A plant is such a simple thing, but when you set it inside or out, it can instantly change the appearance of the environment. Plants and flowers add beauty to our yards, our tables and even our hair! Plants are popular for decorating our homes or even to give as gifts. Call a flower shop to order a plant gift, though, and you’ll spend plenty, that’s for sure. Just an ordinary vase or small planter can cost a small fortune. You can save a little by purchasing some flowers and plants at a discount department store, but why bother, when it’s so easy to make such things yourself? Okay, you might not be able to make actual flowers, but you can definitely make unique-looking, fake plants in unusual planters.
We’ve all seen those Chia Pets that have been around for years. They come with a unique planter like a dog, a lion or a turtle. A mixture of seeds is then spread upon the ceramic character, and before you know it, you have a growing plant! The greenery of the plant becomes the fur or other characteristic of the animal. You can make something similar, without having to worry about spreading seeds or watering plants, by using your own technique. You might not know this but an object doesn’t necessarily have to be an actual planter to hold a plant. Lots of things can become planters simply because you make them into planters. You don’t have to look for scooped-out items, like bowls, pots or glasses; look in the toy box, a junk drawer or other unlikely places. You’ll find plenty of things that can be made into planters unlike any ever seen!
Have you ever seen Spanish moss? It’s a dried floral item that’s inexpensive and very useful. Some people put it in a plant pot to cover the soil of the plant. Others use the moss for various craft and decor projects. Spanish moss is a brownish-green color and is exactly what you need to make assorted, unusual planters. With it, you can make truck and car planters, ceramic planters and much, much more.
Say you were to choose a small, plastic truck or car from a toy box. The car can have scratches, dents and be otherwise marred, that’s okay. The car, however, should have all four wheels or no wheels at all. This ordinary plastic car can easily become a cute planter for a shelf in a boy’s room. It doesn’t have to be watered but will definitely get noticed! Begin using hot glue (or another quick-dry adhesive) and sticking Spanish moss to the car. Take time to wrap the moss around the tires, over the bumper, and around the rest of the car. Try to keep the shape of the car by paying attention to how much moss you use and which way you position it. For instance, use one long gathering of moss to wrap around each tire. Pull off a separate piece of moss, work it into something of a circle, then glue it to the hubcap area of the tire. Glue moss horizontally across the bumpers but vertically over the trunk, top and hood of the car.
As you glue on the Spanish moss make sure to cover the car or other object well. When finished, you shouldn’t be able to see any part of the actual car. Instead, you should have a car shape that’s covered in the moss. You can leave the new planter alone at this point or you can further embellish it, if you want. Tiny, fake flowers can easily be glued, here and there, to make more of a floral design. With the small flowers you can choose themes and colors that are perfect for your own setting. Or, if you know someone’s favorite color, and the new planter is a gift for them, you can personalize it by choosing flowers of that color.
It’s a lot of fun to choose unique items to create the fun planters. Try making one from a baby bottle (weight it down with rice or beans first), a soda bottle, an old boot, plastic fruits or vegetables, a tin can (these make great pedestals for statuettes or picture frames), a ceramic animal, a wooden heart, a child’s purse or other unusual objects. The Spanish moss makes it really easy to create a plant out of just about anything you can think of! Add tiny flowers to the mix and you have an attention-grabbing floral piece that will look good in any room of the house. Set the finished pieces on mantles, out on the porch, on end tables – even hang some on the wall.
Spanish moss isn’t the only thing you can use to make the interesting decor pieces. Cover objects with other types of dried floral pieces, craft pom-poms, fake jewels, buttons and similar things to make even more things. If you can glue you can make any number of new items for your home or gifts for others. Start looking around your own house and you’ll be surprised at just how many unusual things you can make into your own planters. You’ll be smiling the whole time as you view things in a totally different way, now, and you think of the whimsical creations you can make! Purchase a bag or two of Spanish moss and you can do several different projects. Don’t be selfish, though! Show all your friends how to do it so they can make new planters for their homes as well!
Reference:
- See photos of assorted Chias here: images.google.com/images?hl=en&source;=hp&q;=Chia&btnG;=Search+Images&gbv;=2
- Purchase Spanish moss here: www.acmoore.com
