optical illusion... ever. You think you're going straight, you think you're cutting right, you think it's going to work out perfectly... nope. You're going up when you should go down and visa versa... To counter this twilight zone illusion, we use tape as our straight edge... easy peasy.

Next comes cutting off the top. I poked a starter hole with a knife and then snipped out the rest along the line with scissors....

Then comes the painting! I wanted a heavy texture on my pots to camouflage the jug shape as much as possible... So I picked a Hammered paint and primer in one... Keep in mind when choosing your paint, that the jug is not a porous surface, so acrylic paint (among others) would rub off very easily...

After the paint dries, you will be able to apply your colorful duct tape! I tried to put a little more than half on the outside of the pot.... Making it straight is tricky, and if you have to peel it away, some paint may come as well... But it's very doable if you're patient and work your way around slowly. If you choose a tape that has lines on it, you can easily use those as guides.

I snipped the corners to make the four sides lay down smoothly rather than crumpling up inside.

Fold the tape down. Lookin' good! Just press out any wrinkles.

I added a bow to mine, but you could bedazzle your pot however you wish! I found this blog to be very helpful in designing my bow.... Then I hot glued it on, but if I had something stronger like cement glue for instance, it may have worked better.... It stays put with the hot glue, but it is anxiously awaiting the chance to dislodge... Super glue does not work on duct tape, crazy huh?!

Ta-da!! Pots for pennies a piece! And to think, you were about to throw those jugs out!!;)

But wait!! There's more:

You can upcycle your pop cans too!!!!!!!
 Unbelievable.



;)Thanks for reading!! Happy Planting!!